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VOLUME 137, ISSUE 6 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018
AB540 AND UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT CENTER RECEIVES PERMANENT DIRECTOR FOLLOWING FACULTY DEMANDS Emily Prieto-Tseregounis named director; decision criticized for lack of student involvement BY E L I Z A BET H M E R C A DO campus@theaggie.org
On Oct. 26, after six weeks without a full-time director, UC Davis News announced that the AB540 and Undocumented Student Center’s interim director, Emily Prieto-Tseregounis, will permanently fill the position. The center’s previous director, Andrea Gaytan, resigned on Sept. 14 and now serves as a dean at Sacramento City College, Davis Center. Prieto-Tseregounis, then the assistant vice chancellor of student affairs, was appointed as interim director upon Gaytan’s departure. Prieto-Tseregounis is the daughter-in-law of controversial former UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. The announcement followed demands from staff in the Chicana/o Studies Department and an ASUCD Senate Resolution authored by the ASUCD DREAM Committee that the UC Davis administration respond to the vacancy. Eleven faculty members, including nine professors from the Chicana/o Studies department, signed and delivered an open letter to Chancellor Gary May on Oct. 10 demanding a full-time director be hired for the AB540 and Undocumented Student Center. “We the Chicana/o Studies faculty and staff would like to see the position for the Director of the AB540 and Undocumented Center posted within a week,” the letter said. “In addition we would like to see the implementation of an interim plan that includes a dedicated full time staff member at the center for the duration of the recruitment.” Senate Resolution #3 calls “for support from the Association and ASUCD President, Michael Gofman, to demand that UC Davis Administration immediately begin
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the active, open and nationwide listing for the position and hiring process of a full time permanent Director for the AB540 and Undocumented Student Center.” Additionally, the resolution addressed a lack of transparency involved in the hiring process of a director and staff members. A minimum of two undocumented students and two alumni of Scholars Promoting Education and Awareness (SPEAK) — a subgroup within the center — were requested as representatives within the search and hiring process. Criticism regarding how staff workloads were balanced during Prieto-Tseregounis’ time as interim director also arose.
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TWO INTERIM SENATORS CONFIRMED AFTER SUMMER RESIGNATIONS Sydney Hack, Maria Martinez confirmed to Senate BY SA BRI N A HA B C H I campus@theaggie.org
Two interim senators were recently confirmed following resignations by Gaven Kaur and Jake Sedgley. Kaur and Sedgley, in addition to Danny Halawi and Andreas Godderis, are four of six student senators elected in the uncontested Fall Elections who ultimately resigned from their positions. Kaur, a third-year psychology and com-
munication double major, resigned from her position in an email obtained by The California Aggie. “This summer I interned for an education policy firm in Sacramento and was offered a position for the school year,” Kaur wrote. “I have decided to accept that position since education is a field that I am interested in working in post-grad. [...] It wouldn’t be possible for me to give ASUCD the amount of attention and time that it deserves along with holding this other porisiton.”
“It is not the responsibility of student staff and volunteers to take on the workload of full-time university employees without proper compensation,” the resolution said. SPEAK organized a Facebook event on Oct. 29 to pack Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Emily Galindo’s office. The event initially served as a demonstration to demand the vacancy be filled, but once news reached the group that Prieto-Tseregounis had been permanently appointed, a post on the event page criticized Galindo for making the decision without student input. The center was established in 2014 as the first-of-its-kind on a college campus in the nation. It provides legal, financial and aca-
demic services to students and their families, if applicable. Before Prieto-Tseregounis’ appointment as permanent director, she still held her position as an associate vice chancellor, essentially having two jobs within the university. “In our view, she cannot have two full-time jobs and do them well,” Natalia Deeb-Sossa, an associate professor of Chicana/o Studies and one of the letter’s signers, said in reference to the interim posting. “Given that both positions are critical, that is not okay.” On Oct. 16, UC Davis News released an
Halawi and Godderis’ positions were filled by Daniella Aloni and Devo Leichter, who currently sit on the table in interim positions. Kaur and Sedgley’s vacancies were recently filled after the confirmation of two interim senators. Sydney Hack, a third-year international relations major, replaced Kaur. Maria Martinez, a first-year political science major, replaced Sedgley. As a former member of the Judicial Council, Hack said that she applied to fill the interim senator position because she saw a lot of legislation that she “was not a fan of.” She also observed that certain aspects of the Bylaws, which she believed were unconstitutional, remained unchallenged and wanted to address that. “When you get [on the Judicial Council], it’s not about if the policy is a good idea or a bad idea or well-written, it’s just about if it’s constitutional,” Hack said. “I decided to leave Judicial Council, come to Senate and work on the Bylaws, making sure the ones going through are constitutional and well-written, and changing anything in the actual existing Bylaws that would be challengeable.” Martinez said that she’s always wanted to get involved with ASUCD because of her involvement in student government and other leadership positions at her high school. “I always wanted to do Senate because I just wanted to be more of a liason for the
students and ASUCD,” Martinez said. “Especially being a first year, I think there’s a lot of disconnect, because we’ve barely got here. I think I’m able to connect with other students too, because I’m first-gen. I wanted to join ASUCD, so I can do more advocacy work for the students.” Hack mentioned personal characteristics she believes will make her successful as a senator. “I’m a pretty good multitasker, so I’m really organized and on top of everything [...] which is really important for Senate, because you have meetings, you have to go to commissions, you have to write bills, and see bills and offer your thoughts on things,” Hack said. “I also think my internal knowledge of the association [and] my internal capabilities are really aligned with one specific goal of combing through the bylaws and making sure everything is constitutional.” Martinez said her enthusiasm for the position of ASUCD senator will serve as an asset to her during this period. “I’m very enthusiastic to learn about the Bylaws and interact with students and just get started,” Martinez said. “I know some people have a negative connotation with ASUCD, but I’m more enthusiastic to work and create projects. I don’t see this as a job, I see it as an opportunity to do tangible change and help people.”
AB540 on 12
INTERIM SENATORS on 12