Graduate student Marcela Ramirez has been nominated for the position of UC student regent for the 2016-2017 school year. Ramirez, who is studying higher education administration and policy, will be the 42nd student regent if appointed by the UC Board of Regents Special Committee in July.
Student regents are voting members in the UC Board of Regents who serve one year terms beginning July 1. During their term, student regents attend all six regent meetings that occur throughout the year. Regent-designates like Abraham Oved, attend all of the board and committee meetings, however they do not have the power to vote until they begin their term in July.
UCR has had only two student regents, Terrence Wooten, who served from 1994-1995 and Edward Gomez, who served from 1995-1996. If Ramirez is selected, she will serve as the first student regent from UCR in over 20 years.
Ramirez holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and french from Cal State Fullerton and a masters in counseling from Cal State Long Beach. Her graduate program at UCR is expected to be completed in June 2017.
In addition to academic work, Ramirez serves as the graduate student representative on the UC Office of the President LGBT Advisory Committee, is a founding director of the Middle Eastern Student Center and diversity initiatives coordinator in the Dean of Students Office at UC Riverside.
“I was thrilled! It all happened so fast and I often have to stop and take it all in. I’m celebrating the nomination with all my loved ones and the UC community,“ Ramirez stated upon learning of the nomination.
In regards to why she applied for this position, Ramirez stated that as “a PhD student pursuing a degree in higher education administration I thought this would be the best way to learn how the system works.”
In addition, Regent-designate Oved, a UCLA undergraduate economics major with a minor in global studies, will be taking over for the current Student Regent Sadia Saifudin this July.
