Roman “Alex” Gonzalez – CHASS Senator
I am a third-year economics and administrative studies major, and am running for CHASS senator. I come from the very diverse and robust city of San Diego. I want to showcase the opportunities for people of color and first-generation students who attend UC Riverside. I identify as a first-generation Afro-Latino, but want to provide assistance to all cultures. I believe diversity is an essential part in building any healthy growing environment. I plan to increase the amount of speakers who are people of color or are people who had a tough battle of pursuing and finishing college. The success they have garnered can provide insight and networking opportunities for my fellow students to use. I would also like to create programs that break the language barrier between students and the financial offices of the university to provide an overall more efficient process.
David Melgoza – CHASS Senator
Candidate did not submit a bio or photo.
Avi Idea – CHASS Senator
I’m Avi Idea, and I’m running for CHASS senator this coming spring quarter! I spend my free time losing in board games, rock climbing in the REC Center and drinking way too much thai tea. I love UCR. We have a beautiful campus, rich academics and the greatest diversity out of any UC. There’s a long list of amazing things about this campus, and I want to add to that list. I want to help make UCR even better. I’m a first year pre-business major with a pending double major in philosophy. Outside of class, I’m a member of our award-winning mock trial team, and I’ve been an active intern to our very own Executive Vice President Carisha Moore. Under her mentorship, I’ve been educated on the ins and outs of senatorship and student government as a whole. I’ve put my efforts into a number of projects, such as creating a better studying atmosphere in the library and granting discreet and convenient access to attorneys for survivors of sexual violence. As a senator, I can enact even more positive change on campus. I’m specifically interested in combating our appalling food insecurity rate and working to make student government more accessible for those who are interested but unsure about how to get involved. I’m ready to put all my effort into addressing the matters that we, the students, want addressed. It would be an honor to represent the student body as senator, and work to improve our UCR experience as much as possible!
Brandon Lieu – CHASS Senator
My name is Brandon Lieu, and I am a third-year business administration major focusing in finance. Throughout my three years here at UCR, I have been highly involved in student government, student affairs and student life. From holding positions on the Greek governing board, the Interfraternity Council, to representing all undergraduate students in the Academic Senate on the topic of faculty welfare, I have been given numerous opportunities to enact minor changes to help enhance the undergraduate student body and improve the undergraduate student experience here at UCR. However, it is time for a series of major changes to help better our amazing university. As your senator, I will promise to develop solutions to three main topics: The issue of parking, the issue of financial aid wait times and the issue of funding for programs involving Costo Hall.
Chelsea Davenport – CHASS Senator
Chelsea is a classics major who transferred to UCR from El Camino College in 2016. As a non-traditional student, Chelsea hopes to provide a voice for students who often aren’t heard as loudly. She’s currently involved in the 3D campaign, which is fighting for disabled and differently-abled students. She hopes to help create changes in the next year that allow for marginalized communities within the UCR family of students to have greater security in both their person and education, as well as providing more opportunities for students who are often overlooked. As a CHASS senator, Chelsea hopes to bring her activism experience to the table in order to help fight for the rights of all students, as well as bringing attention to some of the most vulnerable communities.
Evan McGuffin – CHASS Senator
Hey there Highlanders! My name is Evan McGuffin and I’m running to be your next CHASS senator! I am a first-year pre-business major from the 626! As this year’s ASUCR community service director for the president, I was able to gain a lot of experience creating the Commission on Fair Housing and Neighborhood Relations and working with CalFresh to educate students. As a senator I will focus on helping alleviate the food security issue present on campus, assisting students with children who faced cutbacks in the recent year, address mental health issues facing students and many other projects to help UCR become a better home! If elected I hope to use my term as senator to further help the students and represent CHASS to the best of my ability.
Kiley Atwood – CHASS Senator
Kiley Atwood is a first-year political science major running for CHASS senator. She is a dedicated student-athlete in women’s cross country as well as track and field. Kiley is a representative for women’s cross country in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, an organization created to give athletic teams representation. She also worked on a political campaign as an intern in the campaign headquarters. Kiley is a very open-minded individual who is constantly learning. She prides herself on being a great listener and communicator with a friendly personality and welcoming attitude toward others. As a CHASS senator, Kiley would be dedicated to representing the opinions of students around her and would bring forward ideas from those who struggle to have their voices heard. Kiley knows she would make a great senator because she believes that a great leader is someone who is able to listen and implement ideas that others have.
Luis Huerta – CHASS Senator
Hello, fellow Highlanders! My name is Luis Huerta and I am a first-year political science student running as a candidate for CHASS senator. As a member of the ASUCR Outreach Committee, I have had the opportunity to promote higher education in the Riverside area and I will apply the same passion and drive in doing so to enhance the quality of education all Highlanders can attain. Also, I will work hand-in-hand with the student body and ASUCR to foster an environment that equally and correctly represents all groups on-campus. Ensuring all students are able to thrive academically will be my number one priority along with supporting programs that will support the needs of CHASS students. Let’s create a positive and successful change!
Mehvish Ali – CHASS Senator
As CHASS senator, the position entails policymaking to benefit the diverse student body collectively. If elected, my main goal is to actively advocate student concerns on campus. Being part of the university for two years and belonging to a variety of resource centers, I apprehend what students continue to struggle with. Because UCR prepares students for their careers, I plan to strengthen our student’s occupational skills by collaboratively working with the career center and Costo Hall to encourage all students to promptly establish a strong resume. Furthermore, I aim to improve Riverside community accessibility; specifically getting Uber pool and working with local businesses to have college nights for students to attend beyond campus. Finally, because this university thrives on public service, I believe it is important to recognize its prestige. I intend to increase school spirit by informing students of the impact our school has accomplished on a nationwide scale.
Tony Xu – CHASS Senator
I chose UCR and I will never forget why. The immense diversity and support from the community never ceases to amaze me. In my time here I have sought to make the most of it, from holding positions in Greek life, to active engagement in the University Honors program. However, there are problems that plague our amazing university. As a transfer, commuter and international student I have firsthand experience with the unique challenges facing transfer, commuter and international students. As senator, I will develop solutions to the issues of affordable housing, parking space, support for Costo Hall and improving the relationship between the Riverside community and the university. UCR is where we become the leaders of the future, and the leaders of the future deserve the best education, community and accommodation possible!
Lennin Kuri – CHASS Senator
Lennin Kuri is a first-year, low-income, first-generation political science major. Lennin has been an ongoing minority student advocate through his position as government assistant director under the ASUCR Office of the Vice President of External Affairs. This is also in combination with his involvement with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), where he works on social justice change in the lens of environmental health and justice. Even with his status as a first-year, Lennin has taken it upon himself to get involved in student-based advocacy within ASUCR the summer before his first quarter in college. Through AFSCME 3299 UC union worker advocacy, voter registration and UCSA student organizing, Lennin was one of the few candidates who exemplified passion and urge for effective student advocacy early on. Ideally, Lennin will use his past experiences of social change within his role as UCR CHASS senator by combating the lack of minority representation in student government and creating an inclusive, safer and unifying student atmosphere. This will be done through Lennin’s various campus-based projects such as creating a commission of UCR students to address and hold the UCPD department accountable in regards to sexual assault, threats, racial profiling, etc. Other initiatives such as enhancing student government transparency, cutting ASUCR director stipends, enhancing minority POC representation in policy changes, increasing Costo Hall funding, creating a diverse get-out-the-vote campaign and many more. A vote for Lennin is a vote for the marginalized POC voices within UCR and externally.
Jacky Chang – CHASS Senator
Hello fellow Highlanders! My name is Jacky Chang and I’m running to be your next student representative as CHASS senator. In the past, I have served as an assistant coach on my high school track and field team, which has motivated me to take initiative and engage myself in leadership roles. Currently, I serve as a board member on Accounting Society, which has given me the opportunity to work and connect with fellow students across all grade levels. As a result, I understand the same issues that plague us all such as limited parking, high textbook costs and limited spaces in class. As a CHASS senator, I want to highlight these issues and work with my fellow classmates so that we can push for solutions, ensuring that all students of UCR have the resources they need to succeed.
Joaquin Malta – CHASS Senator
My name is Joaquin Malta; I am Diné (Navajo), and I am an undergraduate psychology major here at UC Riverside. My goal for UCR is to see a greater unification among the students who call themselves Highlanders. I want to be a part of a movement that heads toward a more unified presence on campus, using our diversity to build common ground among all. Within ASUCR, I want to create more opportunities for members to attend meetings of other student organizations, as well as open more communications for student organizations to communicate with ASUCR directly. I want students to feel and know that they have a voice on campus, and the established presence of ASUCR can be a collaborative one, not an unfamiliar one. With these goals in mind, I truly believe that we Highlanders can create R’unity in R’community.
Justin Domicillo – CHASS Senator
Hey folks, I am Justin Domecillo and I am running for to be a CHASS senator for the 2018-2019 year. As a transfer student for the year of 2017-2018, I have been thoroughly engaged with ASUCR as an assistant director for the Office of Student Advocacy (now called LobbyCore), an executive board member for the Philosophy Club at UCR and a vocal advocate for Costo Hall and its resource centers. I am running so that I may change the image students have of ASUCR — I want the phrase, “ASUCR doesn’t care” to be a distant memory. To accomplish this, I am introducing senate bills that will allow student voices to take priority during senate meetings; if students are there to speak, it is the role of a leader to listen. A senator cannot guide and meet the needs of students if we shut our eyes and close our ears to them. Furthermore, I am working to get the bathrooms on campus to be more accessible by making the doors open electronically — this is to ensure that all students, regardless of ability, are able to use the restroom with dignity and ease. As a CHASS senator, I am committed toward making ASUCR and UCR as a whole a much more accessible, represented community.
Asia Ou – CHASS Senator
My name is Asia Ou and I am running for ASUCR CHASS senator. I am a second-year political science major concentrating in public service. The student organizations that I am involved with on campus are ASUCR, University of California Student Association and College Democrats. I currently serve as an ASUCR senate intern under CHASS Senator Roy Tongilava. My platform for UCR is to advocate for accessibility and affordability, promote a safer campus and sustain a diverse community for all students.
Jonathan Escobar – CHASS Senator
My name is Jonathan Escobar, a first-year CHASS political science and history major and I am hoping to serve you in the ASUCR Senate! There is much that can be done and I intend to do as much as possible when elected. My major goals include creating better means of communication between ASUCR and the students it represents, and help reduce the cost of attending UCR. Because UCR is such a diverse community, full of many cultures, it is easy for people to feel unheard or excluded. As senator, I will reach out to these communities and ensure that everyone feels represented by their student leaders. In a similar way, ASUCR funds should be used in a way that benefits all students. So upon being elected I will begin a process of diverting these funds into more productive activities, such as helping students in need purchase school materials.
Juan Riley – CHASS Senator
Hello Highlanders! My name is Juan Riley and I am running to represent CHASS students as your senator. As a senator, I plan to reach out to those hidden within our diverse UCR community and provide students a voice for their opinion on injustices in our campus in addition to helping them in whatever they need to flourish as students and residents of the Riverside community. I have had many leadership opportunities in my life, being captain for both the US Youth Soccer National Team and my soccer team for Weston, the city I used to represent in Florida. These experiences have helped me drive the people I embodied to serve and better the community as well as ourselves with events, such as holding philanthropies to help young kids in Haiti. I believe that my diverse background and social outreach could bring in more involvement from students in different areas of the university to spark a motivation for the community and university advancement.
Alex Zhou – CHASS Senator
I am a second-year psychology major with a pre-med focus, and I am running for CHASS senator. I come from Arcadia, a small city in LA County. I am a first-generation college student and I understand the struggle of major expectations from both family and society, so I try my best to achieve the best grades possible. I believe better parking is the key to better grades and further academic success. Due to the distances between classes and parking lots, people often have to arrive much earlier than their class is scheduled, and often people choose to not go to class because of parking. I plan to create more efficient and more abundant parking spaces for students which will not only bump up the attendance rates for students but also give them more time to study for exams and more time to complete assignments.
Alyssa Tocker – CHASS Senator
Hi everyone! I am Alyssa Tocker, a third-year sustainability studies and theatre major and programming director for GCAP. Over my past few years here at UCR I have been involved in several ASUCR committees, and have organized free programs for students. I would now like to take this opportunity to give back to students a step further by being CHASS senator. If elected, my sole purpose will be to make sure students feel accurately and properly represented by their student government. Students and student unions should feel their representatives are approachable and easy to access, not above them or disconnected. I will do this by having office hours in a place accessible to all, such as the HUB, or other equally accessible buildings on campus. I will also focus on the theatre, film and digital production (TFDP) department, food insecurity and Wi-Fi issues. Vote for me: Be represented, be heard!
Julian Gonzalez – CHASS Senator
My name is Julian Gonzalez and I am a second-year political science major. I am running for CHASS Senator to help ensure that UC Riverside becomes more inclusive, diverse, and safe for the students. My main goals as Senator would be to increase the amount of resources the student body has available to them during exam weeks and to continue the fight to lower the cost of textbooks. The high cost of textbooks is an issue that affects every single student on campus; by getting administration and faculty support to shift away from using access codes and being more thoughtful when assigning course materials, this would alleviate the anxieties brought on the students by the cost of these books. As your future CHASS Senator, I believe in being accessible to all students to properly assist students on issues that affect and are important to them.
Munther Tabel – CHASS Senator
My name is Munther Tabel, and I am a current philosophy major and political science minor at the University of California Riverside. I am a transfer student from Mt. San Jacinto College and this is my second quarter at UCR as a junior. I plan on running for the position of CHASS Senator and look forward to doing so. My passion for politics began at an early age, especially coming from a very politically involved family, therefore it was almost impossible not to develop an aspiration for a political background. I chose to run for CHASS Senator amongst all other positions at UCR because I think my proficiencies and capabilities can contribute to the Senate Chamber and Legislative Branch available at UCR. If appointed this position, I will be overwhelmed with delight to direct, supervise, conduct and articulate the affairs and policies of ASUCR, along with stimulating the interest and prosperity of all its members.
Joel Sanchez – BCOE Senator
Joel is a dedicated first-year mechanical engineering student. He has been heavily involved in multiple organizations (SHPE, SWE, ASME, IEEE) even before his first term. He loves tutoring others in STEM disciplines, being very involved in outreach events and volunteering for events by other BCOE organizations. His passion toward helping and benefitting other students than himself is his motivation to run for BCOE senator. His platform to help the BCOE student body is to provide more tutoring services for engineering students, allow more connections for students to be involved in a BCOE organization and give more funding to BCOE organizations for outreach and development projects. Joel’s agenda is to guide and benefit present and future BCOE students during and after their studies at UCR. Joel would like to thank all the people supporting his campaign for BCOE senator for the 2018-2019 school year.
Maurice Armstrong – BCOE Senator
As an engineering student, I have seen many of my fellow peers leave the field of engineering for more open-minded and less relentless areas of study. It is said that 60 percent of students who begin in engineering leave or drop out. As BCOE senator I wish to address this area of concern by creating event and opportunities that help inspire and remind students why they choose engineering in the first place. As a senator, I wish to continue the Undergraduate Research Expo and I would like to begin a seminar series that would exhibit research and contemporary problems in the field. In addition, I would like to create and strengthen ties with industry by reinvigorating the Industrial Mentoring Program. Equally important, I as a BCOE senator would like to promote self-care among engineering students as well as across the campus. Engineering students study the most and sleep the least according to studies, which can lead to high levels of anxiety, depression and other mental health issue. Thus, I wish to begin to cultivate a place where students do not feel degraded by talking about their issues.
Ivan Acquaah – BCOE Senator
Students of UCR! My name is Ivan Acquaah and I am pleased to inform you all that I am running to be your next BCOE senator! I am very excited to work with all of you to make the UCR experience better not only for future classes to come, but for us that are here now. As a representative of UCR, I intend to encompass all of the values of our ideal Highlander (our Tartan Soul): To demonstrate integrity, accountability, excellence and respect. More importantly, I hope to be an ear as well as a voice for all of you to see what changes should be made and how best to implement them.
Jonathan Thai – BCOE Senator
My name is Jonathan Thai, I am a second-year computer science major and I will be running in this year’s ASUCR elections as a candidate for the BCOE senator position. I would like to get involved and represent the student body to the best of my abilities. As a senator for BCOE, I would push for more beneficial programs for students to succeed. Such programs may be SI sessions and professional development workshops. Due to difficult classes and intense course loads, students feel overwhelmed and unprepared for many classes they take. With the addition of more SI sessions, it will allow students to stay on track with their classes and further cement topics from their courses.
Sarah Al-Khalili – BCOE Senator
My name is Sarah Al-Khalili and I am a first-year bioengineering major. I am running to become your BCOE senator because I feel that as BCOE students, our voices are the least heard on this campus. As BCOE senator, I will tackle issues such as reducing the costs of unnecessary expenses like lab notebooks, lab coats, access codes, clickers and textbooks. BCOE students constantly have to pay extra fees on top of tuition just to be able to take the classes needed to fulfill major requirements, and I hope to be the one who initiates these changes. As senator, I hope to bridge the gaps between different communities on campus to highlight its diverse atmosphere.
Kenneth Thai – CNAS Senator
Hello Highlanders! I am a third-year biology major, and I am working toward a career in medicine. Coming to UCR, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and undertake things that I have never imagined. As I immersed myself into UCR, I have had life-changing experiences in the Literacy Initiative, where volunteers read to kids in elementary schools, VN Hope, a two week medical mission to Vietnam and the pre-medical fraternity, Phi Delta Epsilon. Getting to work with students that have graduated, to students that have recently come to UCR, I have noticed an enormous spectrum of ways to improve our school. From hearing ideas of “what if” to “what I hope to see,” I have been motivated to run for CNAS senator to better the experience for current and future UCR students. The platforms I will be advocating for are student accessibility and pride.
Abigail Cortes – CNAS Senator
Hi! My name is Abigail Cortes and in this year’s student government elections I am proud to announce that I will be running for CNAS senator. I currently am a representative of the Women’s Resource Center here on campus, as well as an officer in a student organization called the Literacy Initiative. Being a woman of color from a low income background in a college environment has been an eye opening experience for me, especially considering my exposure to our great multicultural centers here on campus. I have embraced being a woman and embraced being Latinx. As a senator, I hope to promote our multicultural programs in Costo Hall to better inform the less-informed about our unique experiences as women and people of color. Furthermore, I hope to use my position to do outreach to local schools through ASUCR to promote a better future for young individual in our local communities. Thank you!
Andy G. Veliz – CNAS Senator
Candidate did not submit a photo.
I, Andy Veliz, am a second-year undeclared CNAS major working toward statistics. I am running for CNAS senator in an effort to make college life less stressful on the students and improving campus life. Students spend more than $100 on parking every quarter, yet they still struggle on finding parking, making them late to class or missing their class entirely. Working toward teachers to use the same textbook every quarter instead of access codes online will help students save money. With access codes, students are unable to resell them, and they only allow access for the quarter; therefore, if students need the textbook for more than a quarter they will have to repay the fee to access the textbook. College can be stressful for students, and I believe in making ways less stressful for students and affordable for them.
Josiah Davis – CNAS Senator
Candidate did not submit a bio.
All candidate photos courtesy of ASUCR.
