ASUC Endorsements

Please accept my apologies for not posting my endorsements sooner, but I was giving as much time as possible to allow for candidates to return my endorsement surveys.

And the endorsements go to….

For President: Travis “SEO” Garcia

While I don’t expect Garcia to actually win this race and would have recommended that he also file to run for a Senate seat, he does bring to the table the best possible platform. Most importantly, this is the only candidate that is free from the baggage of both the Gabriel Legacy and CalSERVE’s history.

For Executive Vice President: Taylor Allbright

Taylor Allbright has a long history of working across party lines to serve students. After her first (failed) senate campaign, Allbright still worked within the system as a student leader. Moreover, this is the only candidate running that I believe actually knows what she is getting into if she were to win. Senator Allbright knows the ASUC structure, knows what students want, and knows how to get the projects done.

For Academic Affairs Vice President: Carolina “Caro” Jauregui

Jauregui lists specific, tangible goals to benefit the student body—namely restoring dead days and the drop deadline. For a long time, these were the goals of Student Action. Unfortunately, SA seems to have forgotten the role of the various officers and Curtis Lee seems to only list the constitutional duties of the AAVP as his campaign platform.

For External Affair Vice President: Justin “Screw Residents” Azadivar

Azadiver, otherwise known as Beetle, has the longest history of advocating for students in Berkeley. Also, his goal of world domination is infinitely more attainable than those of his opponents. Making use of a ridiculously liberal student organization (UCSA) or even more liberal city council (Berkeley City Council) is useless as nobody will take either entity seriously. Likewise, it is laughable to think that this office can clean the streets of Berkeley and make them safe—EAVP candidates have run on that platform for over a decade now and all have failed.

For Senate:
137. Alex Mastrodonato, Apple Engineering
95. Chad “Big Axe” Kunert, Berkeley College Republicans
70. Marybeth Moore, Unite Greek

Gay Frat Dudes!

I have also been negligent in welcoming Sigma Epsilon Omega to campus. ΣΕΩ is promoting itself as the new Gay fraternity at Berkeley. Although I welcome any attempt to expand the Cal Greek Community and wish the best for the men of Sigma Epsilon Omega, I question whether there is a need for a Gay fraternity on campus.

Most fraternities on campus are accepting of Gay members. In fact, I know of few that do not have openly Gay brothers in their active membership and do know of one that welcomed a transgendered man. When I came out of the closet, my fraternity brothers were among the most accepting people in my life at the time.

More importantly, unlike other living environments including dorms and co-ops, fraternities are values-based organizations. Dorms and Co-ops can benefit from having a random mix of people or a themed living environment. Greek houses, however, are intended to be people of similar values living together in a brotherhood or sisterhood, building familial ties. While Gay people absolutely should be included in these environments, these values transcend sexual orientation. Those that want to live in a Gay themed house should look towards Oscar Wilde House, an apartment or house shared with Gay friends, or the LGBT themed dorm.

I do welcome Sigma Epsilon Omega onto campus and wish them the best of luck. Hopefully, the brothers of that fraternity will develop a brotherhood based on shared values beyond the acceptance of homosexuality. There is always room on campus for another Greek house. Best of Luck!