The Executive Cabinet of ASUCI as accordance to the by-laws, has“the final vote and passage of legislation shall be confirmed by signature on said legislation by the Executive Cabinet, at which time it shall take immediate effect.”
The Executive Cabinet of the Associated Students at UC Irvine convened on September 10th, 2013 to authorize the resolution entitled Against Janet Napolitano’s Appointment as UC President that was passed by the Legislative Council on September 3rd, 2013. A majority of the Executive Cabinet has voted to affirm the aforementioned resolution passed by our legislative body. As elected representatives of our campus community, we believe that it is our responsibility to take action based on how policies, decisions, and events taken by decision makers affect our constituents. ASUCI through representation on the University of California Student Association on various occasions has heard UCI students voice their dissent about Janet Napolitano’s appointment. Over the course of ASUCI’s efforts to consult the student body, students have largely expressed their disapproval of this appointment, whereas it has resulted in widespread expressions of fear and concern among the undocumented student community and their allies.
Students across the UC system have been consistently advocating for UCSA to take a stance against Napolitano’s appointment and to stand in allyship with the undocumented student community. On August 11th at the UC Student Congress in Irvine, CA, a coalition of UC students, many of which were from UC Irvine, asked the UCSA board of directors to take a stance against her appointment. The response to these students’ demands was to postpone taking a vote at the next board meeting after each External/Executive VP could gather information from their respective constituents and from a UCSA survey that was circulated in order to get responses from constituents. On September 7th, 2013, at the University of California Berkeley, the UC Student Association voted not to take a stance against her appointment. Only six board members voted in favor of taking such a stance with 9 dissenting. The Executive Vice President of ASUCI, Melissa Gamble, stated that she believed that “the votes cast at the UCSA board meeting were not reflective of the survey responses acquired by UCSA.”
The UCI student community in opposition to Janet Napolitano’s appointment have voiced their concerns with Napolitano’s background as the Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama’s Administration in which she implemented policies that deported more immigrants than any of other administration. Undocumented students and allies have expressed that they are impacted that Napolitano will implement anti-immigration policies while UC President. We applaud the action taken by Legislative Council in the form of a Vote of No Confidence due to demands of the UCI community against her appointment because of her implementation of racist, anti-immigration policies that have disastrously and unapologetically affected undocumented students and families.
Furthermore, we condemn the decision of the UC Student Association board of directors to not take a stance against her appointment. Students have organized repeatedly and proactively since the announcement of Napolitano’s nomination and for elected representatives to not vote against her appointment as asked for by their constituents is an abuse of power and disrespectful for those calling her dissent. If there were also students who were organizing for her appointment, this would present a different scenario.The decision chosen by the UC Student Association is worrisome and concerning and brings the question of legitimacy and accountability that the organization has to its students.
Lastly, because of the UC Student Association’s rejection of a vote of no confidence against Napolitano, in addition to other actions taken by UCSA in recent memory, we would like to urge ASUCI and the UCI student body to reevaluate our commitment to the UC Student Association.
Sincerely,
President Nicole Hisatomi
Executive Vice President Melissa Gamble
Academic Vice President Skyla Zhang
Administrative Affairs Vice President Tony Tizcareño
Contact the Executive Vice President at executivevp@asuci.uci.edu for any questions. The Executive Vice President serves as UCI’s undergraduate representative on the UC Student Association Board of Directors.
R49-03 Against Janet Napolitano’s Appointment: https://asuci.uci.edu/legislativebranch/legislation/
All bills and resolutions passed or defeated by the Summer Council must pass before
the Regular Council for full review during the first three meetings of the Fall Quarter.
Review is defined as examining in discussion without motions.
