The Case of the Candidates

The Youth and Voice of Campus, By and For the Students

April 17th, 2024 | The Prestige Editorial Team

The ASUCM Senate candidates of 2024. Photo by Gabriel Castro.

UC Merced’s political sphere has long been a lesser-known feature of campus, and its participants are typically limited to those whose fields of study revolve around policy and law. But in the aftermath of a particularly tumultuous year and with elections in full swing, ASUCM has attracted the attention of more than just political science students.

The Associated Students of UC Merced (ASUCM) plays an instrumental role in facilitating day-to-day operations at UC Merced. Much of ASUCM’s job consists of delegating funding to various clubs and events on campus, which is how many students first become aware of ASUCM to begin with. Its student officials act as a liaison between admin and the student body, and are given increased resources and freedom to pursue large-scale projects that have the potential to alter the landscape of UC Merced for years to come.

Many call ASUCM a student government, and that’s correct: it’s structurally modeled after the three-branched American government, consisting of a panel of 16 senators who author and vote on legislation, a Court that interprets the bylaws of ASUCM, and an executive board that entails several specialized positions. Just like the government, the president can veto bills, the senators can filibuster, and the courts can impeach. And just like the government, you have a say in who holds those seats.

ASUCM is a select group of student representatives that influence the very same university that you attend. Just as with any democracy, to be apathetic towards politics is to be privileged, and though UC Merced continues to grow and thrive, it is not yet financially able to grant us all that privilege of apathy. There’s a power in staying informed and proactive, and that power is to shape UC Merced into what you want it to be. Keeping up with your candidates’ beliefs, goals, and credentials is absolutely necessary to make sure that all your favorite clubs, events, and programs are given the attention (and funding) that they deserve.

The upcoming ASUCM elections signify the end of a particularly strenuous academic year full of broken records, some positive and some negative. Since last year’s elections, UC Merced has seen the inauguration of an almost entirely new Senate, a meeting running for a record-breaking total of 7 hours, and all-time-high public attendance amidst calls for an official acknowledgement of the genocide taking place in Gaza; all amongst countless other episodes each worthy of their own articles. To say that this year has been eventful would be an understatement. 

Perhaps it’s then only fitting that this year’s election, too, brings a record-high number of candidates. This year there are 38 candidates, the highest number since the pandemic according to Alex Luu, a long-serving Court Justice of ASUCM and the Judicial Supervisor of the ASUCM elections commission. The candidates have been campaigning for the past week and made their first collective appearance at this Tuesday’s Meet the Candidates.  

Over the past week, the editorial staff of The Prestige has met with some of the candidates to discuss their beliefs, ideas, goals, and hopes if they are elected into their position. Many represent the interests of a wide range of organization, from official campus departments to RCOs (i.e. clubs) to other loose campus or City of Merced affiliations. In examining their beliefs, we as students can enter this year’s elections as informed voters who will elect the best people for the jobs. 

Disclaimer: The Prestige does not officially endorse any candidates. All candidates were extended to opportunity to interview. Those who accepted were asked to disclose any personal affiliations and assigned to a staffer with no overlap in affiliation to prevent conflict of interest.