The student regent is a position on the University of California Board of Regents created by a 1974

California ballot proposition In California, a ballot proposition is a referendum or an initiative measure that is submitted to the electorate for a direct decision or direct vote (or plebiscite). If passed, it can alter one or more of the articles of the Constitution of ...

to represent

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

(UC) students on the university system's governing board. Student regents serve an approximately one-year term as 'student regent-designate', followed by a one-year term as a full voting member of the Regents. The 2022–2023 student regent is Marlenee Blas Pedrail, a

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

law student, and the student regent-designate is Merhawi Tesfai, a

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

graduate student.

Selection process

Virtually any UC student in good academic standing may apply to be student regent.

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and

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regional UC student nominating commissions annually select ten semifinalists from those who apply. These semifinalists are then interviewed by the

University of California Student Association The University of California Student Association (UCSA) is an active 501(c)(3) unincorporated association, purposed as a student association of all University of California (UC) students. Its charter states that it "shall exist to: serve the int ...

(UCSA) board of directors. The board chooses three applicants, who are then interviewed by the Regents’ Special Committee to Select a Student Regent. The Regents may reject the list of finalists. The committee then recommends a nominee to the full board of

University of California Regents The Regents of the University of California (also referred to as the Board of Regents to distinguish the board from the corporation it governs of the same name) is the governing board of the University of California (UC), a state university sys ...

, which then votes on the nominee. Once approved, the nominee becomes 'student regent-designate', shadowing the student regent for approximately one

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until the beginning of their formal, year-long term on July 1 of the next year. Traditionally, the position alternates between undergraduate and graduate students as well as between the various UC campuses. However, some students involved in the selection process have said that it may be biased towards

graduate students Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

as well as students from

and

, traditionally considered the

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es of the UC system.

History

Student regents have been noted for their support of affirmative action and diversity, and opposition of

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and fee increases. In May 2011, student regent Jesse Cheng resigned after being arrested for allegedly committing

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against a UCLA graduate student. Cheng was found responsible for "unwanted touching" by

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's student conduct office, but the

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declined to file charges against him. The student regent-designate at the time, Alfredo Mireles, was appointed voting student regent after Cheng's resignation. In 2013, the nomination of Sadia Saifuddin, the first

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student regent, was criticized by pro-Israel and conservative entities, such as StandWithUs and

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, due to Saifuddin's past support for

disinvestment from Israel Disinvestment from Israel is a campaign conducted by religious and political entities which aims to use disinvestment to pressure the government of Israel to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured during the 1967 ...

. In the final vote to appoint Saifuddin, only Regent Richard C. Blum abstained from voting in favor. Regent

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was not present at the time of the vote. During June 2013, student regent Jonathan Stein was a member of the Regents committee that selected Janet Napolitano to be nominated and presented to the full Board of Regents for a confirmation vote. In 2014, the appointment of Saifuddin's successor, Avi Oved, was opposed by students and student groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine, due to

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

and transparency concerns. ''

The Daily Californian ''The Daily Californian'' (''Daily Cal'') is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. It formerly published a print edition four days a week on Monday, Tuesd ...

'' reported that when running for an elected

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position at

, Oved received campaign donations from Israeli-American businessman

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that were secretly routed through Hillel's UCLA chapter. Oved and his supporters responded that UCLA's student government election regulations did not require disclosure of donors, and that the opposition was motivated by

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. The

UC Student Association The University of California Student Association (UCSA) is an active 501(c)(3) unincorporated association, purposed as a student association of all University of California (UC) students. Its charter states that it "shall exist to: serve the inte ...

nominating committee voted to delay its nomination of Oved in order to fully investigate, but the Board of Regents rejected the delay and voted to appoint Oved, with only Saifuddin voting in opposition. In January 2016, Oved and his successor, Marcela Ramirez, attended costly Regents' dinners paid for by university funds. The dinners were criticized by state legislative leaders, government watchdog groups, student government leaders, and students at large. The dinners appeared to violate university policy, and after ''

The San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The p ...

'' publicly reported the dinners' existence and funding, university leaders said they would no longer pay for the dinners. In May 2016, UC Berkeley Law student Paul Monge Rodriguez was nominated to be student regent for the 2017-2018 academic year. Monge previously criticized Berkeley's discipline of then-law dean Sujit Choudhry for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...

, calling it a "slap on the wrist".

List of student regents

References

External links

* at the

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual c ...

website *
Regent Paul Monge
at the Board of Regents website *

at the Board of Regents website

* ttp://www.dailycal.org/2015/05/13/representative-or-trustee/ "Representative or Trustee? The Complex History of the UC Student Regent"at ''

'' {{University of California University of California regents University of California Political history of California Politics of California