When many students walk by Kerckhoff Hall, they brush it off as a coffee house, not realizing that inside those walls also lies the official voice of the entire UCLA undergraduate student body – now and throughout history.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council meets every week in a small Kerckhoff conference room to make budget allocations, discuss politics, and take stances on significant events that have affected the local and often global population.
From the Vietnam War to apartheid to the war in Iraq, USAC has given a voice to students, especially during the last quarter of the 20th century.
Council began to increase the use of its global voice in the 1960s and ’70s, addressing issues surrounding the Vietnam War.
Student leaders and councilmembers organized a massive candlelight march in 1969 to call for peace.
Also in a gesture for peace, the undergraduate student government, then known as the Student Legislative Council, passed a resolution in 1975 that opposed the further escalation of U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia.
“USAC can’t change the world, but USAC can influence change by changing how UCLA interacts with the world,” said Mike Cohn, a former councilmember who now works in the Center for Student Programming.
USAC did have a role in the course of world events when Cohn was in office in 1985.
In protest of apartheid, the council during the time passed a resolution that urged the University of California Board of Regents to divest all holdings linked to the government of South Africa.
The gesture made by council brought fresh attention to the issue by the City of Los Angeles, said USAC Administrative Representative Rick Tuttle, who worked for CSP at the time.
The Los Angeles City Council then passed an ordinance for the city to divest from South Africa, which led to the UC Board of Regents divesting. Soon after, the United States moved toward divesting as well, Tuttle said.
Cohn said he remembers the Associated Students of UCLA boycotted certain soda companies that had not divested from South Africa.
“The trigger of consciousness started at UCLA,” Tuttle said.
The student voice also became stronger due to efforts of past student leaders who started at UCLA.
Former council presidents combined efforts to establish the Student Regent position in the 1974-1975 school year. The student regent is the only student with voting powers on the UC Board of Regents.
“Without a question, it is the most important student position in the country. ... It has a lot of influence,” Tuttle said.
Past councils have also voiced their opinions on UC admissions policies.
During the 1995-1996 school year, council expressed its disapproval with the policies SP-1 and SP-2, which ended the consideration of race and gender in UC admission policy.
In March 2001, student leaders, along with councilmembers, staged a day-long rally that called the UC Regents to repeal the measures. Two months later, they got their wish.
This year’s council has continued the trend of voicing a student opinion on important global issues.
During fall quarter this school year, council passed a resolution condemning a possible war in Iraq.
On March 5, councilmembers and other student leaders staged a walkout in protest of the war. The walkout drew roughly 2,000 students, faculty and community members who filled Westwood Plaza.
Today, councilmembers are still conscious of the humble but sizeable impact council is capable of making.
“Council taking stances on global issues isn’t really futile because of opportunities of personal connection,” said Campus Events Commissioner Ryan Wilson.