USAC Officer Evaluation: Eduardo Velazquez, General Representative 1

Eduardo Velazquez stepped into the general representative 1 position for the Undergraduate Students Association at UCLA with a clear set of platforms. And he did an admirable job at pushing them closer to reality.

His campaign for general representative stood firmly on four platforms, and they largely panned out.

Velazquez wanted to advocate for more one-on-one support for students with disabilities from the Center of Accessible Education and worked closely with Facilities Commissioner Lily Shaw. They had meetings with CAE representatives to discuss needs for students, collaborated on campus events for students with disabilities, particularly film screenings tailored for them.

Shaw took the lead on these initiatives and eventually secured funding for renovations to the CAE space. While Velazquez didn’t wish to take most of the credit away from Shaw’s work, the Board recognizes his office’s work in facilitating those meetings and collaborating with Shaw’s office to secure funding and provide for students with disabilities.

Implementing different sensitivity trainings with Counseling and Psychological Services to better support marginalized communities was another platform on Velazquez’s list, and he made progress throughout the year toward better serving them.

He collaborated with Student Wellness Commissioner Mihika Sridhar’s office to create a survey and feedback form for students and student organizations from marginalized communities to directly let CAPS know how their services are helping or not helping them. The data will be shared with CAPS counselors so they can tailor their services better for marginalized communities. His goal before his term ends is to get CAPS counselors to attend all of the sensitivity trainings for different groups like LGBTQ or undocumented students.

His office was relatively transparent and available to student organizations on campus, which helped his platform of increasing funding for cultural events on campus. There wasn’t much pushback from administration to get these events funded, so all it took was his office directly asking for the funding, in which the editorial board commends Velazquez for taking initiative in helping serve students.

Velazquez’s final platform involved waiving study list charges for low-income students to increase accessibility. While the COVID-19 pandemic derailed much of his office’s work toward fulfilling this platform, Velazquez pointed out that the almost instantaneous manner in which the school waived study list fees for spring quarter indicates that it should be able to continue doing so in a more permanent sense.

Ultimately, Velazquez and his office made significant progress toward each of his platforms throughout the year, and the Board commends their work for fulfilling them while being an open resource to student organizations on campus.