Juniperangelica's OP Platforms, explained

My intentions and goals for the ASUC Presidency are rooted in my own experiences as a student who understands the difference between surviving the university, and thriving. My office will be shaped to meet the challenges that so many of us need the president to be; I will strive for a presidency that puts forth an appropriate and aggressive agenda which prioritizes student welfare, and aims for the excellence of the UC Berkeley education. The president must understand the scope of student need, while supporting the existing work of executives and senators who make up the ASUC team of student leaders. My input will frame the ASUC’s agenda and my leadership will support the follow through. While my work plan shifts with the direction of the student body, here is my vision.

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surviving to thriving

1. Institutionalizing emergency services/streamline

   1. My office will continue advocacy for the institutionalization of direct/emergency services for students facing immediate housing, food and financial insecurity. This means streamlining the support process for students identified as housing/food insecure to receive immediate and sufficient services until more stable, ongoing support is secured.

   2. In my role, I intend to support the securement of adequate funding and space-allocation for basic need services.

2. Accessible living

   1. Parallel to my current work, I intend to push the university to follow through with the housing master plan, emphasizing the need for more housing that is AFFORDABLE. Housing should not be viewed as the solution for more profit, but the solution to housing insecurity.

   2. Housing for families and graduates within the UC Village is especially important to me as I balance my undergraduate career and raising my child. My office will lead efforts to connect the UC Village with campus and improve the accessibility of long-term housing for students.

   3. As occupiers of Ohlone Land, our work must center and hold conversations to house our students without further gentrifying the Berkeley community, displacing long-term residents.

3. Aiding students through financial hardship

   1. The Cancellation for Nonpayment Policy is a direct obstacle that the university has no intention on repealing. My office will continue aggressive advocacy to end the policy that directly impacts low-income students.

   2. We will work with Sproul Hall to also find immediate solutions to protect students from cancellation until the policy is repealed. This means increasing the possibility of being waived from the policy, as well as reforming the financial aid office to guarantee expedited processing of aid packages for students who could not otherwise pay.

4. Public education as prevention

   1. Public education can and will shift the community’s perspective of basic need insecurity and the need to ask for help. Through campus wide public education campaigns, we will support students in understanding the bigger picture of poverty; using data collected, we will help students understand they are not alone and work to reduce self-shame in utilizing campus resources.

a safer campus, a stronger community

1. Increasing campus conversation, rethinking safety

   1. Some students need police to feel safe. Some students feel safer without police presence. Our goal is to create an environment that everyone feels and is safe while on campus. We will continue our current efforts and create a community advisory board that engages in trauma-informed conversations, producing competent and in-depth proposals regarding police presence on campus and any major events, per the Major Events Policy.

   2. My office will also continue the work in creating the ASUC UCPD Student Police Review and Campus Safety commission that offers students a platform to express concerns, file complaints to peers and work through intense campus events to protect student emotional and mental welfare.

2. #TimesUp Berkeley (slate-wide platform with Nuha and Rizza)

   1. Our politics must always be survivor-first. As president, I will hold those in power accountable to implementing trauma-informed policies that demand follow through adequate and meaningful investigations, dismissals and action.

   2. Our office will lead the ASUC in holding itself accountable as well, strengthening our conduct policies to ensure that elected student officials are held to the highest standards of conduct and removed when policies are broken.

shifting the campus culture

1. ...to a healthier academic rigor

   1. While the rigor of UC Berkeley upholds our reputation, I intend on initiating conversations to transform the unhealthy aspects of academic demand. This will include faculty and students working to reduce the mentality that academics are worth the sacrifice of student mental health. We will host workshops and lectures that help students prioritize wellness and care.

   2. As a disabled student myself, I plan to use my positionality within the ASUC to push forward public education initiatives that work to end the stigma of academic accommodations and encourages students in need to utilize DSP accommodations.

2. ...to a supportive place for ALL students

   1. Supporting students from historically marginalized communities means making sure students of color feel seen and valued on campus. I will continue the Speaker Series facilitated by current ASUC president to invite guest speakers to campus who will spark healthy, community-based conversation.

   2. Supporting students of marginalized communities means supporting the work students are doing to recruit and retain their own communities. As I’ve done since my first semester at Cal, which was parallel to the Fight for Spaces campaigns, my office will support each need of QARC and bridges in the continued fight for long-term space allocation.

3. ...to a more effective ASUC environment

   1. Working within the ASUC has been an emotionally-taxing experience that is rooted in the discombobulation of the institution. As the elected leader of the student government, I intend on working with my peer executives to restructure processes of progress, collaboration and accountability. This includes the work I am already doing in garnering student involvement and investment in campus committees representation.

   2. My office will initiate needed trainings and dialogue sessions that will build upon the experience and education of future elected officials to ensure a respectful, less-hostile work environment for all students involved.