The April 3 meeting also saw Umar Shaikh be elected as Senate Pro Tempore
By JORDAN POLTORAK— campus@theaggie.org
Four ambassadors from Aggie Mental Health addressed the ASUCD Senate during their April 2 meeting about plans to defund the program and asked for support.
They urged Senators during open forum to take the issue up with UC Davis Student Affairs, who is cutting their funding.
Daniel Mojica, a fourth-year political science and psychology major as well as former ASUCD external affairs commission chair, addressed the table first.
“Our biggest concern is to get the help for students across campus,” Mojica said. “We do not just support students, we also support faculty and those who come to Davis’ campus to receive our services.”
The ambassadors emphasized that they were not asking for financial support but rather for Senators to use their voices and advocate for the importance of the organization.
“I know a lot of you [ran campaigns] on mental health,” Mojica said. “Now is the time to do something about those promises made to the students.”
The organization focuses on peer-to-peer support, “to ensure that mental health resources are accessible to all students and ensure their academic success,” per a statement posted on the Instagram page @save.amha, dedicated to saving the program.
“I understand that it is a hard time to be a university in America,” Alyssa Reid, a third-year psychology major and mental health ambassador, said. “However, public health is not where we can take cuts. Students now more than ever need access to mental health resources.”
The organization has less than two weeks to petition for their funding, according to the ambassadors at the meeting.
Senate Pro Tempore and Other Business
Two nominations were proposed to be Senate Pro Tempore, the legislature’s official representative, succeeding Senator Dhilena Wickramasinghe. They were Senator Umar Shaikh, a second-year political science major, and Senator Amrita Julka, a second-year political science public service and human development major. After a vote, Senator Shaikh was elected to the position for this quarter.
The Senate then moved into unit adoptions. The Executive Advisory Council typically has one senator representative, but when presented with his options, ASUCD President Gaius Ilupeju chose both Senators Ezra Rubin and Zack Dollins.
Senate Bill #67, which allows ASUCD commissions to turn in a written quarterly report rather than a presentation, also passed unanimously at the meeting.
During open forum, Senator Solana Rodriguez shared that she is working on a list of immigration resources that she will be presenting to classes in the following weeks.
The meeting was called to order at 6:18 p.m. and adjourned at 7:26 p.m.
Written by: Jordan Poltorak — campus@theaggie.org
