AS Senate Recap – 5/21/25

text by News Director

26 May, 2025

This recap first appeared in the May 26 edition of the KCSB News Weekly Newsletter.

The AS Senate is a group of elected student representatives which serves as the policy-making body of Associated Students. Every Wednesday at 6:30 PM, the AS Senate convenes to pass bills and resolutions, hear reports from Boards, Committees/Commissions, and Units (BCUs), and hold public forum. 

KCSB’s Joyce Chi summarizes their most recent meeting on May 21, 2025.

The 76th Senate is sworn in.

 

A member of Judicial Council addressed conflict of interest allegations against her. The Daily Nexus’ Michelle Cisneros and Jack Dindia reported last week that Councilmember Josie Penix, who helped write the decisions against Senator Dan Siddiqui, sent a photo of now-President Le Anh Metzger’s campaign board to her sorority group chat. Siddiqui wrote by email that a sorority member informed him the photo was “interpreted as an indication of who Josie supports and who to vote for,” and that Penix allegedly did not send photos of other candidates’ boards.

In a statement posted to the Judicial Council website, Penix said she was “encouraging my sorority sisters to participate in the election” and emphasized she never explicitly stated her preference for any candidate. “These unfounded accusations are merely student politics at play,” Penix wrote. “I have absolutely no connection to Le Anh Metzger, and therefore no conflict of interest.”

–

Last week’s meeting marked the end of the 75th Senate’s term. Much of the meeting was devoted to a closed session hearing about budget deliberations (specifically, campus organizations’ rollover requests). Also, you’ll recall that there was no meeting the previous week because of quorum wasn’t met (a fancy way of saying that not enough Senators showed up), forcing two weeks’ worth of agenda items to be addressed at one meeting.

All this meant that discussion of legislation and proposal at last week’s meeting was abridged, which Senator Taylor Iden called “improper.” 

The Senate was able to pass legislation…

They also approved honoraria for Winter Quarter, but tabled the Outstanding BCU Award Report for Spring Quarter to the next Senate.

Time constraints forced the Senate to indefinitely table a proposal to secure funding for the Black Heritage Cultural Experience, a 10-day trip through the South for Black students to visit historical sites related to slavery and civil rights. The proposal was brought by Senator Alexa Butler, who called her experience with the trip “the most life-changing experience” she had at UCSB. 

Butler expressed frustration that the Senate was not able to discuss and vote on the proposal, (though they passed related legislation), and that she had to make a decision to put the swearing in of the incoming Senate before Black students, which she said was “disrespectful.”

Butler’s discussion of anti-Blackness within the Senate prompted Internal Vice President Açúcar Pinto to raise similar concerns of institutional racism within AS and the Senate and of how Black queer students are treated. 

In a phone call, Pinto explained that unnamed Senators called them “scary” and “aggressive” for attempting to enforce procedural rules for the Senate meetings. Pinto also said they’ve been criticized for not operating “under a system of strict professionalism, which is modeled after white supremacist systems” and which doesn’t allow people to “show emotion” or “to engage in certain types of discussion.”

In their final address, here’s what some members of the 75th Senate said:

  • Senator Paolo Brinderson told the room of incoming Senators and executive officers that “most of you were elected by the student body, while our new President was just elected by four members of the body – Judicial Council.” 
    • Judicial Council Chair Krishna Thaker “categorically den[ied]” the idea that they elected Metzger by disqualifying Siddiqui as part of their decision against him. In an email, Thaker said that the Council “had no control over…the Presidential election being uncontested.” She further wrote that their decision “is independent of this political reality,” and that “it would have been incorrect for the Judicial Council to consider this in our deliberations.”
  • Senator Dalia Gerson said that she entered the Senate “with an open mind” but faced anti-Semitic bullying and discrimination from other Senators and executive officers. Senator Jasmine Amin echoed this: “I cannot leave this Senate without calling [the anti-Semitism] out one more time.” 
  • Senator Aryaman Singh encouraged incoming elected officials to get involved with ongoing efforts in Isla Vista to provide rent support and to establish emergency communication towers: “This association as a whole is a tool for you to help students. This year, we spent a lot – and we still are spending a lot – on interpersonal conflicts, which I regret us doing.”

You can see last week’s agendas here (75th Senate) and here (76th Senate). Meetings are typically held each week at the Flying A Room of the University Center (Main Floor) throughout the quarter, aside from Week 10. You can also watch live and past meetings on the ASUCSB YouTube here.

Posted in News, AS Senate