Newly appointed Associated Students Internal Vice President, Sydney Kupush discusses her goals for the academic year as voter turnout for the special election receives backlash.
By Rebecca Hurtado Fairweather
ISLA VISTA, Calif — On Feb. 15, Sydney Kupush was sworn in to serve as the Associated Students Internal Vice President (IVP). Her appointment came shortly after a controversial election that senators and students have declared as unprecedented.
Previous IVP Bee Schaefer was under scrutiny from members within Associated Students for failure to uphold the responsibilities of the role listed within legal code, including holding senate meetings. Kupush has maintained a steady winter quarter, appointing new senators at the beginning of the quarter, and keeping transparency within AS.
UC Santa Barbara students have expressed concern regarding the voting threshold for the Associated Students Internal Vice President Special Election, which required 7% of students to participate in voting for the results to qualify. This threshold was raised from the previous 3% marker to 7% for this special election. Of the 23,091 undergraduate students who attend UCSB, roughly 1700 students voted for the new Internal Vice President to be sworn into AS role.
“I honestly as a student feel bad about saying this, but I don’t know much about the role of the Internal Vice President. But, based on the biographies that we’re given, I am really glad that Sydney won,” said UCSB student, Cameron Heid.
Another student shared their grievances regarding the threshold stating, “I thought it was handled very poorly. The 7% voter threshold makes zero sense.”
The next general election will be held on April 24th in the Spring Quarter.
The following Q&A was edited for length and clarity.
Rebecca Hurtado Fairweather: What are your first impressions of Associated Students? What are your goals and issues you intend to address for the rest of the academic year as the newly appointed Internal Vice President?
Sydney Kupush: I really want to see more student representation and student voices. I feel like in Associated Students we’ve had the issue of not representing all communities equally. One thing I want to do is educate people about where their student fees are going. Some people see this $230 random charge on their Barc, and I want to show people how they can really take advantage of that money they’re giving into the school and what they can get back. I’m planning on trying to make a more digestible version of that, so people know that their money is not just getting thrown down the drain.
What was the motivating factor in your running for the role of IVP?
I saw an opportunity, I jumped in, and I took it. I’m so excited, and I just love UCSB so much, [it is] the home away from home, so I just took this as an opportunity to get super involved.
During your swearing in ceremony on Feb. 15th, when discussing how you plan to carry out the role of IVP, you stated that you’d do so “in a manner that is consistent with the ideals of an academic community.” What is an ideal academic community for you and how do you wish to create this environment during your term?
Ideally if everything was rainbow, sunshine, and butterflies, I’d want to see people skipping around campus so excited to go learn, but realistically I think an ideal academic community is a place where people feel safe, comfortable, and excited to learn. People who feel represented and [are making] their voices heard [is] most important to me. Associated Students play a big part in making sure people have the basic needs that they need to survive and fulfill their whole potential to be a student.
To learn more, watch the full UCSB TV newscast.