The cornerstone of UCGPC’s mission is service to graduate and professional students. Part of this commitment is to ensure that students are not only heard, but protected. For this reason, we as an organization have signed the petition calling for the resignation of Regent Jay Sures.
UCGPC’s ultimate goal is a learning and research environment across the 10 campuses that allows graduate and professional students to live and work free from harassment, intolerance, discrimination, and fear. It has become clear that this goal is not possible while Jay Sures sits on the Board of Regents. It is vital that the Regents both serve and protect UC students, regardless of their own beliefs. On August 30th, Jay Sures failed to protect our students when he failed to speak up against Islamaphobia and violent rhetoric against Muslim students across the UC system. As such, we feel that he is not fit to serve UC students as a whole.
In a recent interview, Jay Sures has made clear that his commitment is not to UC students: In addition to failing to condemn the verbal attacks against Muslim students, Sures has going so far as to threaten and pursue legal action against student protesters. He has also expressed support for federal funding cuts to UC academic research, which harms all graduate and professional students. These remarks illustrate that Sures’ position on the Board of Regents is in direct opposition to the goals and mission of UCGPC. As noted in our mission statement, UCGPC elevates student voices in decision-making spaces, ensuring that University leadership understand the priorities, concerns, and fundamental values of the communities they serve. Sures fails to meet these needs.
We believe in the dignity, freedom, and protection of all UC graduate and professional student voices. As such, we would like to echo and uplift the statement from ASUC’s External Vice Presidential Office:
We refuse to accept a standard where student advocacy for human rights is criminalized while explicit bigotry directed at Muslim students is met with tacit approval.
As an organization, we stand in solidarity with all UC students that have been harmed by the actions and inaction of Jay Sures, and we will continue to hold both the UC and Board of Regents accountable to ensure that they center and uplift the voices they are meant to serve. We will continue our work towards an equitable, inclusive, and just UC system.