Abraham (Avi) Oved, a UCLA economics major, has been nominated to become the 2015-16 student regent on the University of California Board of Regents, the University of Califoria announced on May 22. The Board of Regents will vote on the recommendation at its July meeting, and if approved, Oved will become a voting member of the group that oversees the University of California.
UC Berkeley student Sadia Saifuddin, a Muslim student representative, is the student Regent for 2014-15. Her one-year term begins on July 1, 2014.
Oved, who will become a senior at UCLA in the fall, has been active in Jewish organizations on campus, including the UCLA Jewish Student Union and Hillel at UCLA and Bruins for Israel. He also served as an intern in former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office and has been active in the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC).
In October, according to the Daily Bruin, the UCLA campus student newspaper, “Oved authored a controversial resolution that supported a peaceful campus approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and investments in specific companies. Oved later said he was wrong in bringing the resolution to the table without consulting more students in the process,” the Daily Bruin reported.
If approved, he will serve as student regent-designate in 2014-15, able to participate in all deliberations but will not have voting privileges until his one-year term begins in July 2015.
“I want to work with students on the ground, and that should be the focus of this position: empowering students and giving them the resources they need to be heard,” Oved said in a statement issued by the University of California. “I hope to educate students on why the Board of Regents is relevant to them, and strengthen communications between students and the board so we can become a more efficient and united university system.”
UC Berkeley student Sadia Saifuddin, a Muslim student representative, is the student Regent for 2014-15. Her one-year term begins on July 1, 2014.
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