Quick Take
Nearly 70% of UC Santa Cruz students who participated in May balloting are on board with paying a fee for free entertainment, according to results the university released Wednesday. The school’s Student Union Assembly will also have a new president following the election of second-year student Airielle Silva.
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Almost 70% of UC Santa Cruz students support paying a student fee to fund a student-run concert division that would provide free music and entertainment events on campus, according to the results of this year’s elections.
University officials released the election results Wednesday after students voted from May 15 to May 22.
In the elections, students voted for positions in undergraduate student government, graduate student government and in several polls, including the question about interest in a student fee for free entertainment.
A group of students known as the Slug Life Productions Board proposed the yes/no poll in this year’s elections, asking if students would support a fee to put on regular concerts and how much they would be willing to pay.
The students, who put on a concert last Friday on campus called Edge of Eden, say they hope such an annual event will help shift the culture at UCSC, which until now has not prioritized a unifying event for all students that revolves around music.
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A total of 1,121 students, or 68% of the 1,653 who participated in the poll, voted yes, they would support paying a fee. A total of 532 students, or 32%, voted no.
Of the students who voted yes, 61% said they would be open to paying a maximum of $5 per quarter for the concerts.
In addition to the poll results, university officials shared results for positions with the student government, known as the Student Union Assembly (SUA).
Second-year student Airielle Silva, who uses she/they pronouns, will serve as the next SUA president after competing against four other candidates. Silva is a critical race and ethnic studies major and Black studies minor and also serves as a leader in several groups, including their role as vice president of the Black Student Union. Silva received nearly 45% of votes cast.
Former SUA president Alfredo Gama Salmeron, who was recalled last fall over comments he made about Indigenous students, received slightly more than 7% of total votes.
The rest of the election results can be found here.
