Student observer asks regents to support state bills on food aid, housing and immigration alerts; UC officials outline advocacy and alumni disaster response

Brenda Sanchez, student observer to the regents and an undergraduate at UC Irvine, asked the committee to take supportive stances on a package of California bills and student priorities, citing personal and peer experiences with food insecurity, unexpected institutional debt, housing cost shortfalls, and fear of immigration enforcement.

Sanchez urged support for several bills she said the UC Student Association is sponsoring or backing, naming them as they were read into the record: Assembly Bill 79 (author name unclear in transcript), which would place county liaisons on UC campuses to help students access CalFresh, Medi‑Cal and other public benefits; Assembly Bill 850 (Pacheco), which Sanchez said would require clear financial notices before students withdraw so they can avoid unexpected institutional debt; a bill she cited to adjust housing cost estimates so financial awards better match actual housing costs; Senate Bill 98 (Perez), the SAFE Act to provide immigration‑enforcement alerts for student safety; and a measure described as allowing the California Dream Act application to replace FAFSA for California students amid federal concerns. Sanchez also urged support for a bill to define childcare as a basic need so UC integrates childcare support for student parents and for a proposal establishing a priority admissions process for descendants of enslaved people.

Nut graf: Sanchez framed the requests as measures to reduce barriers to enrollment and completion, citing testimonials about missed meals, late financial aid, long childcare wait lists, and family privacy concerns around federal aid applications. “I experienced food insecurity, sometimes not even having enough money to afford my next meal. I didn't even know I qualified for food assistance until my senior year,” a student testimony Sanchez read said.

In a separate item, Associate Vice President Kathleen Fullerton updated the committee on UC’s Sacramento advocacy. Fullerton said UC has filed five sponsored bills this year (more than typical), and the system is tracking three bond measures — one general obligation bond for higher education plus two housing companion measures. She described an expanded grassroots push: UCAN advocates have sent more than 7,000 emails to legislators and UC has added roughly 1,200 grassroots advocates recently.

UCLA officials described alumni engagement as a core part of advocacy. Jennifer Poulikidis, UCLA associate vice chancellor for government and community relations, and Julie Sina, UCLA associate vice chancellor for alumni affairs, said the campus is mobilizing Bruins through town halls and social channels to amplify UC advocacy priorities. Sina said UCLA automatically enrolls degree earners into a 670,000‑member alumni community and that more than half of those alumni live in California.

Sina and Poulikidis also described UCLA’s role in the regional wildfire recovery. Sina said almost 3,000 UCLA alumni have volunteered at a disaster recovery center, which is operating six days a week; Poulikidis said UCLA is donating the former Westside Pavilion space for a joint federal‑state‑local disaster recovery center and “we are not going to rent it or lease it out.” The center offers FEMA, SBA and other recovery services and provides items such as reprinted diplomas for alumni who lost materials in the fires.

Ending: The committee heard the student priorities and system advocacy update; no formal votes on the bills were taken at the meeting. Regents thanked Sanchez and asked staff to continue coordinating with campus government‑relations and alumni offices to support students and UC legislative priorities.