Third-year political science and education double major Parshan Khosravi is one of three presidential candidates for the ASUCI president position.
Currently, he serves as a board member and electoral action trainer for the United States Student Association, the organizing director of the Office of the Executive Vice President, a campaign planner for the 60 by 16 Initiative, a student representative for the UC system-wide committee on trademark licenses, an advisor for the international student committee, a member of the Retention Advisory Committee in the Student Outreach and Retention Center and an advisor for the ASUCI constitution amendment committee.
Khosravi said that his three years in ASUCI and his involvement both at and beyond UC Irvine have given him the perspective and proper qualifications to serve as the ASUCI President.
“It’s not about the position for me if I lose the election. I have my goals and I will continue to pursue them,” he said.
“Being the president will allow me to achieve these goals in a much more efficient and concrete way.”
Khosravi’s platform centers on leaving a lasting impact for the younger generation of college students.
In order to leave a lasting impact on the campus, Khosravi intends to address the issue of reclaiming student mental health at UC Irvine. Students constantly face a variety of stressors, but, according to Khosravi, the services that are meant to address this issue are understaffed and need additional support. A two year campus initiative, the Reclaim Mental Health campaign, which Khosravi is currently a part of, is pushing for the creation of a new counseling center and the strengthening of mental health services throughout campus.
Khosravi said although that every goal in his platform is crucial, the Reclaim Mental Health campaign is his top priority.
Another one of Khosravi’s goals is to reform UCI Transportation and Distribution Services. The organization’s overselling of parking permits and a lack of formal communication with the student body alarmed Khosravi. Khosravi admitted that bringing changes to Transportation will be his largest challenge. The department has not directly communicated with the student body for over eight years and he is unclear whether it is willing to negotiate any changes with ASUCI. If elected, he wants to bring transparency to the department through the establishment of a student advisory board.
Centering his campaign on a direct form of representation, Khosravi intends to establish a bridge of communication between the student body and the UC Irvine Administration. Through the “Dear Admin!” Initiative, Khosravi wants to ensure that any and all concerns will be directly forwarded to the administration.
“This is sort of like the UCI secrets page where students talk about their secrets and nobody knows their identity,” explained Khosravi. “We will take the issues of students and literally mail it and send it to the administration.”
Khosravi calls the “Dear Admin!” initiative an experiment. One challenge is to make it distinct from the surveys that the university already releases. Khosravi is unsure of the outcome of this initiative, but remain relatively hopeful of its success.
In order to restore connections between ASUCI and the diverse communities throughout campus, Khosravi will reestablish a Liaison Council. The original council was dissolved and transformed to address specific of the more active communities throughout campus. In Khosravi’s re-envisioning, the council will attempt to accommodate all the diverse communities around campus and not just the most active.
Khosravi is also pursuing an initiative started by the current ASUCI president. The 60 by 16 Initiative aims to have 60 percent of the campus registered to vote by the 2016 presidential election. This initiative aims to coordinate efforts with housing departments and other various departments to ensure voter registration.
Coming from a political organizing background, Khoravi wants to promote political education as well. Under his administration, Khosravi plans to create a centralized website where students will be able to access the latest political issues surrounding the nation and learn political skills such as lobbying and coalition building.
In the midst of rising tuition costs, Khosravi also hopes to reestablish ASUCI scholarships. The program was discontinued due to a lack of significant funding. This obstacle continues to persist within ASUCI and Khosravi will need to allocate additional resources in order to fully reestablish ASUCI scholarships. If the additional funding cannot be allocated to the scholarships, Khosravi intends to cut the stipends of the executive cabinet. However, Khosravi believes that a student’s financial troubles should not hinder them from receiving quality education at a prestigious campus. If elected, Khosravi hopes to find money for scholarship program in the hopes of removing some of the financial burden on students.
