The Daily Nexus endorses Daevionne Beasley — a third-year sociology major who already has a year of executive office experience, nearly unprecedented for a presidential candidate — for Associated Students President.
Beasley’s path toward the presidency is unique; not in recent memory has a candidate who has already served in an Associated Students (A.S.) executive position run for another executive office. For most, a year with that level of responsibility and amidst the party politics of A.S. is enough.
But one year later, Beasley shows no signs of slowing down.
When Beasley ran for the External Vice President for Statewide Affairs (EVPSA) position, the Nexus endorsed his opponent, Alexandra Leal Silva, largely due to her three years of experience working in the office in comparison to Beasley, who was an outsider to A.S. at the time.
However, as we noted in our endorsement of Leal Silva at the time, both she and Beasley were confident, charismatic and genuine leaders who seemed to sincerely care about the well-being of UC Santa Barbara students.
Beasley is facing two opponents in this year’s election: third-year sociology major Daniel Segura-Esquivel, who is running with the Isla Vista Party, and second-year cell and developmental biology major Austin Foreman, who is running as an independent.
The Nexus believes that Foreman is not suited for the position of president. It became clear in speaking to him that while he is passionate about what he does, he lacks the tangible experience needed to serve as a representative for the student body.
Furthermore, he seems to lack a wider understanding of university and any tangible experience outside of A.S. When pressed about his experience and platform points, he faltered, and often talked in circles while failing to explain how he would feasibly pursue them.
One of the largest reasons Foreman gave for running is that he wanted to work on improving the retention of A.S. career staff. While this is an admirable goal, it should not be the reason a student runs to be A.S. president, a position that is meant to serve all students, not just those within A.S.
We believe that Foreman — who has introduced numerous resolutions focused on helping his fellow students over the past year while serving as an on-campus senator — would have been better off pursuing the position of Internal Vice President.
In regard to Segura-Esquivel, the Nexus believes the third-year student is incredibly capable of being the next A.S. president, if elected.
In the three hours in which we spoke to him, it became clear he has acquired the wide range of knowledge needed to be this campus’ A.S. president and that his passion for students is nearly unmatched. He stressed that his identity as a “brown, queer, first generation, low-income student” has allowed him to be at the forefront of campus issues.
Some of his platform points — centered around helping students with basic needs as well as establishing emergency protocols — are not particularly innovative, as they echo ones proposed both this year and the year before by candidates running for A.S. positions. But Segura-Esquivel, refreshingly, was able to back up his platform points with detailed plans for accomplishing them.
However, during our interview, Segura-Esquivel often went on tangents and strayed far from the question at hand. While we appreciated his enthusiasm, his answers brought into question his ability to effectively communicate on behalf of students to administrators.
Beasley, in comparison, was an approachable candidate who was able to get his point across easily, which assured us of his ability to do the same with both the average student and administrator.
Ultimately, in any other election year, Segura-Esquivel would be the clear choice for our endorsement. But due to Beasley’s year of executive experience and his extensive history of advocacy for UCSB students, the Nexus chose Beasley for our endorsement, with the firm belief that he would be the best president for our campus.
As EVPSA, Beasley seemingly worked tirelessly to help advocate on behalf of students; the EVPSA is a unique position within A.S., involving extensive lobbying and traveling between D.C. and Sacramento. In addition to serving as EVPSA, Beasley is also a resident assistant this year. His ability to balance the two intensive time commitments while taking classes is certainly impressive.
But even with these hurdles, Beasley helped bring to fruition $10 million in summer financial aid for students through his role with the Coalition for a Better UC and countlessly lobbied on behalf of UCSB students as EVPSA, speaking repeatedly to both UC administrators, including UC President Janet Napolitano, and elected officials in California and Santa Barbara.
During his interview with the Nexus, Beasley made clear his vast knowledge of the campus, speaking extensively to both his history with the Black Student Union demands as well as advocating against Thirty Meter Telescope Project at Mauna Kea, which the UC helps fund. He noted that he hopes to continue both projects if elected president.
All of Beasley’s platform points fall under two categories, he explained in his interview: access and advocacy. He wants to continue current A.S. President Alison Sir’s projects, including her vending machine project — a project aimed at providing food to low-income students — as well as finding a permanent location for the bike shop, something also pursued by Sir’s predecessor, former A.S. President Brooke Kopel.
“A lot of [Sir’s] goals were cut short by COVID … I definitely want to make sure that those projects have a home in my office and [are seen] through to completion,” Beasley said.
He added that he also wants to focus on returning free night and weekend parking to students, who initially voted for “free” night and weekend parking through a lock-in fee in 2003. But that “free” parking only lasted five years; now, if students want to park on campus during nights and weekends, they are required to purchase a $52.50 permit that lasts for three quarters. Beasley said he has already had a few conversations with Transportation and Parking Services (TPS) over this issue.
Like Foreman, Beasley also aims to make sure students have “adequate access” to mental health resources and know their options, if elected. He noted that “you never really know what you’re getting into when you go [to C.A.P.S.],” adding that “C.A.P.S. isn’t for everybody.”
“When I first went [to C.A.P.S.], there were no available Black psychologists. And when I asked for one, I kind of got laughed at. I ended up being able to go out into the community to find Acacia Health and Wellness,” he said.
Similar to many executive candidates this year, Beasley hopes to establish a standardized emergency response protocol at the university. He explained that in his time at UCSB, he’s seen a gap between the administration and its students when times of emergencies struck, such as during the 2017 Thomas Fire and the current coronavirus pandemic. He noted that he had “countless meetings” with administrators to help address students’ needs before the coronavirus shut down the campus.
He added that there needs to be more outreach between the administration and students in terms of advocacy, particularly on administrators’ parts.
“The students are constantly having to go to [administrators’ doors] … ‘Can we have a meeting? Can we talk about this? Where’s the funding for Black students? Where’s the funding for Native American students?’ That shouldn’t have to be a recurring conversation,” Beasley said.
“Next year as president, I will make sure that administration is able to reach out to students and ask them what they need instead of the other way around,” he continued.
Ultimately, the Nexus believes that Beasley’s passion, combined with the relationships he already has with UC administration, gives him a leg up over anyone else. He has also shown the ability to adapt through his time in office, tacking on projects he hadn’t run on, like the TMT project, and turning them into major initiatives for his office.
The Nexus believes that Beasley will use this tangible experience as EVPSA to his benefit if elected president; he has worked incredibly hard to highlight efforts that otherwise may have slipped through the cracks. He has proven time and time again over this year as EVPSA that he has the ability to advocate for change at the highest levels.
If elected as the next president, the Nexus believes that Beasley will not only continue the work he is already doing, but use his unique qualifications to truly listen to his constituents and go above and beyond to create tangible change on this campus.
Update: The Nexus has replaced the portraits done of each candidate with their self-submitted headshot. We heard concerns about the portraits not accurately reflecting what the candidates look like and will actively work to ensure that this will not happen in the future.
Did you ask him about the irresponsible spending of the EVPSA office?
What irresponsible spending are you even talking about? Do you have examples or are you just running your fingers? I’ve heard of a number of organizations and trips that Daevionne has funded, if you wanna call that irresponsible maybe you should go take it up with the leaders of those organizations and all the members within it that benefited
by that logic F&B is irresponsible too. next comment.
and thus i rest my case
F&B follows a lot of policy procedures and have never broken university policy, and have not gone even close to hitting their budgeting max this year. I have applied with different orgs and looking at the minutes they have been spending their money really well and taking everything into account and being fair.
The irresponsible spending wasn’t because of the content of the trips and organizations he funded. The problem was that he spent money that he didn’t have in the budget for his office. For the Students of Color Conference, however you want to argue that it went, SCORE fronted the cost of the entire delegation, and Daevionne’s office still to THIS DAY owes SCORE about ~13,000 dollars, but I am not involved enough to know the exact amount. He has constantly overspent when it comes to things like this. No one is criticizing the things he is funding, but the fact… Read more »
nothing to do with supporting orgs (because that’s so important!), but borrowing money from other orgs when you spend your entire budget half way through the school year makes one think why that budget was drained so quickly! hopefully, he has learned from this experience, I would hate to see the same happen with the budget of the president’s office
what irresponsible spending did the evpsa office do? kind of weird & sad to make things up about an office that supported so many incredible orgs this year as literally stated in the article
do you work in the evpsa office?
Hm idk I’ve seen daniel do more for the community and it doesn’t feel performative like it does with others. The article even said he’s more passionate
Please, list it. List them both, let’s rank and compare
How the hell do you expect to “rank” work?
by impact sweetheart. i’ll wait.
what impact has Daevionne had for the community that hasn’t rested on the work of others (and the money of others)
I agree with this ! He has done so much to promote undergrad involvement with COLA and he brings new legislation to the senate table every week ! he never has a personal agenda in mind and puts the needs of students before his own ! Not saying that Daevionne isn’t qualified bc he may be, I’m just going off of what I have seen firsthand !
please be able to back up claims about one person “doing more for the community” or others being performative. all the candidates are running to make ucsb better, & tbh if you did an actual comparison, I’m p sure daevionne has “done more for the community” by any standard but to each their own I guess
Which community exactly? All he’s done is fund things which anyone in an office can do. He’s never bothered to mention or reach out to the queer and trans community, never showed up for ANY of the town halls or events regarding sexual assault. Has never been seen taking on work that isn’t required or handed to him. Alison fucking sir has the nerve to say a meal vending machine is going to help undocumented, low-income, and houseless folks? And this idiot wants to continue that work? Why not just fucking take those $20,000+ and allocate it to funding services… Read more »
omg no not this guy again
What an ignorant thing to say. I will pray for you.
CU keeps trying to shove him down our throats as if hes christ reborn
austin for president
Why don’t you comment this under Austin’s endorsement…I’ll wait
omg that’s so mean, let this kid support his friend
It’s not mean it’s true, why would you come comment on someone’s endorsement, let them shine!! There are other places to support your friends period
This was definitely not warranted
that’s fucked up, come on cu you’re better than this
Daevionne is the best candidate! He’s done SO much for students it’s unbelievable. He truly cares about the well being of others. His selflessness doesn’t go unnoticed. He’s got my vote!
100% agree!!
Ok CU
you’re doing a lot. so anybody who supports this candidate is CU? if daniel was endorsed and people were under here supporting him would you call every supporter IVP? Or would you keep your mouth shut just bc that’s the party you’ve decided you liked? Move forward beloved, campus politics is not gonna get you anywhere so stop caping
ok there’s so much hate on here which is scary so don’t come at me, but I think anyone who even attempts to run for president is qualified. like these people put so much work in and have to campaign on top of school! I wish we gave each candidate more credit rather than finding ways to rip them apart. That being said, I was hoping Daniel would be endorsed because he has done so much for first-gen and queer communities, but again, good for everyone !
Thank you for the kind words! I hope to put in the work to change your mind 💙
Yea…… no. Between both parties, I’ve preferred IVP over my first few years here but they can keep this election and their candidate, thank you very much.
damn I was hoping to see Daniel get this endorsement because he is so deserving, but congratulations to Daevionne (and all candidates)!
even though there’s a lot of shit-talking in these comments it makes me happy to see positive comments like these (: c’mon y’all we’re better than this!
Hi pls don’t hate on me, I’m just not informed, but does anyone know why Austin is running as an independent? I could’ve sworn he ran with CU last year
p.s. congrats to everyone endorsed
Probably because he realized Campus United is full of homophobic, racist, transphobic, elitist pieces of shit who would rather spam the white greek life on tokenized candidates than reach out to communities and run people who actually want to put in work.
what homophobia, racism, transphobia, and elitism are you referencing?
I hear most of these claims from CU party members themselves so I think the party should foster a more empathetic environment. Maybe they should have trainings on what is and isn’t okay to say to one another. Not trying to start some shit, just giving my two cents
Again, what claims?
I am happy that you harbor no animosity or ill will
Or maybe he’s just a good person
Heard he tried to run again for CU but they picked Daevionne so he ran as independent instead
Nah daniel def deserved this one yall got it all wrong
Byyyyeeeeee
Saw he tweeted about getting it and the only thing it did was make me aware Daniel Segura is running lol hope he gets it because he has definitely helped us more
hahahaha same!
also same
ditto
His first mistake was posting that he got it lmao
Why?
Here to show love and support for Daniel <3
What the fuck is wrong with y’all? I wish you would just record what they say and let us decide for ourselves. How are you going to take up paragraphs praising a candidate and not endorse him simply bc he’s not an exec already? He’s a SENATOR who’s put in just as much if not more work than him. Half of this year’s senate has done shit and we’ve actually needed them this year. Vote Daniel fucking Segura if you want someone who will actually stand up to the bullshit at this school
PREACH👏🏽
Y’all are able to decide for yourselves….when you vote. Daily Nexus is just doing what every fucking entity does when elections happens, they endorse the candidate THEY think is best. If you think that’s forcing you how to think then maybe you don’t know how to think in the first place. You were definitely able to THINK about supporting Daniel in this comment so vote for him and move on child, you’re gonna break your back tryna be different
i get this, but i also think it’s okay for people to come on here and show support for their friend! they’re probably just bummed about the endorsement and wanted to rant a little bit. while some of these comments are kinda a lot, people still have the right to speak their minds :)
They have every right to personally endorse their friends and can do so without attacking the Daily Nexus for THEIR endorsement. You may not realize it but you’re playing a one sided game in your comment
All senate does is performative, they just sit and pass bills and resolutions that at the end of the day make absolutely no difference on this campus. If you think a senator can do just as much as an exec, sorry sweetheart but you’re so wrong. Like it or not, Daevionne has done the work as an exec, all Daniel has done is shown up and pretend he has.
“pretend he has” why don’t you reach out and directly ask daniel about things he’s done rather than just talking out of your ass? no one likes an uneducated voter :/
Actually this senate was extremely productive at making actual changes. Lot of bills rather than resolutions.
lmaoo
I was on the fence between both but its this type of mentality from IVP supporters that make me not want to vote for them. Its great that they care about advocating for us, but when their support team/friends are this toxic and assholes, why would we want that. You can’t just say Daniel will “actually stand up” when Daevionne and countless others have shown that they also care about student’s needs and can and will stand up to administrators. Good rep. of Daniel btw.
Daveonne has been trying to get my frats vote by saying he cares about our issues but Bro we have no fucking idea who you are
Campus United acts like we’re dumb asses who will vote down the line as if we don’t know they rely on us because they have no other support LMFAO
don’t support them if you don’t want to!! Can’t change your sorority or frat but as an individual make your own choice on who to vote :)
it takes a lot more than the fraction of greek life vote to win an election….
that’s not rlly true tho, other orgs don’t have nearly the same pull and the majority of voters ARE in fact Greek life (namely Panhellenic and IFC). i’m in Greek life and I know others groups don’t hear about elections like us, candidates come and speak at sorority/frat meetings and one sorority even did a “voting workshop” where they told their members to vote down the line for a specific party. AS people love to talk about elections as if the general public is stupid and as if we don’t have conversations about these things too. Greek life is exposed… Read more »
#DanForPresident
#DanForPresident
#DanForPresident
#DanForPresident
Nexus you fucked up by not endorsing UCSB’s golden boy Daniels loved by basically everyone
Not me
Not you…
Not me…. I don’t mean to be rude, but he was a little annoying and didn’t seem genuine
VOTE DANIEL SEGURA FOR PRESIDENT THE ONLY PERSON IN AS WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT US
aw this made me sad ))): good for daevionne but I was really hoping the nexus would be smarter about who has genuine passion and endorse Daniel
all of these comments have me cracking up, but I truly don’t think we totally know and understand Daevionne through such a narrow lens like a school newspaper endorsement. I would like to know what working with Daevionne is like and how his constituents and other AS faculty feel about the work he has, or hasn’t, done. Not looking for an anonymous reply to this comment because half of y’all lie about who you are anyways (please no “I’ve personally worked with daevionne” bc you probably haven’t). just suggesting that the nexus should do their research before endorsing candidates because… Read more »
I understand not wanting to totally accept an anonymous comment at face value, but I HAVE worked with Daevionne in Housing. He’s advocated for student workers so much in this year alone (especially for his Housing co-workers in the middle of this pandemic fallout) and has put all his connections on campus to good use for the people. Not to mention he’s a genuinely solid dude and gets along well with everyone. I agree I wish there was more of this type of transparency in endorsing a candidate by Nexus and others but if you do want the story of… Read more »
imagine deciding that “going on a tangent” makes someone less palatable & unable to speak for students. y’all should have looked at the material before deciding your endorsements, because it’s very clear that Daniel has been fighting and advocating for all students.
y’all hoes is mad lmao cast your vote for your candidate and move on. Performing anonymously in these comments won’t get you anywhere. I know i’m anonymous in here too but i’m not writing paragraphs of theatric performances over something you have full control over, you’re vote. Take a shower, do a face mask, breathe, relax. Do that reading i know you got
We love Tokenism
Yall are mess in these comments but I promise the people who are calling him a token are Black.
You guys should investigate why IVP didn’t slate him as a senator when he wanted to run with them……
Bc nobody addressed the s*xual assault allegations? U didn’t hear it from me tho /.\
but they slated Steven Ho who also has SA allegations for EXEC? Hahahaha ok
just for the record, IVP actually disaffiliated from Steven Ho the moment they got wind of said rumors. Also, this thread is terrifying, why are you anonymously speaking about such sensitive topics in a comment section – please note that this can be incredibly triggering for survivors.
It is triggering to hear that some one has accusations??? Really are you stupid? Would you rather no one said anything and more people were put at risk because people don’t know that there are allegations. The only way you could be remotely correct is if there were pictures or graphic descriptions not the mere mention of the word sexual assault
Or why IVP is hypocritical with one of the stances their candidate is “so passionate” about… I’ll just leave it at that. Based off my experience, they are both hypocritical, but one is more so than the other, and I think you can guess who I am talking about.
I’m voting for Austin Foreman.
Austin will defeat Donald Trump in November
Beasely is a liar CAPS has multiple Black Psychologists and he was never laughed at because of that. So many small lies to make him look good or fit the narrative that he wants to show. The lies create the story which is a good one. What a horrible person
You go Daevionne!! Rooting for you. I know you’ll make the better president!