The Nexus compiled profiles of the 2024-25 Associated Students elected officials to reflect on their past year in office. As they look back on their campaign platforms, we asked our elected officials to tell us about their successes and shortfalls throughout their terms in office. The term in reviews for the other executives can be viewed at dailynexus.com and/or in our May 22, 2025, print edition.
Pinto did not meet with the Nexus for a mid-year check-in January.
2024-25 Associated Students Internal Vice President Açúcar Pinto reflected on several projects accomplished over the academic year, amid roadblocks from administration and controversy within the association.
Pinto interpreted the IVP role as an advisor, as they didn’t “believe in having a form of hierarchy.” Maddy Fangio / Daily Nexus
The Internal Vice President (IVP) responsibilities involve chairing weekly senate meetings and representing the organization in internal affairs.
During their term, third-year art major Pinto focused on creating a collaborative, open environment within the Senate, updating the financial policies and procedures of the Senate, dissolving inactive Associated Students (A.S.) entities and proposing structural changes, among other projects.
Pinto said they interpreted the role of IVP as an advisor, and that they “don’t believe in having a form of hierarchy.” They noted their roots as an activist on campus and wanting to prioritize people over politics.
They said after a year as IVP, they are “tired,” noting that many of their efforts got paused at the administrative level.
“It’s been a lot of battles, and not a lot of things coming from those battles. So, trying to figure out how can we lower the amount of bureaucracy in the association so it feels more accessible to students … to our entire student body, we want things to be as accessible as possible,” Pinto said. “That has been incredibly exhausting having those conversations with admin, especially because we’re under such deep control by regental policy.”
Specifically, the Senate did not see follow-through on efforts it made in the spring quarter to prevent A.S. funds from being used to purchase from companies on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) List.
Throughout the year, some points were marked with tension and interpersonal issues. In fall, members of the Senate boycotted a meeting that fell on Passover, after Pinto held the meeting despite senator grievances based on guidance from someone in administration they did not explicitly name.
Pinto said they regret relying on advice they received from this person at the time. Pinto later updated the senate calendar to include Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic holidays.
“I was really pressured by the presence of administrators for that meeting that it led to my decision of moving forth with having the meeting. And I also feel like the statement that was put out in response to that boycott was not fully what I wanted to say … because I was directed in a way that was very political-science-brained and not necessarily human-brained,” Pinto said.
In the middle of the year, Pinto said they did not chair senate meetings as they were experiencing a period of grief, alongside a chronic illness that caused them physical pain. They also said this was the reason they were unable to do their mid-year check-in with the Nexus.
The Senate failed to get enough votes to pass senate restructuring amendments in the winter special election. Pinto said the reason this was not reintroduced in the general election ballot is that senators did not have enough interest in introducing it to that ballot.
During a senate meeting in April, Black Women’s Health Collaborative (BWHC) co-chair and third-year Black studies major Kamaya Jackson alleged Pinto specifically blocked their appointment as Student Coalition on Racial Equality (S.C.O.R.E) co-chair during public comment. Jackson said in the meeting that her appointment was initially denied by the Senate in February and the denial was subsequently vetoed by third-year political science and sociology double major and A.S. President Nayali Broadway. She then alleged that Broadway’s veto was overturned by an email vote by the Senate.
The block was litigated in a closed session in February to avoid publicly slandering Jackson over a conflict within BWHC leadership, Pinto clarified in the meeting. Pinto said senators were fearful to get involved with the situation and wanted to let S.C.O.R.E. figure it out on their own. Pinto added that they tried to get the Student Advocate General (S.A.G.), third-year computer science major Alvin Wang, involved to conduct a restorative justice circle, but did not get aid from him.
“He graduated in the winter quarter, and that’s also the reason why he didn’t want to get involved, because he understood that this process would be lengthy, and he, as a non-Black person, would not be able to understand this matter in the way that it is to it’s full complexity,” Pinto said.
“The amount of people that have said just essentially ‘don’t deal with this, let them handle it on their own’ when it has then become a broader issue is definitely concerning,” Pinto continued.
Pinto iterated that they did not think the situation needed to elevate to the point it did, and that because an interpersonal conflict was brought into a BCU, or Boards, Committees and Units, it made “everything so much more complicated.”
Attorney General (AG) and fourth-year chemistry major Eric Carlson opened a case in April against Pinto and the A.S. Legislative Branch for allegations of engaging in, or witnessing and refusing to remedy, electoral interference in the Senate. The petition said members of the Senate used their power to “grant exemption to themselves but not others,” referencing equal treatment under the A.S. legal code’s membership rights clause.
At an April 16 meeting, the Senate voted on a motion to grant the Elections Board the discretion of accepting choice candidates past the declared deadline. Three members in the Senate were running for executive positions — one of which abstained from voting. A vote to approve the ballot — made before the Judicial Council (JC) cases were decided — was vetoed by the president and led to a three-week delay in voting.
“I know that I challenge the status quo of what it means to be in A.S. and what it means to hold executive office in a really grand way, prioritizing people over bureaucracy,” Pinto said. “I think that [the] Judicial Council was not pleased by that.”
They said the JC did not meet them with “the same level of respect or attention” as the petitioner. They felt the information they brought forward “was not taken seriously,” and interpersonal relationships between the Attorney General and involved parties were not taken into consideration.
The Attorney General also opened a case against now disqualified presidential candidate, third-year political science and philosophy major senator Daniyal “Dan” Siddiqui, accusing him of three counts of membership rights violations and one count of abuse of power violation.
“Legal code was taken very loosely and dangerous. Precedents were set on what constitutes as membership rights, what constitutes as standing policy and what is within the legislative body’s power,” Pinto said.
“Attorney General Carlson has a relationship with judicial council members. They serve for longer than our terms, which is just one year, and Attorney General Carlson has been a part of A.S. in the legislative body for a longer time. So there was definitely a level of bias there. And that’s not something that I take lightly,” Pinto continued.
Pinto noted a level of “disrespect and disregard” from the previous Senate, which they intended to change as chair. At the beginning of the year, they established rules of conduct within the Senate, which they said were later not followed.
“I think people lost sight of the original goal, and the original goal was always to serve the student body’s needs and voices,” Pinto said.
Pinto said communication with staff was “stifled” as A.S. Executive Director Marisela Marquez took on several responsibilities. They added that within the association, there is a lack of adequate staffing to support students.
“As a professor and also within A.S. as our executive director, I could understand why there was such a heavy hand in everything. But we had also noticed that, because of that heavy hand, a lot of things were not met with the attention that they needed. And not a lot of direction was given or standards were set for our advisors, for our different units — certain units can function relatively independently,” Pinto said. “But in terms of the financials, the logistics, there was just a lot of hesitance to enact change.”
While they were able to have flexibility on how to operate the format of senate meetings, they want to implement a permanent mechanism for people to participate in Senate through a hybrid format so students with chronic illness, disability or any extenuating circumstance can participate.
“I think the best thing was being able to create resources that I needed last year,” Pinto said.
Throughout the year, the Senate allocated $50,000 from sitting funds to the A.S. Food Bank, created an emergency grant program for rental housing support and updated the Gaucho Food Inclusion Program to aid undocumented and international students.
They also worked on reforming the BCU honoraria request process with varying success. Pinto said the Senate raised honoraria for some BCU’s and amended the system to work more like a stipend, but hopes the future IVP can continue the reform work next year.
“My proudest accomplishment has been [being] able to get a room of people that don’t agree on anything to agree with each other. Because even if people were endorsed by certain orgs last year, that didn’t mean that everyone was on the same page at all,” Pinto said.
When it came to relationships with other executives, Pinto criticized the president for not following up on their platform points and meeting the legislative body with “passivity.” They also said their relationship with S.A.G. Alvin Wang was “incredibly strained” after calls for restorative justice processes were not acted upon.
Pinto noted that members of the Senate did not agree with the hiring of Carlson as Attorney General due to his conflict that he previously ran and lost the race for IVP to Pinto.
“Our legislative body did not agree with Carlson most of the time, mostly because we felt like there was a disrespect for our time,” Pinto said. “I think it’s especially difficult navigating this position, and this position of specifically talking about having these cases brought forth against me by someone who I have fundamental disagreements with about how to conduct this space.”
In regards to campus climate, Pinto said they noticed more apathy from the student body and feelings of disempowerment.
Pinto said there is an ongoing need to see the completion of El Centro’s expansion and renovation, more support for the indigenous community on campus and for policies to prevent students accused of interpersonal violence from participating in Senate.
They noted that incumbent IVP and third-year history and philosophy major Enri Lala is already familiar with legal code and A.S. financial policies, and trusts that he will carry on updating A.S. financial systems. They had concerns with his ability to facilitate conversations in the same capacity as themself.
Pinto said they may spend the next year being more present in the External Vice President for Statewide Affairs office as a community member “furthering lobby efforts.”
“My proudest thing is that I was able to, you know, participate in all of those things through being an advisor. At the end of the day, I saw myself as an advisor more than I did as a chair or a boss. Because I don’t believe in I don’t believe in having a form of hierarchy. I believe in being supportive. And ultimately, that’s, that’s the role that I played as Internal Vice President,” Pinto said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 8 of the May 22, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
