UC Berkeley junior transfer student Giancarlo Fernandez was unanimously voted into office by the ASUC Senate as the executive vice president, or EVP, of the ASUC in a meeting Sept. 15.
Fernandez was elected following former EVP Aditya Varma’s resignation from the position.
Fernandez works as a peer leadership consultant for campus’s LEAD Center and mentor for NavCal and formerly served as the Community Engagement Executive for the ASUC Office of the President.
“I steer my academic and career path to fulfill my passion one day for being an agent of change for social justice work,” Fernandez said in an email. “All the transferable skills I have learned from these roles equip me to lead by example and work collaboratively with anyone that wants to improve the student experience.”
Fernandez’s platforms include equity and inclusion, operations and finance, student union affairs and communications.
As a first-generation Mexican-Peruvian American college student and a Disabled Students Program participant, Fernandez said he plans to advocate for social justice and continue initiatives he established at El Camino College during his time in student government and as director of equity, diversity and inclusion.
“I credit my immigrant parents for my acceptance into the best university in the nation because they instilled values of resilience and tenacity in me through their selfless sacrifices that motivated me to prioritize my education and give back to my community,” Fernandez said in the email.
Fernandez hopes to promote an environment of “respect, open communication, and support” in the ASUC by encouraging collaboration and reinforcing trust.
ASUC Senator Jason Dones noted Fernandez represented a large portion of the campus community as a transfer student.
“As a junior transfer student Giancarlo will be able to understand the needs of one of our most significant campus communities,” Dones said in an email. “The ASUC is reaffirming its commitment from 2020 to include transfer students at the highest levels of the ASUC.”
Dones added Fernandez’s experience creating cultural and resource centers and working for marginalized communities at El Camino College would help those communities gain recognition on UC Berkeley’s campus.
ASUC Senator Mehnaz Grewal also supported Fernandez’s selection, and said she looks forward to working with Fernandez to support the Middle Eastern Muslim Sikh and South Asian Coalition, or MEMSSA, and the South Asian, Southwest Asian and North African Initiative, or SSWANA, communities. She further said she hopes to work with him to acquire a campus MEMSSA-SSWANA resource center.
“(Fernandez) will contribute to the ASUC with a community-centered approach, as well as knowledge for the operational roles required for the EVP position as informed by his impressive leadership in community college,” Grewal said in an email. “We often overlook ‘non-traditional’ experience in ASUC spaces, and I am elated to see Giancarlo mark a change from that tradition.”
