By Bella Brannon and Mia Toubian, Cover Image by Grace Overman
UCLA’s Cultural Affairs Commission promotes its open mic series as “inclusive,” but if you wear a Jewish star, you may be barred at the door.
On October 23, four Ha’Am reporters attempted to attend the Cultural Affairs Commission’s (CAC) ‘Fuck Your Bans’ event. Part of the weekly open mic night series “The Word on Wednesday,” the event is hosted by the Cultural Affairs Commission, a student government office currently led by Alicia Verdugo.
The event’s theme, ‘Fuck Your Bans,’ referred to UC President Michael Drake’s policy enacted earlier this year prohibiting on-campus encampments, although encampments were already illegal per university regulations. The event’s promotional material featured digitally defaced university statements.
The Word on Wednesday lists its core values as “voice, creativity, and community + inclusivity.” However, of the four Ha’Am reporters who RSVP’d for the event: Mia Toubian received a confirmation email, while Bella and Megan— both published authors for Ha’Am— were notified that their RSVPs were denied due to “capacity constraints,” and Grace received no response at all.
Follow-up emails inquiring about these denials went unanswered by the Cultural Affairs Commission.
Mia Toubian’s RSVP Confirmation:
Bella Brannon’s RSVP Denial:
The three reporters without email confirmations arrived early to inquire about a standby line but were turned away again, allegedly due to “capacity constraints.” Mia, wearing a Star of David necklace, presented her confirmation email but was repeatedly told there had been a mistake and that she was not on the list. The reporter showed Commissioner Verdugo the email from CAC accepting her RSVP, and Verdugo proceeded to deny her access, citing space restrictions without offering a clear explanation as to why Mia had been excluded. During their conversation, four empty seats were visible, and a group of students had opted to observe from the back. Yet, Mia was told she could neither stand nor take one of the vacant seats.
Five minutes after they were turned away, allegedly due to “capacity constraints,” the Cultural Affairs Commission allowed a student into the event.
According to UCLA’s website, “the mission of the Cultural Affairs Commission is to put on quality programming with cultural, political, or social relevance that is accessible to all students.” However, Jewish students were clearly excluded from participating in this event, a violation of the Commission’s own guidelines.
Moreover, the Cultural Affairs Commission is a division of UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC), the official student government. USAC officials are elected by and represent the entire undergraduate student bodys and are funded by all students’ fees. Each UCLA student pays nearly $100 a year in fees for USAC, and yet, Ha’Am students were barred from participating. CAC is meant to serve all cultures. Its obligation to ensure inclusivity is even greater.
The exclusion of Jewish students from this event is not the Cultural Affairs Commission’s first instance of antagonism towards Jewish students. In February, Ha’Am reported on anti-Jewish behavior exhibited by Commissioner Verdugo, including telling a Jewish student that she had been “tricked” by Zionists.
“You simply don’t have the will or empathy to look inside yourself and understand that your parents are liars,” Verdugo told the student. Verdugo also, on her official UCLA Instagram account, has promoted “blood libel” conspiracy theories, a centuries-old falsehood suggesting that Jews are thirsty for innocent blood.
Canary Mission, a group dedicated to documenting people and groups the organization says promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews, reported that Verdugo “responded to the pro-Hamas riot outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles by promoting yet more violence. Canary Mission quoted a post, reposted by Verdugo, stating “ It’s our duty to fight.” The group also reported that Verdugo was arrested for participating in the illegal anti-Israel encampment.
UCLA has never publically sanctioned or criticized USAC or its CAC commissioners, allowing such vitriol to continue. Just this month alone, the Cultural Affairs Commission used its official UCLA social media accounts to:
- Repost a Twitter thread on October 7 2024, celebrating the terrorist attack that killed 1,200, “One whole year since the most courageous people in the entire world broke out of the concentration camp they’ve been confined to and showed the world the colonized will never just lie down and die. a new world was born that day and we can never go back,” the post read.
- Tweeted an inflammatory graphic on Oct. 13 that read, “ISRAEL IS A GENOCIDING HOLOCAUSTING PEDOPHILIC RAPIST SEX TRAFFICKING ORGAN & LAND STEALING CHILD MURDERING TERRORIST APARTHEID ETHNO-STATE THAT OUTSHAMES THE MOTHERFUCKING NAZIS & YOU WESTERN CUCKS BEND THE KNEE FOR IT ALL.”
- Block Ha’Am Editor-in-Chief Bella Brannon from following the official Cultural Affairs Commission on Twitter, although she never replied to engaged with that account.
So much for inclusion. Students with Israeli heritage, and the 8% of UCLA students who identify as Jewish, clearly aren’t represented by their student government.
UCLA holds full authority over the behavior of its commissioners, who operate as an extension of the university, the Cultural Affairs Commission effectively makes statements that carry the school’s sanction. So too, the CAC’s blatant exclusion and antagonism for Jewish students is left unchallenged and effectively abetted by UCLA.
The views expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and not UCLA or ASUCLA Communications Board.
