Kamron Williams Appointed Next AS Vice President of External Affairs

Kamron Williams, a second year Public Law major in the Political Science Department, has been appointed to the Vice President of External Affairs (EVP) position in Associated Students of UC San Diego (ASUCSD). Williams is replacing former EVP Tiger Huang after he resigned during the first AS Senate meeting of the academic year.

AS Senate approved Williams’s appointment during their meeting on November 13 after a lengthy application and review process. As EVP, Williams is responsible for advocating on behalf of UCSD students at the local, state, and national level. In addition, a part of his role is  to educate the student body about policies that will directly affect them.

Williams is also the current Vice Chair of Finance for Thurgood Marshall College Student Council. Before his appointment, Williams served as former EVP Huang’s Chief of Staff as well  as the interim EVP during the review process. He has also served as Chief of Staff under the Office of Environmental Justice Affairs and was the Marshall Representative to the Student Organized Voter Access Committee.

Going forward, Williams and the External Affairs Office are specifically planning on advocating for the BASIC Act, which is a piece of federal legislation cosponsored by Senator Kamala Harris that intends on making sure that college students can afford basic needs such as food and housing. Williams hopes to make basic needs advocacy a central tenet of the External Affairs Office during his tenure as EVP.

“My main focus is that the Office is transparent in what we are doing. A lot of students don’t know the full extent of what the Office of External Affairs does for them,” Williams told The Triton when asked about his plans and goals for the office. “We want to make sure that these students who are not a part of these spaces like AS and Marshall College Council still have the skills necessary to advocate for themselves.”

The other two finalists considered for EVP were current Campus-Wide Senator David Hickman and Dana Gibson, founder of Green Corps at UCSD and military veteran. Both candidates have experience in ASUCSD; Hickman has been involved for the last three years and Gibson served under the Office of Environmental Justice Affairs last year.

During the public final interview panel held on November 6, all three candidates were able to voice their views on the future of External Affairs and explain what they would do if selected as EVP. Gibson had hoped to reform the office to focus on sustainability and social justice. Meanwhile, Hickman wanted to combat campus-wide political apathy by promoting opportunities that would get students involved in politics.

After Williams’ appointment to EVP, Hickman told The Triton that he was “quite pleased” by the final decision.

“My experience working with [Williams] has given me the most sincere confidence in his ability to do more than just fill the role, but to build upon the Office we all want and need,” Hickman explained.

Samir Nomani is a Staff Writer for The Triton. You can follow him at @samir_the_first.