On Tuesday evening, the USG Senate unanimously passed Resolution SB139-6: In Support of the Student Leadership Association of California, a bill meant to provide formal support and acknowledgement for a network of higher education institutions across California. SLAC seeks to enrich student leadership by building strong networks of insight and collaboration between the student governments of higher education, supporting students in navigating power structures at their institutions, and providing key resources, best practices, and purposeful mentorship to individual members.
WHAT IS SLAC?
Founded by USC alongside Occidental College and Pitzer College in 2018, the organization started with a total of 10 delegates representing 48,000 students between them. Attendees of the first SLAC Summit came together to discuss ideas and best practices for implementing and increasing shared governance at their respective institutions, and left with a newfound sense of community and understanding between their organizations.
WHY IS USC INVOLVED?
USG saw an opportunity to build an all-inclusive network of student government leaders and organizations between higher education institutions. While some public and private schools benefit from pre-existing frameworks that bind their institutions, like the UC system and the Claremont Consortium, many schools lack official and unofficial connections to other institutions. In excluding other institutions, we leave ample opportunities of learning from others, coalition-building, and advocacy to higher levels of policy making on the table. SLAC aims to be the organization for those that have no such frameworks, including all interested institutions in conference dialogues and creating change across campuses and organizations across California.
CURRENT MEMBERSHIP
Only a year old, SLAC currently brings together 15 colleges and universities with a total population of 252,243 students across the state, aiming to expand the network to the over 3 million undergraduate and postgraduate students across the state.
The current member institutions of SLAC are:
- California State University, Los Angeles
- Claremont McKenna College
- Harvey Mudd College
- Loyola Marymount University
- Occidental College
- Pitzer College
- Pomona College
- Saddleback College
- Scripps College
- Stanford University
- University of California, Irvine
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of California, San Diego
- University of La Verne
- University of Southern California
THE FUTURE OF SLAC
In the coming months, and with the formal support of the organization, the USG Executive Team plans to utilize this resolution as a stepping stone to formalizing institutional buy-in at other campuses and expanding the network to more colleges and universities. This semester, SLAC Board of Directors, comprised of the Student Body Presidents of all member institutions, will be working to flesh out the governing structure of the association and plan the two remaining conferences this year.
The SLAC Q120 Summit is slated to be hosted by the Claremont Consortium, comprised of Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College, and Scripps College, in early Spring semester.
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CONTACT
Truman Fritz
USG Senior Director of Communications
(503) 828-6405
usgsdoc@usc.edu