UC Regents | SBIMUN XIV

university of california board of regents: student housing crisis

Specialized: University of California Board of Regents, 2023

Background guide available now. SBIMUN XIV will not be collecting position papers from delegates.

290,000 students. 227,000 faculty and staff. $47.1 billion. The 26-member Board of Regents governs over the 10-campus University of California system, one of the best public university networks in the world. However in recent years, the UC has been plagued by issues of housing accessibility and affordability. Housing insecurity rates have increased among undergraduates systemwide. UC Santa Cruz students were forced to live in their cars and a lawsuit by Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods almost forced UC Berkeley to admit thousands of fewer students to their freshmen class. This committee will also focus on the Munger Hall project at UC Santa Barbara, a proposed student dormitory capable of housing 3,500 students in mostly windowless bedrooms. The project, dubbed “Dormzilla” by some, has been criticized for its high population density and impact on students’ mental health. Given these challenges, the Board of Regents must chart a course forward to ensure a successful vision for all.

Staff

Chair

Tony Cao

Tony Cao is beyond excited to be your chair for this committee on the California Housing Crisis. Tony was born in Beijing, China and grew up in Hong Kong before coming to UC Santa Barbara for college. He is a sophomore majoring in Financial Mathematics and Statistics and he looks forward to a possible career in Finance or Data Science. He has been involved in Model UN since freshman year and now serves as the Director of Finance for UCSBMUN. Tony also enjoys playing soccer, chess, and solving puzzles. He hopes that you will all have a meaningful and enjoyable time trying to resolve the housing crisis.

Crisis Director

Aniket Panda

Aniket Panda is a second-year Political Science major and Poverty, Inequality, and Social Justice minor from Fremont, California. He has been doing Model UN for three years now and has loved being a part of SBIMUN. Aniket's favorite conference that he attended was McMUN in Montréal, Canada. He has previously chaired at GauchoMUN and looks forward to serving as Crisis Director for this committee. Outside of MUN, Aniket is an undergraduate researcher with the Department of Global Studies and works for Fremont Debate Academy as a parliamentary debate kid in recovery. He enjoys surfing and watching the sunset.