President

Bio

Samone Anderson is a California native, another Bay Area Bruin from Richmond, CA! She entered UCLA in 2018 and graduated Class of 2022 with a B.A. in African American Studies. During her time at UCLA she has excelled beyond the classroom through the leadership roles she’s held. At the young age of 23 she has founded and managed 2 nonprofit organizations, served as the Chairperson for the Afrikan Student Union at UCLA (ASU) and been the Director of 2 major resources dedicated to supporting Black students at UCLA and the larger Los Angeles community -Afrikan Education Program (AEP) and the Academic Supports Program (ASP). Her current professional role as the Director of the ASP, specializes in Black student retention and matriculation at UCLA.

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Candidate Statement

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UBAA is an organization that represents all Black students who have come through UCLA. As a recent graduate of UCLA who actively seeks engagement with Black alumni across the many cohorts, leader within the Black Bruin community and someone who’s been consistently engaged with UBAA my entire career at UCLA, I am qualified to serve as President to help carry the organization through this reimagining/rebuilding phase we have embarked upon.

UBAA should be the space where all Black Bruins feel at home. As a legacy scholar, my first introduction to campus was through UBAA, at the dinner during Admit Weekend where I met the ASU Chair and other Black student and alumni leadership. This is also where I began to see the Black Bruin community as home. However, since the pandemic our community has been disconnected and this feeling of home and family that was here when I arrived, hasn’t been present. Whether it’s career opportunities, mentorship, basic needs support or just seeking community, Black Bruins across the board, both alumni and students, should be comfortable and able to access these resources through UBAA.

I plan to achieve this by increasing membership across cohorts. For example, the Black Bruins under 40 campaign will focus on reinvesting Black Bruins from the early 2000’s to present, making UBAA membership more contemporary, diverse and inclusive. I will also continue the expansion of the UBAA network via new chapters, providing hybrid programming and developing new communication platforms to allow for the alumni community to become more accessible and informed. In addition to fostering a stronger community, I also want to provide alumni with resources. I plan to accomplish this by establishing a library that will feature career opportunities, basic needs resources and tools for professional development.

For the past few years we’ve been in a reflective or self-evaluating space and now we must create a tangible alumni community that addresses the current needs of Black alumni. I believe I’m most qualified to execute this role because of my current positioning on the UCLA campus. My former student leadership roles coupled with my ASP Director experience, has positioned me to leverage relationships with Black Bruins across generations and develop similar tools, resources and programs specifically around professional and leadership development and community engagement. Additionally, as the ASP Director I am uniquely situated as an employee of the Afrikan Student Union and a Student Affairs Officer, which will also allow me to advocate for the needs of alumni at large as well as UBAA’s needs as an organization, while also building and maintaining UBAA’s relationships with other campus stakeholders. In
conclusion, I am most qualified to execute the Office of President because of the leadership skills, capacity, tenacity and zeal I possess when it comes to serving the Black Bruin community. I look forward to serving you all as your next UBAA President.