A University of California Board of Regents' special committee has nominated Cinthia Flores, a law student from UC Irvine, as student regent for the 2013-14 academic year.
The regents will vote on the recommendation during their July 17-19 meeting. If approved, Flores would become the 39th student regent since the position was established in 1975. She then would serve as student regent-designate for the coming year, able to participate in all deliberations. She would not have voting privileges, however, until her one-year term begins in July 2013.
"The University of California is going through a very difficult time. UC must lead a large-scale effort to reengage our supporters and promote greater state and public investment in our system," Flores said. "I'm personally invested in the success of public education. As a product of the public education system, I benefitted from programs subsidized by the state and know the impact these programs have on students' educational opportunities. I believe this is an opportunity to influence policy at a statewide level and ensure that those programs are prioritized within the California budget."
Flores, who will enter her second year at the UC Irvine School of Law this fall, is a Peggy Browning fellow and an Earl Warren scholar. She is a member of the Latina/o Law School Association and the Public Interest Law Fund, and received a California Bar Foundation Diversity Scholarship. Flores graduated from UCLA in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a double minor in Chicana/o studies and labor and workplace studies. At UCLA, she was the first Latina president of the Undergraduate Student Association Council, and served on the executive boards of the Associated Students of UCLA and the UC Student Association.
"I look forward to working with students from across the UC system to develop effective problem solving strategies," Flores said. "Students are often the individuals with solutions to the problems facing the University because they experience them firsthand. I hope to expand relationships among all stakeholders in an effort to develop a collaborative vision for the UC system and its future."
The student regent for 2012-13 is Jonathan Stein, a master's candidate in public policy and law student at UC Berkeley.
Flores' nominating committee included regents Charlene Zettel (chair), Alfredo Mireles Jr., Bonnie Reiss, Eddie Island and Bruce Hallett. The policy on the appointment of the student regent is available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/studentreg.html.
This year, 50 students from nine UC campuses applied for the position. In accordance with its policy, the regents' committee interviewed three finalists after the UC Student Association interviewed 10 semifinalists.
Flores can be reached at cinthiaf@lawnet.uci.edu.