The event was organized by the ASUC Office of the President in conjunction with ASUC senators Sadia Saifuddin, Rosemary Hua and Megan Majd. In order to raise awareness of such crimes on campus, victims of sexual assault shared their stories.

According to a Berkeley Police Department crime report, there were 39 reported incidents of sexual assault in the city of Berkeley in 2012, up from 20 incidents in 2011.

“(Sexual assault) is something that doesn’t discriminate against color or gender,” Saifuddin said. “It’s something that happens to a lot of people.”

According to Bay Area Women Against Rape training coordinator Agustina Perez, 85 percent of sexual assaults are committed by a person whom the victim knows, and only one in 10 victims report the crime.

Student attendees included members of the campus sorority system and the ASUC. The workshop was facilitated by UCPD, University Health Services and BAWAR.

“(Events like Fight Back) allow survivors of sexual assault who are silenced to have a voice,” Hua said. “But it also allows for facetime between UCPD and students (and) facilities a discussion.”

Speakers at the event noted the importance of discussing sexual assault in an open and safe environment.

“The reason why sexual violence is rising at such alarming rates is because people don’t talk about it,” Perez said. “Anything that will get people to talk and create safe spaces is a step in the right direction.”

Community leaders provided attendees with resources to defend themselves against attack.

During the workshop, UCPD officers offered a pepper spray demonstration as well as basic self-defense techniques. Officers said one of the most basic but useful techniques in the case of an assault is to shout for help. The workshop also offered free pepper spray to participants.

“There is nothing that anyone can do that warrants (or) causes rape,” Perez said during her presentation. “The only person responsible for rape is the one committing it.”

Director and Title IX Officer Denise Oldman of the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination said that it is important to know that there are allies in the community for sexual assault victims. She addressed the various resources available to students, including medical, psychological and emotional health services, residential needs and prevention help.

Members of the ASUC and campus community alike said they hope events like Fight Back will educate the students that attended and continue to raise awareness about sexual assault and violence within the UC Berkeley community.

“I feel like it’s important to have events that raise awareness about how critical an issue (sexual violence is) both on campus and in general,” said sophomore Taylor Fugere, who is a member of Greeks Against Sexual Assault and involved in the Gender Equity Resource Center.

UCPD Officer Brendan Tinney said he hopes to see more involvement with sexual assault prevention from other groups on campus, such as fraternities.

“I think there’s some interest specifically in the part of fraternities, at least some of them,” Tinney said. “But I’m waiting for them to reach out. You don’t (only) teach the group that’s interested in the topic.”

Contact Jennie Yoon at jyoon@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that there had been 39 incidents of sexual assault on the UC Berkeley campus this year, a 95 percent increase from 19 incidents the previous year. In fact, there were 39 reported incidents of sexual assault in the city of Berkeley in 2012, up from 20 incidents in 2011.

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The charges were dropped because most of the candidates in question lost their bids for office, so any censures against them would have no effect, according to ASUC Attorney General Hinh Tran.

Petitions were filed last week against the entire Student Action executive slate — presidential candidate Rafi Lurie, executive vice presidential candidate Chen-Chen Huo, academic affairs vice presidential candidate Ryan Kang and Mecklai — for sending unsolicited emails. A petition was also filed against CalSERVE senate candidate Taylor Fugere alleging the same charges.

“According to the Council, censures for losing candidates are not an effective remedy for the violations alleged in my petition,” Tran said in an email. “Although Safeena did win, my office had filed suit against the entire Executive Slate in a single petition, and apparently the Council rejected the petition in its entirety.”

The Judicial Council will assess a separate charge against Mecklai for campaigning in the residence halls at a trial scheduled for May 2 in Unit 1’s Slottman Hall at 8 p.m.

The other candidates were charged with violating Section 12.5 of the election bylaws, which prohibits candidates from sending unsolicited emails.

Had the candidates been found in violation of this section, each would have received one censure. In order to be disqualified from the election, they would need to receive a total of five censures.

According to Student Action party chair Joey Lam, the email in question was sent due to a miscommunication. He said that the executive candidates met other people with the same name and accidentally sent it to the student who made the complaint.

Fugere cited a similar reason, saying one of her staff members accidentally sent the email to the wrong listserv.

Andrea Guzman covers academics and administration. Contact her at aguzman@dailycal.org and on Twitter @guzmanandrea5.

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According to ASUC Attorney General Hinh Tran, the candidates violated Section 12.5 of the election bylaws, which prohibits candidates from sending unsolicited emails.

In order to prevent harassment, the ASUC bylaws require candidates to have a pre-exisiting relationship with the recipient before sending campaign materials.

For a candidate to be disqualified, he or she would need to receive five censures, according to Tran. Each violation of Section 12.5, if found to be true, would result in one censure.

Tran said that he had received several complaints and, after conducting an investigation, concluded that the complaints had merited filing charges before the Judicial Council.

“Moving forward, my office, the Elections Council and the Election Finance Committee continue to evaluate all election-related documentation and complaints to determine if any candidates were in violation of the Election bylaws,” Tran said in an email.

The petition form filed against the Student Action executive slate refers to an incident reported by a student named Jason Yang. In an email sent from Yang to Tran enclosed in the petition, Yang alleges that he received unsolicited spam emails from a staff member of the campaign of Student Action’s candidate for academic affairs vice president, Ryan Kang.

According to Student Action party chair Joey Lam, the email was mistakenly sent due to a miscommunication.

“Our executive slate met a number of people with similar names, and Yang’s contact information was therefore unfortunately misattributed with these people,” Lam said. “We have reached out to Yang and have personally apologized to him for the inconvenience caused by the email.”

The petition against Fugere was filed after receiving a similar complaint from Dara Adib, a staff member of the Open Computing Facility, a student volunteer organization dedicated to free computing.

In the email to Tran, Adib says that the student organization’s email listserv received unsolicited campaign emails.

Although Fugere did acknowledge sending the emails as a mistake, she said she believes she qualifies for an exemption, as expressed in an email addressed to Tran enclosed in the petition. While attempting to contact Fugere’s personal contacts, a volunteer working on behalf of Fugere allegedly accidentally selected the wrong list, said Fugere in the email.

“The email was sent on behalf of my campaign as a mistake, however the sender of the email did in fact have a previous relationship with the contacts that were emailed,” Fugere said in an email to Tran enclosed in the petition.

The Judicial Council will meet at a time yet to be determined to consider whether to accept the charge sheets.

Andrea Guzman covers academics and administration. Contact her at aguzman@dailycal.org and on Twitter @guzmanandrea5.

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The party has traditionally represented underrepresented groups, including the Chicano and LGBTQ communities.

Recently, the party has begun to represent other groups, such as transfer and re-entry students and student parents. The party is also looking to emphasize environmental and women’s issues.

“The progressive movement at Cal is much broader than what CalSERVE traditionally represents — we’d like to represent more of that movement,” said CalSERVE Elections Coordinator Anais LaVoie. “We are the only progressive movement on this campus.”

According to CalSERVE chair and Party Signatory Salih Muhammed, the party is running more senators to represent an even wider selection of communities.

“This election is not a matter of votes … it’s a choice for a new and fresh and alternative vision that includes participatory democracy where every student is represented,” Muhammed said.

This year’s candidates are Beatriz Barron, Brett Bruhanski, Briana Mullen, Caitlin Quinn, Destiny Iwuoma, Doug Taylor, Jenny Lu, Justin Kong, Laura Li, Monica Ruiz, Sean Tan, Sevly Snguon, Stefan Elgstrand, Taylor Fugere, Wendy Pacheco and Vy Hoang.

LaVoie said the nominees were chosen to represent CalSERVE because they share the party’s broader values of creating a diverse campus, promoting a tuition-free university and providing more resources for victims of hate crimes and sexual assault.

“We only pick candidates that all of our communities say ‘yes, they can run,’” LaVoie said. “(But) we don’t all have to agree on every issue. There is diversity.”

Bruhanski said he chose to run for senate with CalSERVE because of its history of supporting less visible communities, particularly transfer students.

“As a transfer student from Long Beach City College, coming to Cal was a very marginalizing experience,” Bruhanski said in an email. “Our school could do so much more to bolster the needs of its transfer, re-entry, student parent, and student veteran populations.”

The party’s candidates’ platforms range from increasing mental health awareness to initiating a bicycle-lending program.

One of Bruhanski’s biggest platforms is raising awareness of student-worker rights by launching a “know your rights” campaign.

“Having students that do not know when they are entitled to a break, how long that break is allowed to be, or how to file a grievance is a serious ethical problem that needs to be addressed,” Bruhanski said.

In addition to having a wide variety of platforms, the party’s candidates represent a large sample of the student body, with nominees ranging in age from 19 to 32.

“I am a unique Senate candidate, as I believe that I am the only student that identifies as a Re-Entry Transfer, in their 30’s, married, and a commuter,” Taylor, one of CalSERVE’s nominees, said in an email. “Each of these attributes makes me a rare candidate; in combination, it makes me something of a unicorn.”

CalSERVE ran 11 senate candidates last election season and secured six seats. The party has not held a senate majority since the late 1980s.

“Its important to remember that CalSERVE doesn’t see elections as a primary goal,” LaVoie said. “First and foremost, we want to make sure that our values are represented.”

ASUC elections will be held in early April.

Ally Rondoni is the lead student government reporter. Contact her at arondoni@dailycal.org.

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