As allegations of bullying and verbal harassment surfaced, Elevate Cal decided to drop ASUC Senate candidate Jake Sim, who is now running independent of any entity, from its coalition. 

In a public statement made in March, the director of the Basic Needs department for the ASUC Office of the Executive Vice President, or EVP, who requested not to be named due to privacy concerns, alleged that Sim had been relentlessly bullying and harassing her for weeks. Sim was an intern in the Basic Needs department for the Office of the EVP and was removed over spring break due to the allegations. 

On March 20, during a phone call between Sim and the director, Sim asked for her endorsement, to which the director replied that she needed more time to review the ASUC bylaws as she had already agreed to endorse another candidate, according to the statement. The director added that she needed additional time to consider endorsing Sim as she felt “uncomfortable” by the request.

The unnamed source said in her statement that Sim raised his voice and escalated the conversation after not receiving her endorsement. 

After speaking with Sim and the unnamed source, Elevate Cal decided to no longer support Sim as one of its candidates.

“The coalition does not support bullying or harassment of any kind, and we want to ensure that all our candidates’ values align with ours,” said Moorea Benmosche, chair of Elevate Cal, in an email.

In response to the “weeks” of alleged bullying and harassment the unnamed source recounted, Sim recognized that, following a meeting where he felt unheard and ignored, he had once sent an email that could have been expressed more professionally. 

Describing his tone as calm during the phone call, Sim said in an email that his impact did not align with his intent, having been consumed by his emotions and frustrations. From that point forward, Sim has been contemplating dropping out of the elections but has presently decided to continue running to help pave a way for students affected by the carceral system such as himself.

“If I am elected, I will focus on having talks around misogyny and patriarchy to address male privilege and support for survivors,” Sim said in the email. “I want to center the voices and experiences of non-male genders as marginalized identities in the patriarchy we live in.”

ASUC elections will be held virtually from April 5 to April 7.