Berkeley

Sandra Oseguera Sotomayor is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at UC Berkeley studying long-term human-environmental interactions in Oaxaca, Mexico.

As the current External Affairs Vice President (EAVP) of the UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly, Sandra champions equitable access to basic needs resources and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for graduate students. She also serves as Co-Chair of the ASUC-GA Joint Public Safety Committee, focusing on campus safety initiatives. Sandra is a CONACYT-UC MEXUS Fellow.

Email: eavp-ga@berkeley.edu

Davis

Victoria Salemme (She/her)

Email: gsaexternalvicepresident@ucdavis.edu

Irvine

Rebecca Angela Ruiz (They/She/Elle) is a 3rd year PhD student at UC Irvine in the Criminology, Law & Society program. Studies violence (state and interpersonal), immigration, public policy, labor trafficking, and critical criminology.

Email: vpexternal@ags.uci.edu

Los Angeles

Naomi Hammonds is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated from the UCLA Honors College with a degree in Psychobiology with minors in cognitive science, entrepreneurship, and African-American Studies in 2024. This academic year she is obtaining her Master's of Public Health in Community Health Sciences, while she applies for medical school. In UCGPC, she serves as the Council Chair.

Over the last four years, Naomi has been involved in a wide variety of student organizations and programs at UCLA. As the Undergraduate Students Association Council Student Body President, she advocated alongside her peers to enhance the experiences, and ultimately undergraduate success through the betterment of diversity, inclusivity, equity, collaboration, and retention efforts. Outside of student government, she served as one of the few undergraduate TAs in the Life Science Department and worked to increase equity in the classroom through the Learning Assistant Program and as a College Corps Fellow. In relation, as a McNair Research Scholar, Bunche Fellow, and Psychology Departmental Honors Scholar, she researched the sense of belonging of Black undergraduates in STEM and non-STEM spaces. 

Email: chair@ucgpc501c3.org

Merced

Mohit Saraswat (He/him) is a third-year Ph.D. student researching at LLNL. His home campus is Merced and has close ties to all UC campuses. He has held leadership roles advocating for international student affairs and graduate student needs in more than one out of state schools. He brings diverse experience to UCGPC with exceptional skills in budget management and advocacy. In addition to the Treasurer at UCGPC, he also volunteers to serve as the graduate representative for Student health advisory committee and affordable transport work group.

As a UCGPC council member this academic year, he aims to enhance mentorship standards, promote diversity & inclusion and amplify student voices in decision-making processes. He will work to strengthen the graduate community, and address key issues in higher education like housing and basic needs insecurity. His goal is to empower students, and reinforce faith in the system through effective advocacy and leadership.

Email: treasurer@ucgpc.org

Riverside

Katia Hatem (she/her) is a third-year PhD student in the chemistry department at University of California, Riverside. Her research is in the field of atmospheric chemistry in Dr. Jingsong Zhang's laboratory. She was the president of Chemistry GSA and coordinated with other committee members to plan out various social activities, such as ice cream social, etc.

As a UCGPC council member this academic year, she is hoping to bring more insight and awareness towards the different organizations that are being advocated for across each of the University of California campuses and organize potential collaborations with these campuses.

Email: vpea.gsa@gmail.com

San Diego

Yuhe Mu  

Email: vpexternal@gsa.ucsd.edu

UC San Francisco (academic)

Francesco Dalla Ricca, a second year graduate student at UCSF who is passionate about the bureaucracy of governance, as well as the intricacies of budget management. He believes there is a disconnect between the administration and the students they serve, and wishes to bridge the divide by directly reaching out to students.

Francesco wants to address issues with transparency to hold the UC administration accountable and understand the state of the UC system

Email: francesco.dallaricca@ucsf.edu

UC San Francisco (professional)

Brandon Chu (he/him/his) is a fourth-year medical student at the UCSF School of Medicine. He received his BA and MPH from UC Berkeley before starting medical school. In addition to medical education, He is passionate about community health and health equity.

Email: brandon.chu@ucsf.edu

UC Santa Barbara

Sarah Bacon (she/her) is a first-year Master’s student in Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara. A former marketing executive in the software industry, she brings a unique perspective to her studies, focusing on cognitive science, religious experience, and the intersection of religion, politics, and law. Sarah’s work reflects her dedication to understanding complex systems of meaning and governance, and she approaches her work with a balance of humanist and empirical methodologies that uncover insights from personal stories, lived experiences, quantitative data, and statistical analyses.

Sarah serves as this year’s Graduate Student Association Vice President of External Affairs, representing UC Santa Barbara at the UC-wide, state, and federal levels. She also serves on the UCSB Student Affairs Student Cabinet and the Academic Senate Council on Faculty Welfare, Academic Freedom & Awards. Through these roles, Sarah advances the University of California’s mission to serve society and upholds her personal commitment to fostering an ethical and equitable higher education experience for students, faculty, and staff alike.

Email: gsa-vpea@ucsb.edu

UC Santa Cruz

Stephanie Valadez (she/her)

Email: : gsaevp@ucsc.edu