Student News

By Laura Pizzo

ASUCD’s first African-American female president Mariah Watson ’16’s first shining moment as a leader came in the 8th grade. She gave the culmination speech as the treasurer of her school’s student leadership group, after which the moderator called her “the woman most likely to rule the world.”

By Laura Pizzo 

Former ASUCD President Carly Sandstrom ’14, who now lives a mileand- a-half from the White House, might have some advice for her neighbor about terming out and making the most out of the post-presidency life. While representing 30,000 students at the world’s top veterinary school isn’t the same as being President of the United States, Sandstrom knows what it’s like to spend her time and energy serving the public.

By Laura Pizzo

Erin Braddock Glanville ’93 was ASUCD president during a tumultuous time at UC Davis. Cuts in state funding led to rising student fees and campus protests, the future of funding student publications was on the line, and the impact of UC Davis becoming an NCAA Division I athletics program was a hotly debated topic.

Glanville said leading the student body during these controversial issues taught her lifelong lessons.

By Laura Pizzo

For a man who has achieved a lot in life, it may be surprising that Bob Black ’73, J.D. ’76 doesn’t think success is just about winning.

“I believed that government could make a difference in people’s lives, even student government,” Black said. “And in pushing for change, one of the insights I gained was that you really learn by doing. In terms of politics especially, you learn by engagement. Winning isn’t everything; learning is everything.”

By Laura Pizzo

Five years before the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in Brown vs. the Board of Education that separate was not equal when it came to educating African Americans, Horace Hampton ’50 was elected president of the Associated Students at UC Davis. In 1949, Hampton became one of the first African Americans to be elected to such a post at a major U.S. university and the first in the UC system.

By Breeanna Meunier

Zoe Kelsey ’16 says “the first time I stepped onto the campus to take a tour, I felt like I was meant to go here.” This communications major says that she fell in love with the “atmosphere of the town and community of the students.”

Fast-forward to today, and Kelsey couldn’t be happier with her decision as she is about to attend her second year, and says she has “made the best friends I’ve ever had”.

by Dana Topousis

The bond between mother and daughter is easy to see. It is forged with respect and unconditional love—and laughter, lots of laughter.

Lisa Elzy Watson and her then-husband, Marion, raised their children in Culver City, a suburb of Los Angeles. “Mariah had boundless energy as a child,” said Lisa of her daughter, Mariah Kala Watson. “She had tremendous drive and passion. My goal was to teach her how to use all that energy, to channel her curiosity without quashing her spirit.”