Speaking Up
As ASUCD president, Erin Braddock Glanville discovered the importance of local issues
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.
“As ASUCD president, there were long hours, there were a lot of issues—one thing that I learned was to not take things very personally,” Glanville said. “I tried to really separate out criticism and stay focused on the core principles, keeping in mind why my vice president and I were there and what we wanted to accomplish.”
As ASUCD president, Glanville was also exposed to state and city-related issues related to the university’s growth. Glanville said this experience ignited a passion for local issues, which influenced both her blog for the Silicon Valley newspaper, Almanac News, and her local involvement in her hometown of Menlo Park, Calif.
“As ASUCD president, I learned how important it is that if you see an issue, you speak up,” said Glanville, who had a successful career in high tech before becoming a blogger.
Glanville has since retired from blogging and is now a stay-at-home mom raising three children, who she and her husband, Jeff Glanville ’93 would be happy to see go to UC Davis.
“Now, my daughter is going to high school next year, and I don’t know what or where she’ll land for college. It’d be wonderful if she went to UC Davis, but we’re keeping an open mind,” said Glanville, donor to the UC Davis Annual Fund. “I do hope she goes to a place that inspires intellectual curiosity and has as wonderful a campus as UC Davis does—the way it feels safe, artistic, and engaging.”
Glanville says that she has fallen even more in love with the UC Davis community since she graduated.
“There are so many aspects of UC Davis that students don’t quite realize how special they are until they leave,” she said. “And now, when I run into somebody who went to Davis, I think ‘Oh my gosh! You went to Davis,’ because we instantly have a connection and I kind of know something about that person—they’re a hard worker, an open person and have that Aggie spirit.”