Meehan Wins UCLA Election

After a disputed election, an outbreak of violence and charges of racism, UCLA finally has a new president of its undergraduate student government.

Mike Meehan garnered more than 51% of the 3,273 votes cast in Thursday’s closely guarded election, nearly twice as many as nearest rival, Mike Soules, officials said. Five names were on the ballot, and several others received substantial numbers of write-in votes.

Among those receiving write-ins was Lloyd Monserratt, the Latino student activist who previously won a primary and runoff election against Meehan but was deemed ineligible last month because his grades and course credits allegedly did not meet requirements for the presidency. Monserratt says that he is eligible and his supporters claim that he is a victim of racism.

A new election on May 26, with Monserratt off the ballot, was disrupted by fights and the destruction of several voting stations. Under heavy security, the election was held again on Thursday. About 15% of the 22,000 undergraduates voted, although some Monserratt supporters tore or burned their ballots in protest.

Meehan, a psychology major from Chatsworth who is Anglo, said he hopes to ease tensions among ethnic groups.

“I’m going to try at the beginning to show I’m not this evil person they’ve been portraying me as,” he said Friday.

The trouble at UCLA has attracted the attention of off-campus politicians. State Sen. Art Torres, (D-Los Angeles), chairman of a Senate Special Committee on UC Admissions, visited the school this week and announced that he would hold hearings on allegations of racism there. Assemblyman Tom Hayden, (D-Santa Monica), chairman of the Assembly subcommittee on higher education, planned to meet Friday and today with UCLA officials and with both Meehan and Monserratt.