Michael Gofman (R, North Davis) is the current ASUCD President. He is a second-year economics and political science double major from San Francisco (possibly the only republican from there). A former senator, Gofman campaigned successfully for the position of president during the Winter 2018 elections.
Gofman is rumored to be exploring a run to be Sheriff of Trinity Country upon graduation.
ASUCD History
During his term as a senator, Gofman pursued a number of projects, including a closet with free professional wear to rent to marginalized students (called the career closet), improving Unitrans service through sitting on citywide committees, helping units like the CoHo and Bike Barn, introduced legislation to increase transparency, and worked to increase the amount of microwaves in the Coho, something that will be implemented soon.
Winter 2018 Elections
Gofman ran for president along with then interim senator Shaniah Branson as his vice president on the UNITE! ticket. Their platforms included:
- Food Insecurity: working to create a mobile pantry by partnering with The Pantry, Student Affairs, Aggie Food Connection, Veggie Up, and the EOP Cottages. This project would be called ‘The Pantry On-Wheels”. This would supply each large center on campus (e.g. Cross Cultural Center, AB540 Center, Veterans Success center, etc) with a moveable cart that is supplied with non-perishable food items and fresh vegetables and fruits.
- Bridging the Gap Between Transfers & Traditional Students: Career Discovery Groups are a partnership between the College and the Internship and Career Center, that give freshmen and first-year transfer students an opportunity to explore campus resources, student involvement opportunities, career possibilities, and make academic choices for future success. Career Discovery Groups also provide students with a mentor to introduce them to campus resources, help them explore potential career paths, and to guide them with course selection. There are only 20 students per CDG, so students will be part of a small group with shared interests. Students who participate in Career Discovery Groups have higher rates of retention at UC Davis. Interaction with faculty and advisors helps them gain focus; guidance from graduate student mentors helps Career Discovery Group students learn to navigate the research university and use campus resources. The College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences is the only college that currently has Career Discovery Groups. Gofman want to bring this program to the other 3 colleges so that all first-year Transfer and Reentry students have the opportunity to be connected with their peers and the campus itself.
- Transparency: Wanting to live streaming senate, something which will be implemented soon. Gofman authored legislation which notifies students before they will be mentioned at Senate, and he attempted to pass an amendment in order to make the External Affairs Vice President (EAVP) an elected position--all in an effort to ensure students’ voices are better heard and fairly represented. He would hope to work with Senate to use social media and other digital tools to make our student government more transparent, and help reformat how ASUCD brands itself to students in an effort to make it more accessible.
- Disability Activism: Gofman and Branson believe the administration’s attention is lacking for students who have physical, mental, and learning disabilities. They want to make our campus more accessible for all students, especially ones with disabilities. To address this, they would start by organizing town halls to listen to student voices. During our time serving as your President and Vice President, they hope to work with the Disability Issue Administrative Committee (DIAC), the ASUCD Disability Rights Advocacy Committee (DRAC) , and the Student Disability Center (SDC) to create effective communication between these three groups, as they all represent students with disabilities. They hope to lobby administration to make sure all buildings are accessible, that testing accommodations become easier to acquire, and that a permanent testing center is established. Gofman and Branson hope to use the new SDC space in the Memorial Union as a starting point to advertise and expand current disability services.
Gofman and Branson won the election with 1054 votes to the Based ticket's 990 votes. They soon brought on Shellan Saling, the former UNITE! campaign slate manager to be their Chief of Staff.
Winter 2017 Elections
Gofman first ran during the Winter 2017 elections. He was the only independent to win a seat, and the first freshman to hold a senate seat in nearly 20 years. He would later help elect yet another freshman and current Senator, Alisha Hacker, in an effort to expand freshman representation. His main groups of support included the Greek and Jewish communities on campus.
He ran on three platforms: 1) Affordability, 2) Sustainability, and 3) Student Teacher Relations.
External Affiliations
Gofman is a proud member of Alpha Gamma Rho. He also serves on the board of Davis College Republicans and is active in statewide College Republicans, along with Senator Spasov. In addition, Gofman is on the board of Aggies for Israel and AIPAC, and a proud member of the Jewish community on campus.
He is also known as a hookah enthusiast, tequila connoisseur, and wannabe cowboy. He once fell asleep in bed with an uneated hotpocket, but who am I to judge. A passerby once saw a blender in the window of his bathroom. Rumor has it he is secretly Frank from It's Always Sunny.
