Darren Kameya ’92

Imagine being face to face with your elected officials. What would you ask them about UCLA?

Each year, UCLA trains a group of Bruin volunteers for just this moment. Then they get the opportunity to apply what they have learned with legislators, providing a valuable service to their alma mater.

“I'm honored to be one of the people that UCLA enlists to help with its advocacy efforts. It helps me to feel connected,” says Darren Kameya ’92.

“Advocacy is important to UCLA,” he explains, “because members of our local, state, and federal government see that UCLA has many successful graduates who will stand up for UCLA and care deeply about public higher education. California is cutting the budgets, and UCLA and the UC system need every dollar they can get from Sacramento and Washington to support research and student learning. Our advocacy gives UCLA an extra edge to get that critical government funding.”

Volunteers like Kameya are working directly toward that goal. Each year, usually in March, UCLA Government and Community Relations conducts advocacy workshops to help volunteers focus on skill-building. Participants then join advocates from other UC campuses in Sacramento to discuss the state budget’s impact on the university.

Sometimes advocates will go farther. From March 28 to March 30, 2006, they will carry the message to Washington, D.C., and return to Sacramento again in May, the peak of the budget season.

“These efforts keep the public mindful of the value of public higher education and UCLA's role in Southern California,” Kameya says. “There are so many issues and events competing for funding and support that, without advocacy, UCLA might be taken for granted or lost in the shuffle.

“Advocacy maintains UCLA's prestige and increases public and private funding support that keeps UCLA competitive.”

As it is for most people, time is precious to Kameya, who practices education law at Burke, Williams & Sorensen in downtown Los Angeles. But he says he is happy to donate it on behalf of UCLA.

“As a student, I learned so much and gained the experiences that made me who I am today,” he says.

From residence hall government to the Nikkei Student Union and USAC, Kameya’s undergraduate years were busy. Most formative, perhaps, was the quarter he spent working as a congressional intern in Washington, D.C. Those are experiences Kameya treasures.

“Making UCLA a great experience for other Bruins is like helping out my own family and I'm glad to do it,” he says.

For Kameya, it goes even farther. “I first got involved as an alumnus in 1999 at an Advocacy Workshop,” he explains. “I met my wife there, too.”

Since that workshop, Kameya has been president of the UCLA Internship Association, served on the boards of Asian Pacific Alumni of UCLA and ASUCLA, and is a graduate of the Alumni Assocation’s Alumni Academy.

“I would encourage any UCLA graduate with an interest in public affairs to get involved,” Kameya says. “It's rewarding and the process for volunteering is very friendly and easy.”

If you have questions or would like to get involved, visit www.Advocacy.UCLA.edu.