Andrew-Ian Bullitt is the most qualified candidate for academic affairs vice president because he is the only candidate for academic affairs vice president. But his interview with our Editorial Board left us with serious concerns.

He would bring a valuable perspective as a current ASUC senator and a student of color in a STEM field. He also said that as AAVP, he would fight the exclusionary behavior caused by high GPA requirements that unfairly benefit students from higher-income backgrounds who have easier transitions into collegiate academics.

His fix for this academic disparity, however, is to increase funding for STEM departments, such as electrical engineering and computer science, that will supplement more classes and resources. The only problem: Departments in the College of Letters & Science face funding cuts akin to those of STEM departments — largely self-sufficient thanks to donors and grants. Across his platforms, a troubling disconnect with non-STEM fields emerges.

On grade deflation, Bullitt called for a resource that collected average GPA per major. He admitted that he was unaware of a Daily Californian database that compiled more than 1.9 million grades over the past nine years by department, showing his lack of research into his own platforms.

Also concerning is a poor track record of following through on his promises. For instance, he created a Student Information Services Student Advisory Committee, which he dropped into the hands of the ASUC’s chief technology officer and has not checked up on since.

This endorsement was not an easy decision. This board carefully weighed the option to not endorse a candidate for the position. We ultimately decided, however, that a nonendorsement should be made only when a candidate would harm our student body — and that, at least, is not the case with Bullitt.

If elected, however, he needs to take the AAVP office more seriously than he has throughout his campaign.

Vote Ian Bullitt for academic affairs vice president.

To read the Editorial Board’s full endorsements, click here

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Editorial Board as written by the opinion editor.