Many were confused when CU’s first-ever all-women-of-color Tri Executive ticket, Butterfly Effect, withdrew from the election just days before voting. Butterfly Effect had a multitude of support and the decision to withdraw was not an easy one.
Brittany Gutierrez Zacarias and Casandra Garcia Vega both graduated from Glenwood Springs High School in 2020. Garcia did not think she would attend college and though Gutierrez knew she wanted to attend college, she did not know what she wanted to study or how she would make it happen. However, when both girls joined a collegiate program for first-generation students at their high school, attending college became attainable. Garcia claims the program and the amazing advisors she had are what brought her to CU.
Casandra Garcia Vega is involved in the Multicultural Leadership Scholars (MLS) program at CU, and both Garcia and Gutierrez are involved in UMAS Y MECHA: a Chicane and Latine student group on campus. They both attribute much of their leadership development and abilities to engage with their community in a meaningful way to UMAS Y MECHA.
Before running for tri-exec, neither of the two girls knew much about CUSG. Their third running mate, Crisol Guzman Coral (not interviewed), worked with CUSG in the past and encouraged them to run together as a ticket. They decided to run together as, “The Butterfly Effect.”
They started by building their ticket, finding campaign managers, and promoting themselves on social media. The running mates established five pillars that influenced their campaign and policy initiatives: transparency, education, campus safety, accessibility, and Comunidad. In their experience at CU, Garcia and Gutierrez both have seen how underrepresented communities get ignored and how their own ideas have not been taken seriously. Thus, it was important to them to advocate for their community by serving as an example and showing their peers they are capable of taking on major leadership roles. Garcia felt that being elected as tri-exec would show her Latino community that their ideas and opinions would be valued at CU.
When asked about why she wanted to run for CUSG, Gutierrez said, “I would say for me it was that idea of wanting to make change in systems that weren’t built for people like us.” Butterfly Effect was the first ever all-person-of-color ticket, as well as the first all-women-of-color ticket to run for CUSG tri-exec. Gutierrez said that even if they didn’t win the election, just their running felt like a big enough impact.
Garcia and Gutierrez spent time learning about CUSG and the system in which it operates. Guzman had experience working with CUSG in the past, so she guided Garcia and Gutierrez through the process. Then, the three of them started to develop policy proposals and solutions to campus issues. Garcia and Gutierrez were both passionate about their ticket and the difference they wanted to make, but as they learned more and participated in the space of CUSG, they started to doubt whether being elected as tri-exec was what they wanted.
Garcia said, “For the differences that I personally want to make, I started to doubt whether that [CUSG] was going to be the space for me or not.”
Gutierrez added, “I just wasn’t sure if I was comfortable making change in these spaces.”
Garcia and Gutierrez came to the conclusion that they did not want to continue in the election on their own. When election week came around, they saw that they had a lot of support, and were even projected to win the election. After finding this out, they reflected on their values and realized that rather than serving on CUSG, they preferred to focus their energy and leadership on the communities they were already a part of, like UMAS Y MECHA. Garcia said that CUSG did not feel like an accessible space to her, as someone from a low-income and multicultural background.
Gutierrez said, “Just being a person of color on campus you walk around and it’s a predominantly white institution so it’s already hard. But then putting myself in spaces where I know I’m not gonna be heard wasn’t something that I wanted to do.” She added that she didn’t want to perpetuate stereotypes of the “angry Latina” just because she knew she would have to defend herself and her ideas.
Though they dropped out of the election, Garcia and Gutierrez consider Butterfly Effect a winner because they showed their community that people like them enter spaces like CUSG, and be successful. They also demonstrated the importance of following your values and trusting your instincts.
Both Garcia and Gutierrez want to make changes in the CU community, just not through CUSG. However, both of them are grateful for the experience of running and do not have any negative feelings toward individuals in CUSG, it was just the system that did not feel like the right place for them.
They felt a lot of support throughout their running process, with many people visiting their tabling events and attending the electoral debate. Gutierrez said, “We had a lot of people come out and it was just so beautiful to see a room full of people of color involved in a debate for CUSG.” Gutierrez added that this support pushed her to want to continue in the election process. However, she had to make the decision that would be best for her.
The Butterfly Effect ticket was all about making small changes for a big impact, and running for tri-exec was their small change. Gutierrez said, “As a ticket, we did succeed in our goal of making a bigger impact at the university.”