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Several Undergraduate Students Association Council members walked out of a meeting Wednesday night, breaking the quorum and suspending business for more than a week.

Council members affiliated with the Students First! slate walked out of the meeting because they questioned the qualifications of several of the students USAC President Marwa Kaisey planned to appoint to campus committees.

Students First! members alleged that Kaisey was choosing people based on slate affiliation, and claimed that the only qualification for several of the appointees was that they are Bruins United supporters. Claims from Students First! cannot be corroborated and Kaisey maintains that her choices were not based on slate loyalty.

A slate is a group of students who pool their resources to further a common set of goals.

USAC appoints students to serve on various committees throughout UCLA including the Academic Senate, Associated Students UCLA and student groups. As president, Kaisey has the authority to choose many of the people who will receive positions, but the whole council must approve each appointment.

Kaisey, a member of the Bruins United slate, said she was shocked Students First! members would resort to such an extreme measure without consulting her first, adding that she believes all candidates were qualified and the issue should not have divided the council.

“I don’t see why choosing one qualified person over another should disable the council,” she said, referring to what she called a plethora of qualified candidates.

Rick Tuttle, an administrative representative to the council, said he was concerned about the actions taken by the students who walked out and he hopes that this does not turn into a disruptive trend.

Tuttle added that if council members make a habit of walking out of meetings and breaking quorum, the council will be able to accomplish little this year.

Members of Students First! and Kaisey have conflicting stories regarding the events in the days leading up to the meeting.

“This was pretty much a last resort. There were numerous times where we tried meeting with Marwa to create compromises. ... For this last set of appointments there wasn’t a compromise,” said Gregory Cendana, internal vice president.

Though Kaisey said she made every effort to communicate with Students First! members, she said during the meeting that her efforts were not received well.

“They talk about communication, but I wasn’t contacted by anyone,” she said.

Nat Schuster, academic affairs commissioner and a member of Bruins United said Students First! was putting on a show rather than getting to the issues.

“This was theater. Some of them were even reading off of scripts, and they knew they were going to do this in advance,” he said.

Members of both slates agreed that council members should not make a habit of walking out of meetings, and members of Students First! said they do not plan on using this tactic again soon.

“I hope that this won’t (have to) continue,” Park said. “This is a petty thing to fight over and we have a full year ahead of us and so many issues to work on. ... (But) skirting the process and abusing power on behalf of her slate is unacceptable.”

Kaisey said that she would like to see the council work collectively.

“We absolutely have to come back together. There is no way we can serve this campus divided,” she said.