When he was subsequently ruled ineligible to hold office, the resulting campus unrest and demonstrations made national headlines and led to charges of endemic racial discrimination at the California public university.

[2] At age 9 his father brought him along to protest the opening of the El Cid adult bookstore on Main Street in the San Gabriel Valley city of Alhambra.

After USAC ex post facto declared Monserratt ineligible, the Third World Coalition sought to put forth a new candidate in his place.

The election was appealed through the internal student government appellate process, and the school administration, where Monserratt's ineligibility was affirmed.

"This event was being used as an outlet for (student) frustrations," over racial problems, Monserratt said, "We have not seen a real commitment (from the University of California) to diversify our faculty, our programs, our administration.

[12] A noted campaign manager, House minority leader Richard Gephardt once asked Monserratt to help with several close congressional races in California and Nevada.

Analyzing the campaign's effects, Monserratt told the Associated Press, "It's just rejuvenated the community, paving the way for future candidates ... there's a lot of excitement because of what he was able to do".

Candidates running for office he advised included Art Chacon,[16] Lucia Rivera,[17] Jocelyn Yap, Janice Hahn, and the failed mayoral bid by Xavier Becerra.

The campaign ran a tape of someone impersonating Gloria Molina disparaging the voting record of mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa.

He created the Parents Institute while Chief of Staff to LAUSD Board Member Vicki Castro,[22] and Los Angeles' "Bulky Item drop off centers.

[11] He had already become a legend, at the age of 36, throughout the greater Eastside of the city of Los Angeles and throughout the Latino community statewide," said Council President Alex Padilla.

[11] When Hispanic students were criticized for waving Mexican flags during demonstrations in Los Angeles in 1994, Monserratt responded to the controversy by saying that it was "a symbolic clinging to self-pride".