Student-Elected Trustee Candidate Profiles - Spring 2018
Degree Seeking: PhD
Personal Statement:
I propose 3 priorities for the Board: campus climate, community health and student recruitment. As a Latinx student, issues of campus climate resonate loudly. Although the university initiated campus climate improvements, the job is far from over and should remain a high priority. Physical, mental and emotional health are ongoing community concerns. Cornell needs to consolidate health service information, rebrand unpopular health initiatives, and advertise its many free resources. Finally, major education reform further necessitates that the Board stay true to Cornell’s mission. Reform will impact Cornell students and drastically change the applicant pool. Thinking forward, the Board needs to increase financial aid literacy, expand recruitment from diverse communities and lower the burden of applying.
My training as a policy analyst can help the Board achieve these goals and improve our community. Grounded in the believe that good data informs good research, I would be objectively critical of the data informing the Board. Second, I would study issues in a cross-sectional fashion because one-dimensional race, class or gender issues often can be explained through multiple lenses. Lastly, strong communication skills would enable me to reach out to vulnerable populations, collaborate with fellow leaders and ask tough questions. Questions such as: how much does it cost students- and- will the initiative engage the community members it intends to benefit?
Relevant Experience:
When casting their ballots, few Indiana University students knew they would elect the first student-refugee into student government. Throughout my term as Vice President, I responded to the diverse needs of 40,000 students. I was a voting member of various campus committees and taskforces including the Dean’s Education Policy Committee and the Sexual Violence Prevention Task Force. In the midst of university protests across the country, I initiated tough conversations with other campus leaders concerning race relations. In times of loss in our campus, I led vigils to comfort our community and families. While studying abroad at Sciences Po, I served my new campus as Student Representative of the exchange students. Elected by a diverse student cohort, I worked with the administration to promote the unique needs of exchange students and streamline information across language barriers. These two unique leadership experiences inform my capacity and motivate my candidacy for Student Trustee.
Community Involvement:
As a new student at Cornell, I quickly realized the sharp divide between departments and degree-tracks. In a few short months, I promoted efforts to increase interdisciplinary events, bridge research interests and connect our graduate students. I and students across 5 departments created an informal platform for information sharing, began a book club, matched cross-department mentors, and even sponsored a child through the Elves Winter Holiday Program.
Formally, through the Graduate School Deans Scholar community I found inclusion, support and exposure to campus initiatives. This community, allowed me to partake in important campus discussions with community members. At the Breaking Bread Community Dinner, we discussed the effects of technology and social media on the production of truth. At the Call 2 Action Reentry Simulation, we had tough conversation about the perpetual chains of incarceration. My involvement also takes me beyond campus, to a small soup kitchen downtown.
Special Interests:
I have a special interest in exploring the unforeseen effects of policies on vulnerable and marginalized populations. My particular focus is on immigration policies. My firsthand experience as a minority, an undocumented immigrant and a political refugee motivate my passion to improve our immigration system. Before coming to Cornell, I worked on the Legal Team at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Often serving as interviewer, translator, advocate and source of comfort, I guided unaccompanied-undocumented children through the complicated U.S. immigration process. I worked alongside attorneys to collect evidence and build cases for the children’s defense. These experiences informed my decision to pursue Cornell’s Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and Management. Having lived and worked within the immigration system, I want to produce research that improves U.S. foreign relations, eases the international refugee crisis, and promotes tolerance within the United States.
Degree Seeking: J.D.
Personal Statement:
I believe the top three issues for the Board of Trustees to address are 1) the campus climate, 2) student safety, and 3) better funding for an active and engaged student life.
The Board of Trustees looks after the welfare of the University, which is inextricably tied to the welfare of its students. At school, students should be able to focus on their classes, and not have to worry about their physical safety. Cornell should be a challenging environment, not a threatening one. As Trustee, I would advocate for the creation of a Campus Cohesiveness Student Taskforce. The taskforce would have the finding points of tension on campus and bringing it to the Board's attention. I would like to be a conduit between the Board and the students, reminding the Board that they also have an obligation to make the student's time here worthwhile and engaging.
The recent string of assaults has refocused my attention on campus safety. I think there should be optional bystander training provided for Cornell students so they know how and when to step in without getting injured. There should be more Blue Lights across campus as well, so students can easily access help.
As Trustee, I would uphold Ezra Cornell's legacy of creating an environment where anyone can study, where anyone can participate. I will strive to keep my doors open to all diverse voices, and carry them to the Board. I want to ensure that everyone who attends this school knows that they will be heard.
Relevant Experience:
I have a history of campaigning in Newtown, CT. The most recent campaign I worked on was for Eva Zimmerman. who was running in the 106th for State Senate. I was part of her campaign early enough that I got to help out in crafting policy goals and interests. However, as the campaign went on, we got more feedback from the community and had to adjust our policy goals accordingly. The biggest lesson I learned was that anyone holding office had to make themselves accountable and accessible to the public. There is a constant feedback loop between candidate and constituents, where we must balance the interests of our constituents against the long term interests of the institutions. In Newtown, sometimes that meant having to hit pause on repaving roads because we needed to use that money to fund a new fire safety department. Understanding how to balance this interest and to explain it to constituents is a very important part of holding office, and I have already had experience with this.
Community Involvement:
At Cornell, I am part of many law student organizations. I participate in the Asian and Pacific American Law Student Association. I am also participating in community outreach to Ithaca through a Citizenship and Immigration Workshop service where we help residents find their path to citizenship.
In my hometown, I was part of a citizen activist group, where we brought issues to the attention of our elected representative. My volunteer work for Newtown Forward helped me understand how to best organize people, what a policy proposal should look like, and make sure my town's voice would be heard. One project I worked on was a fundraiser for my town theater. The theater had been a place where I had congregated with all my friends during high school, and I didn't want future kids to miss out on that. I had to get a permit for a fundraiser on theater grounds, I had to organize shifts for volunteers, and figure out a long term donation scheme.
Special Interests:
As Trustee, I would like to get more medical staff for Cornell Health. Currently, the staff is overburdened and students experience long wait times when they need to see a doctor. These wait times often lead to conflicts with class schedules, even when students try to schedule around their classes. Students should not have to weigh what is more important: their health or their ability to do well in class. Furthermore, the school should offer more robust mental health services. I would like to implement a program where separate communities could get targeted mental healthcare. There should be separate mental health professionals for undergraduates, graduates and professional students. Our environments place unique challenges on us, and it would be more effective to have therapists experienced in navigating those specific challenges.
Degree Seeking: PhD
Personal Statement:
I believe the top priorities for the Board of Trustees include: (1) providing leadership in addressing CAMPUS CLIMATE issues; (2) fostering Cornell's progressive LAND GRANT TRADITION; and (3) increasing TRANSPARENCY in University decision-making.
As Graduate Student Trustee, I will seek to address campus and student life issues by supporting the Cornell Caring Community in its efforts to improve mental health and well-being—which are often interrelated with issues of diversity, inclusion, and academic freedom on this campus. I will focus on implementation of the forthcoming recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Campus Climate.
As a Land Grant institution, Cornell's legacy is in its attention to educational opportunity, economic development, and interdisciplinarity. As a student-elected Trustee I will ground my efforts in this history, seeking to bridge academic disciplines while holding the University accountable as it implements its recently updated Strategic Plan.
And finally, because of the activism of many students nearly 50 years before us, we have the privilege to participate in University decisions. However, there are still opportunities for increased transparency, with access to the Board—which holds "supreme power" over the University—being one. As Graduate Student Trustee, I will work to encourage more Trustee attendance at student events and will continue the current Graduate Trustee's practices of proactive student outreach.
Relevant Experience:
My academic work is at the intersection of the social sciences, humanities, and the natural sciences. As an undergraduate, employee, and now graduate student at Cornell, my intellectual and professional work has spanned these departments and communities, leaving me with nearly 8 years of a diverse institutional knowledge of the University. More specifically:
Voting member, General Committee to the Graduate School *** GPSA Voting Member, Arts & Sciences *** GPSA Field Representative, Science & Technology Studies *** Communications work for the Cornell Chronicle, CALS Communications, and International Programs *** White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
Community Involvement:
Graduate School: Ph.D. student, Science & Technology Studies *** GPSA voting member and General Committee representative *** Assistant Coach, Cornell Varsity Equestrian Team *** Cornell Varsity Club (Athletics fundraising) *** Teaching Assistant and First-Year Writing Seminars instructor
B.S. Cornell Animal Science & International Agriculture, 2014 ** Varsity athletics ** Class of 2014 Council ** Senior Class Campaign ** Teaching Assistant
Special Interests:
Incorporating goals towards carbon neutrality into all financial decisions *** Recognizing that without graduate workers' labor, Cornell undergraduate education would not look the same *** Supporting initiatives for creating more affordable housing to meet (differing) undergraduate and graduate student needs *** Making opportunities such as study-abroad and Cornell in Washington programs more accessible
Degree Seeking: PhD
Personal Statement:
Top Three Priorities:
- BRING DIVERSE STUDENT PERSPECTIVES TO THE BOARD
- PROMOTE FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
- BUILD A MORE TOLERANT AND INCLUSIVE CAMPUS
I am running to be the Student Elected Trustee because I believe that Cornell CAN and SHOULD do more to support its students. As a Trustee, I will work to (1) Bring STUDENT PERSPECTIVES to the Board of Trustees that reflect the diversity of our campus and student body by routinely engaging with student organizations, creating opportunities for students to share their experiences with the Board, and encouraging Trustees and administrators to participate in community events, (2) Promote FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY by facilitating administrative outreach initiatives aimed at helping students understand Cornell’s financial policies and investments and by increasing support for financial aid programs for undergraduate and professional students along with ensuring fair assistantship workloads for graduate students, (3) Build a more INCLUSIVE AND TOLERANT CAMPUS by expanding financial and logistical support for resource centers, community-building events, and educational programming aimed at changing and improving our campus climate.
Learn more about these priorities and other initiatives at VoteManisha.com
Relevant Experience:
AY 2017-2018:
- Graduate & Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) Executive Vice-President; Represented students in meetings with Cornell Administrators, Argued for the creation of additional training programs for bystander intervention during mental health crises
- Cornell Delegate - American Association for the Advancement of Science - Catalyzing Advocacy in Science Engineering Workshop; Advocated on behalf of students with Members of Congress and staff for increased federal aid
AY 2016-2017:
- GPSA Vice-President for Communications; Built up relationships between GPSA and student organizations to further shared advocacy goals, Organized students to ensure construction of accessible off-campus student housing
- Graduate/Professional Member - University Assembly; Worked across communities to tackle campus issues such as our strategy for becoming carbon-neutral, Developed relationships with campus leaders to collaboratively achieve goals like setting Cornell web accessibility standards
Community Involvement:
Graduate and Professional Student Representative to the University’s Coalition on Mental Health, GPSA Diversity and International Students Committee, GPSA Student Advocacy Committee, GPSA Appropriations Committee, Colman Leadership Program, out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM), Graduate Women in Science, BEAR Walk.
Special Interests:
Developing student mental health practices that focus on early identification, community intervention, and alternative treatment options. Connecting students with resources, opportunities, and mentorship that better help them reach their academic and personal goals. Advancing the development of housing options that are affordable, accessible, and serve as a hub for off-campus community building.