Student-Elected Trustee Candidate Profiles - Spring 2021

Alexa Chong

Personal Statement:

As Student-Elected Trustee, I will actualize Cornell’s mission to “educate the next generation of global citizens, and enhance the livelihoods of students,” through initiatives that align with the general needs of the student body. Three of my top priorities are as follows:

Improving ACCESSIBILITY OF RESOURCES must be ensured by equitable distribution of opportunities. I will work to provide affordable housing and transportation solutions; improved attainability of mental health resources; development of financial aid programs; enhanced advising; subsidization of academic materials and textbooks; and provision of student legal counsel.

None of these resources are truly impactful if they are not equally accessible to all. The university must cultivate a more INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY by empowering underrepresented groups and eliminating discrimination. As an AAPI female, I am devoted to amplifying the voices and needs of marginalized and historically oppressed people.

To bridge the gap between advocacy and action the university must develop AUTHENTICITY AND CONSISTENCY OF VALUES. Delayed and insufficient responses to student movements for the divestment in fossil fuels and disarmament of the CUPD are only two examples of when the Board’s actions were inconsistent with its advertised values. Values are only as deep as the actions they inspire. If elected, I will hold myself and the board accountable so that we can all start and end each day proud to be Cornellians! Read more about my platform on my website https://alc343.wixsite.com/alexachongforset.

Relevant Experience:

Freelance Philanthropic and Community Service coordinator—planned various fundraisers and service events tackling problems spanning child exploitation and sex trafficking, environmental conservation, systemic racism, food insecurity, food waste, and most recently Sinophobia. Punahou Carnival Co-chair—one of two students from my high school to plan and execute our school’s annual multi-million-dollar fundraiser, providing financial aid for over 700 students. Epsilon Eta (Professional Sustainability Fraternity) Service Chair—supervises and facilitates a service committee effectively collaborating and planning local community service projects. Social Fraternity Director of Service—oversees and plans community service and philanthropic opportunities for the entire chapter. Hotel Ezra Cornell 95 Assistant Director of Philanthropy—worked closely with the HEC board of directors and successfully procured over $12,000 of auction-able goods for our philanthropy beneficiary.

Special Interests:

My professional interest is corporate social responsibility, as I see an urgent need for accountability in major financial systems. Not only have I tailored my academics to best prepare me for this niche sector, but I have spent recent years in leadership roles centered around community service. Seeing as one of the Board of Trustees’ duties consist of planning “financial operations,” my commitment to intersecting responsibility with business is relevant in ensuring the economic longevity of the university without jeopardizing its ethics. In addition to being a proud Hotelie, I study environment and sustainability as well as inequality, two issues that require continued attention from the Board. I am passionate about my boutique jewelry bran and soup business, two micro-enterprises I use to give back to disadvantaged communities. My interests also include backpacking, scuba and freediving, cooking, film photography, visual arts, boxing, and dancing (in the mirror and with my friends).

Brisa Lee

bkl53@cornell.edu

Personal Statement:

As a Native American and Mexican woman, I would like us all to remember that living and studying on these lands is a PRIVILEGE. We can show our respect to the original inhabitants by respecting one another and giving everyone a voice to be heard. Facilitating respectful communication will be one of my main objectives. As a supporter of the Red Dress Project, which raises awareness for missing murdered Indigenous women, I will prioritize speaking up against sexual assault on this campus and making sure that no case of sexual assault is too little to be heard. I will also fight to make sure mental health issues are prioritized especially as they are rising due to the pandemic. I myself, have struggled at times with being taken seriously by the student health services regarding a medical condition. I would love to be an advocate, a strong voice for my peers in this area. Likewise, professors and students need to be in serious discussion in regards to making accommodations for learning disabilities so that no one is left behind. I would love to facilitate these discussions. It is important to me that all students have affordable access to basic necessities, and I will support access to Cornell Food pantry and create a forum where the financial aid office can inform students of any available emergency funds and resources. I will be an advocate for anyone who feels bullied for their religion, sexual orientation, political preferences, etc. My goal is to “be the change” we want.

Relevant Experience:

Founder and Director of the Native American Advocacy Foundation, an Arizona non-profit, which has been responsible for providing funds to bring clean water to several homes in Carrizo community on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, promoting literacy for Native American and Indigenous students (projects which several Cornell students are currently volunteering their time to), donating computers for a computer center to the Boys and Girls Club on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, and annually donating one hundred turkeys at Thanksgiving to deserving families and financial relief to churches on the Reservation during the holiday season.
Diversity and Inclusion intern for Fox Corporation, during which time I wrote the first Native American heritage employee newsletter in the company's history, and fostered honest conversations with top executives about ways to improve diversity and inclusion within the corporation.
TV reporter and cover writer for the White Mountain Independent.

Special Interests:

I have felt many times at Cornell that I should stay silent or that I am too small to be heard. I am here to be a voice for all students and to create a space for free, open discussions so we can learn from each other and make positive changes to our campus. I have learned so much from those I have met from around the world here on this campus, I value their different perspectives and contributions to the culture of our University and I want to encourage that we continue to create an atmosphere of inclusion. I also believe that it is not enough to talk about showing support for underrepresented minorities, we need the University to have a stronger, more practical approach with real, tangible results such as funding programs to help minorities excel at Cornell and beyond. Specifically I would like to see more emphasis on fostering alumni relationships leading to internships and career opportunities after graduation. I believe that: YOU MATTER. YOU ARE HEARD. LET'S BE THE CHANGE!

Andrea Miramontes Serrano

am2389@cornell.edu

Personal Statement:

Hi I’m Andrea!

Last fall I ran for Freshman Representative focusing on transparency, fitness, dinning and sustainability. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yhy7YawSkIlIvECSmy1tirruYAVVbYbB/view?usp=sharing).

I have learned a lot from seven months in the SA. Working on these goals has shown me that money, bureaucracy and hierarchy decelerate progress. Change means different things for us than for the admin: we stay for 4 years, they stay for forty. Goal: ensure that plans for change actually get done. Plans for what exactly?

Improving Student Experience: Raising points mentioned in “Experience”.
Sustainability: Emphasis on progress towards Carbon Neutrality (e.g. Deep Geothermal) allowing for project team interaction and student research. Zero waste and circular economy. Redesign campus recycling and waste disposal.
Need Based Financial Aid for International Students

Additional: Better Communication
I am personally invested on these 3 topics but many students see many more issues that must be addressed, and should be able to demand solutions. Goal: improve communication between students and admin; raise our concerns and see their responses.

Voicing your opinion now:

Dining: http://www.cornelldiningfeedback.com/websurvey/2/execute?_g=MTI0OTA%3Du&_s=56d34e4e-8959-405d-982c-9e2d1c60975d#!/1

Start a Campus Project: https://fcs.cornell.edu/projects/start-project-0

Housing Maintenance Request: https://scl.cornell.edu/residential-life/housing/contact-us/place-

Relevant Experience:

Dining & Sustainability: Petitioned for salad bars and more variety. Gotten plastic containers to be replaced by cardboard. Advocated for more halal and kosher meals and a halal station on West Campus (which you should soon hear about), petitioned for cheaper reusable container prices and onsite dining silverware instead of disposables. These topics have somehow improved but must still be worked on, unlike they say COVID is not a parenthesis; this is food we still eat and trash we still produce daily
Housing: Working on improving dorm lighting, renewing kitchens and bathrooms, tackling food theft.
Faculty Advisory Committee on Athletics & Physical Education (FACAPE): working for more free PE courses. These are crucial for mental health; they allow us to meet new people, exercise and destress. But they are an expensive requirement and cause economic segregation among students. We should be able to exercise and socialize with all kinds of people without worrying over money.

Special Interests:

I am passionate about sustainability and technology. Engaging in extracurriculars (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-miramontes-serrano-988144196/), shows me the potential of campus groups, but also how little impact we have on our school. Goal: give student organizations more chances to improve the campus’ infrastructure.

Last fall I published two main articles for the Cornell Sun: one denounced Dining’s plastic overuse and one criticized their food. Writing emails hadn’t worked, but broadcasting got a response and I was contacted by the admin to work on both issues. This shouldn’t be so. Goal: increase CU’s accountability on public promises (i.e. sustainability, food and mental health).

My main question is: where does our money go?. Goal: direct funds to improve our college experience, because Cornell has and does great things, but the amount we pay should not be taken slightly. If you want to see what CU’s finances look like: https://dbp.cornell.edu/home/reports/

Itai Mupanduki

itm9@cornell.edu

Personal Statement:

Faithfully fight for and advocate student interests to the Board of trustees
Ensuring that our campus remains and strives to be an inclusive community where students can always feel comfortable being themselves regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability.
Strengthen mental health services for students
I would sit in on SA meetings as well as hold "office hours" twice a month where students could voice their concerns to me. I would then take the most salient concerns to the Board fo Trustees
I would work to push the board of trustees to provide stronger support for Asian American students and any other group of students facing discrimination or lack of representation concerns
Advocate for more funding for CAPS and other mental health resources so that these resources are more available for students

Relevant Experience:

As a high school student I served as the student body president, which entailed attending and representing student interests during my schools Board of Trustees meetings
As a member of a wide variety of student organizations at Cornell I have spent time learning about the different interests and concerns that our student body has, and I believe that knowledge will be instrumental in representing the student body as a member of the Board of Trustees

Special Interests:

I have a deep interest in finance, and would apply that interest to working on the appropriation of Cornell's endowment funds
I also have an interest in diversity and inclusion, and what work to ensure that Cornell keeps that as an important part of its decision making process

Andrew Talone

att47@cornell.edu

Personal Statement:

Hi! I’m Andrew Talone. Through my campaign, I hope to bring a fresh vision that addresses student needs through the Board of Trustees. I will work with the Board to undertake three main priorities: 1) REDUCE IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM STUDENT COSTS: Eliminate university loans; phase out the student contribution portion of financial aid; increase financial aid available to international students. 2) STRENGTHENING PROFESSIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL PIPELINES: Establish accelerated medical/law/master’s degree programs with Cornell respective colleges so students can receive a bachelor’s and professional/advanced degree in less time than the traditional manner; collaborate with similar educational institutions to create inter-school pathways for accelerated or traditional medical/law/master’s degree programs 3). EXPAND ACCESS TO UNIVERSITY CARE AND RESOURCES: Implement reduced-cost or free fitness center memberships; create online appointment-booking service for all mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional resources; offer more nutritional information at dining halls; expand the Center for First-Generation Student Success to better address the professional and educational disadvantages FGLI students face. Learn more about my campaign and join my fight at http://andrewtalone.com/.

Relevant Experience:

Currently, I work to improve the life as a representative of approximately 4,400 students through the College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. I spent the past year gaining the critical skill of learning how to navigate between different Cornell administrators, faculty, and student organizations to advance Council goals. Notable work of mine included co-developing a qualitative and quantitative survey on student use of mental health resources with the Council’s Co-Chair. Through the same position, I addressed enrollment issues by successfully advocating for the elimination of the “credit cap” on pre-enrollment for the Spring 2021 semester. Additionally, as the Policy Chair for my caucus, Great Society, in the Cornell Political Union, I gained a deeper insight into setting agendas based on bimonthly feedback from students to create a fulfilling semester’s worth of policy discussions.

Special Interests:

As a Government and Economics major, I have a strong passion for public service. Serving my community has always been my core interest; whether it be through weekly homeless outreach in Center City Philadelphia or working to register youth and minority voters in my hometown, I find it rewarding to help others meet their hopes and needs. My love for economics motivates me to find inventive and efficient ways to cut costs and offer students the resources they deserve. In my free time, I enjoy running, listening to Conan Gray, and drinking iced coffee.

Selam Woldai

sw685@cornell.edu

Personal Statement:

My 3 major points are mobilizing social change through equity, listening and accessibility. We must embrace the necessary social changes in our society to create an inclusive environment which Cornell strives to achieve in their motto of “Any Person, Any Study.”

Cornell can improve equity because the resources provided may not be accessible or catered to all communities that are represented at Cornell. For 2 years, I aimed to increase equity on campus through my previous initiatives in the Student Assembly, such as creating a resolution that requires class rosters to provide phonetic pronunciations of students’ names along with their pronouns.

By listening, I will be the bridge between the student concerns and administration, making communication more transparent. We can achieve this by implementing monthly office hours, creating a website for organizations to schedule drop ins for me to visit their organizational meetings, and creating town halls to allow for public forums in order to be as accessible and transparent as possible.

I will work to emphasize our similarities to connect various communities across campus to find our common causes and enact initiatives that can improve the student life and leave a lasting impact for all Cornell students to share. I intend to do this through listening to the different concerns of various communities, assessing to see where they overlap and mobilize these communities to create the changes that they are seeking.

Relevant Experience:

I have served on the Student Assembly for the past 2 years and have held the following positions, creating an abundance of initiatives and gaining experience in shared governance for the Cornell community:

Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Committee (2020-2021)
Deputy Speaker and Founding Member of the Cornell Student Assembly’s Black Caucus (2019-Present)
Minority Students Liaison At-Large (2020-2021)
Member of the Appropriations Committee (2020-2021)
Member of the Codes and Judicial Committee (2020-2021)
Member of the Infrastructure Committee (2019-2020)

Additionally, I have held other roles throughout the Cornell community:

Student worker at Bear Necessities on North Campus (2019-Present)
Member of Black Ivy Pre-Law Society (2020-Present)
Member of the Domestic Operations Committee of Scholars in Our Society and Africa (2019-Present)

Special Interests:

I personally am a strong advocate for raising mental health awareness. I firmly believe that as students, although difficult, we must learn the balance between working and protecting one's mental health in order to prevent burn out and anxiety. In the past, I have actively advocated for protecting youth mental health in academic settings, receiving recognition of my work from Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.