Several newly elected members of the Student Assembly emphasized that they aim to open lines of communication between the student body and the assembly over the course of their tenure.
Tristan Magloire ’20, and Ashwin Viswanathan ’20, two of the four newly-elected freshman representatives, said they hope to improve the lives of freshman on campus.
Magloire stressed that he hopes to make it easier for freshman to obtain work study positions on campus.
“It’s been a struggle for many of my friends who are required to work, to find a job this semester and that’s something I’m dedicated to solving,” Magloire said. “The Class of 2020 can trust that as freshman representative I will do everything in my power to amplify their voices and facilitate real change within Cornell.”
Viswanathan said he also hopes to enact important changes for freshman “in terms of infrastructure and communication.”
“My platform was centered on implementing water bottles on the upper floors of freshman dorms, to encourage the use of reusable water bottles to not only help students economically but to help the environment,” he said. “I also plan on improving the ease of access to the TCAT busing system by posting maps and signs for each bus at most stops.”
David Cox ’17, the newly elected College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Representative, said he hopes to discover ways to garner more student input on issues before the S.A.
“I plan to access a variety of human and technical resources to gather meaningful input from our community in order to emplace the necessary people, or system changes, to efficiently accept, review, revise and implement our collective ideals,” he said.
Cox said he hopes to react quickly, in order to “interpret the tides of change that rise and fall within the college.”
“Obviously, I will guard against any possible erosions since our student body comprises one of the largest and most diverse communities on campus,” he said. “But [I will] keep an open mind for change is important in integrating CALS with the other colleges while at the same time reinforcing the positions of my constituents and their calls to action.”
As the hotel school representative during the beginning stages of the College of Business, Lee Lipschutz ’18 is excited to “have the opportunity to make a strong impact on what the future of the hotel school will look like.”
“I plan to make sure that all College of Business undergraduate programs have the abilities to provide tours to new and prospective students,” he said. “It has come to my attention recently that due to certain differences within the undergraduate schools making up the College of Business, the School of Hotel Administration is, at the moment, no longer providing tours. This is an issue that I believe can be easily resolved, and should.”
Mayra Valadez ’18 said she looks forward to work as the first ever first generation representative on the S.A.
“I hope to be a voice for first-gen students on the S.A.,” she said. “This is the first year our identity is being represented on it, and I am prepared to create resolutions with the assistance and approval of the community.”
As starting college can be uniquely difficult for first generation students, Valadez said she hopes to figure out ways to ease the transition.
“As a First-Gen student, I felt out of place at Cornell for my first two years,” she said. “It was only recently that I found my home here. It is my mission for new and incoming students to feel welcome as soon as they step on this campus.”
She said she hopes to “[work] with existing organizations who create safe spaces for our community, as well as creating consistent and exciting programming.”
“I want to create an inclusive environment for all [first generation students] to come together as a community,” Valadez said.