Winter 2021 Platforms – Carleton Student Association

Hi, Y’all! My name is Edgar Aguirre (He/Him/His), and I’m a junior Economics major from Bronx, NY. My identities as a first-generation person of color have influenced my experiences here at Carleton, encouraging me to participate in activities where my perspectives can provide another layer to the conversation. More about my experiences below, but why am I running to be your next CSA President? Well, it might have something to do with why I’m an Econ major, but I like to think about things in the long run, and I have some ideas for CSA that can help students in the long term. The reality is that many issues take time to address, and acknowledging this, I would like to set the foundation for some long-term solutions. My goals are to create foundations for solutions to persisting issues, provide support to those who are more knowledgeable in these issues, and amplify your ideas on improving the Carleton experience for everyone.

Goals, Priorities, and Initiatives

Funding for activities

Look for alternatives for funding student activities that do not involve raising the CSA activity fee.

Explore the possibility of beginning to use alumni donations to fund and support student activities.
Explore the possibility of investing savings into a long term fund and using the interest to fund some activities.
Explore ideas proposed by students for raising funds for student activities. I’m a part of a subcommittee within CSA Budget Committee working on some ideas, and there are some great suggestions. I would expand this by reaching out to the general student body and see what recommendations you all may have.

Increasing accessibility and reducing barriers of cost

While there have been improvements in support options for students on campus over time, we can do more.

Reduce the barrier of cost for items like course materials. Something I would like to initiate is an internal student book lending system. Some students purchase their course books, intending to keep them for the long run but leave them in their dorm room collecting dust until they graduate. Well, why not keep your book, but help out your fellow Carl? Instead of letting your book sit there unused in your dorm, consider lending your book to another student for the term and help save them some money.
Increase the number of courses that keep free copies of the required readings on reserve in the library. I only found out about this because I work in the library, but some courses keep copies of their textbooks on reserve, where students can check them out for free. How this works is that students can borrow the books for 2 hours sessions(a lot of time to take scans or take pictures of readings) and use them as needed. Then they return the books with the option to re-check them out for another session if no one else needs them.
Emphasize the importance of student feedback for improving how departments respond to issues of inequity on campus. Some academic departments already do a great job of incorporating student feedback on fostering a more inclusive, supportive community for their students. But, this varies across all academic departments varies and can overall improve.

Taking a role of support

My viewpoint of a leader is someone who can bring up others. As CSA president that is the primary role, I would adopt. I want to be a resource of support for you. And here are some of the ways I’d like to do that.

Support your representatives on CSA senate. If possible, I would like the opportunity to meet with every member of senate at the beginning of each term and discuss their goals. I want to understand what areas they’re interested in pursuing and provide the support I can. Either by advocating for their ideas with the school administration, reaching out to the general body for interest in taking a supporting role to help out a senator’s goals, or doing whatever I can to provide support.
Being accountable and informing you of my goals and what I’m working on your behalf. I’d do my best to keep the student body informed of what I’m doing on your behalf, the information I learn from meetings, and how I’m addressing issues. I hope to be responsive to your feedback and recommendations. I believe an effective way for this would be through the CSA weekly newsletter and add a subsection of what I’m doing and having the opportunity for feedback.
In general, being open to feedback. The way I would approach things is based on my viewpoint and the advice from fellow CSA senators. However, our perspectives aren’t the only ones, and I think being open to feedback is essential for improvement. Expect an occasional survey on how am I doing and what do you think I should be doing?
Increasing distribution of information. Some important roles that some students play on campus are participating in student-at-large positions in various school administration committees. These students gain a lot of knowledge about specific issues on campus, and I want to help relay that information to you.

My activities on campus

Here are a few of the activities on campus I’m active in:

CSA Budget Committee

I am currently in my 8th term as a member of CSA Budget committee. I have seen three different executive teams guide the committee, but several issues persist. Over-allocation, spending limits, and the constant need to raise the CSA activity fee are a yearly discussion on minimizing the associated negative impacts. Above I’ve listed some ways I wish to address this. I hope to create new potential funding sources to minimize the costs for students and maximize what CSA can offer in the long run. Additionally, I’ve worked to help make Budget committee a more comfortable community for students and more effective for funding. I’ve participated in multiple subcommittees to address the following:

Reform the Budget Committee guidelines.
- Creating a friendlier atmosphere for requesters.
- Reform the guidelines again to be more supportive of cultural student organizations.
- Help create the initial Cultural Org Fund.
- Help advocate for the successful expansion of the initial investment to the Cultural Org Fund to 80k(50k at the moment, 30k to be added next term).
- Help create the guidelines for the cultural org fund.
- Currently participating in the Securing Fund subcommittee looking for alternative funding sources.

CSA Governance Committee

I am currently in my 4th term as a member of CSA Governance committee. I’ve listened to multiple requests from new potential student orgs and have given advice and suggestions on how to maximize their chances for being an enduring student organization. Currently, I’m working on updating the intro guide for new CSA student orgs to make it a more informative piece and ensure new student orgs aren’t confused about using CSA resources.

Define American

I am currently in my 6th term as the treasurer for the cultural student org, Define American, I’ve played a supportive role in this group. Helping organize events centered around amplifying the voices of immigrant, immigrant-descent, and undocumented community members at Carleton through story telling and social media. Supporting events such as our story slam, social media story-telling, and recently a podcast!

Closing Remarks:

Of course I don’t plan on doing all this alone, I will rely on the support and feedback of your elected officials in CSA senate. I want to emphasize that while I don’t specifically mention other issues such as mental health, sustainability, inclusivity along race, gender, sexuality, and other topics. I do support the efforts being done in CSA senate and chose not to comment on specific policies concerning them as I am not an expert in comparison to senators. As president I would rely on their judgement and your feedback on how to approach these issues, specifically how to tackle them in the long term if need be. Consider me as CSA president as an investment for the future and for the benefit of current and future Carls. Together we can make a lasting difference on persisting issues on campus.

Thank you all so much for your time and consideration! If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to email me at aguirree@carleton.edu, I would be happy to hear them and learn about your perspective!

Alé Cota ’22

Introduction:

Alé Cota for President: Radical Loving Makes Radical Living.

Hola todes!

My name is Alé Cota (They/Them/Elle/Ella) and I am a junior double major in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies and Latin American Studies from L.A. County but currently residing in Corpus Christi, Texas. From the first moment I stepped onto campus, I have tirelessly organized, fought, and advocated for the most vulnerable at Carleton without hesitation. My unwavering attitude did not come easily. The fear, uncertainty, and frustration with growing up as a first-generation, low-income, queer, trans and non-binary, neurodivergent, and Latine person informs and shapes my abolitionist perspectives when it comes to drafting solutions for CSA Senate and my larger communities.

Throughout my three years on the CSA Senate and as a student organizer it has become glaringly apparent that cultural organization leaders and peer leaders truly define a student’s four years at Carleton. Without them, a vast majority of the improvements that have been made for the sake of our QTBIPOC on campus would not exist. However, the CSA Senate has yet to fully integrate itself with cultural organizations. It is time that the Senate stops waiting until a student or student leader comes and relays their grievances. As members that influence and draft college policy we must to take the initiative. And as President, I will ensure that collectively we are tapping into the true, tangible, palpable love on campus and transform that radical love into one that is coalition-based, because that is radical living for all. With me spearheading the CSA Senate, QTBIPOC will finally experience what it means to live as just a student.

TL;DR | Table of Contents:

Priorities and Initiatives
Prior work & qualifications
Closing remarks

Feel free to send any questions, comments or concerns to cotaa@carleton.edu & check out our instagram page: Maya.Ale.4.CSA

Thank you for your consideration.

————-

Initiatives, Priorities, and Goals

With the recent visibility of movements (Ujamaa Collective) led by Black students, there is an ever-increasing need to address systemic issues of racism (anti-Blackness) and transphobia on campus, and while Black students have always been the vanguard, we need to set up infrastructure that directly supports their unpaid, exploited labor and efforts. Collaborating closely with Maya Rogers, we aim to continue the three years of work that ourselves and fellow student leaders have undertaken. Our goal is to develop robust solutions to issues of racial, gendered, and disability equity and accessibility that directly names the actors responsible and provides honest, needed accountability.

Addressing Equity, Accessibility, and Communication

Faculty and Staff are the professional & paid support system that is intended to uphold the values of its campus and holistically support its students. However, issues of equity are pervasive and marginalized students keep slipping between the cracks, leaving fellow peer leaders, cultural orgs, and regular Carls to support each other as we attempt to support ourselves. To resolve this I (with Mayas support) w propose to:

Prioritize every initiative from the list of demands stipulated by the Ujamaa Collective only under the explicit guidance of Black student organizers.
Assist SHAC in developing its ability to offer non-Carleton telehealth therapy/counseling services through Carleton’s insurance provider as an option, as the office does not have the resources to support all students, and especially QTBIPOC.
Continue the conversation with the ECC I have started since the beginning of 2020 regarding the barriers between first-generation and low-income (FGLI) in receiving accommodations and extensions. So that vulnerable students should not have to justify their need in office hours or through a bureaucratic procedure.
Work with the GSC to strengthen initiatives that protect and uplift queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming students such as increasing the presence of gender-neutral bathrooms. In addition, individually developing and requiring gender sensibility training for all students (NSW), but especially peer leaders, staff, and faculty.
Continue the push for CSA Executive Pay, as the work done by CSA executives needs to be compensated both because of the amount of time and resources they require and to make these positions accessible to low-income/under resourced students like myself.
Advocate to maintain the opening of the interest houses to first-years post-pandemic, and introduce housing re-arrangements that center marginalized-identity or culture- based needs such as a first-gen floor, a low-income floor, or Black student floor etc.
Implement Financial Aid recommendations to make information accessible to first-generation, low-income students. This is already underway as I have been working with Senate working groups to collaborate with TRIO and Administration. In addition, I aim to ensure that Carleton becomes a no loan program when allocating aid awards.
Expand and deepen the connections with the multicultural alumni network and the Out After Carleton (LGBTQ+) alumni network to on-campus students with their plans to initiate a mentorship program through my position as student representative on the board.

Prior Work & Qualifications:

I will leverage my positions on campus as well as draw on my extensive expertise on organizing to exceed the promises I have just laid before you all.

CSA Involvement:

From 2018-2021, I have served as the Class of 2022 Class Representative. Through this role I have been apart of several working groups over the years such as the Undocumented students, Laundry fund, Textbook Library, and Social Activism working groups. In combination of being a Class Representative and sitting on these working groups, I have engaged in the following work:
- In winter of 2019, I planned Carleton’s first-ever queer week at the CAVE.
- In winter of 2019, I worked with and supported daca & undocu students in culling resources.
- In fall of 2020, I individually resolved the GSC transition in leadership & its impact on QTBIPOC that resulted in a campus-wide apology from the director and me becoming part of the office’s staff.
- In winter/spring of 2020, I along with two fellow students started a COVID-19 GoFundMe for displaced, vulnerable FGLI students that raised and distributed $10,290.
- In spring break to spring of 2020, worked with a fellow student and successfully lobbied the mandatory pass/fail system enacted for spring term.
- Assisted in drafting resolutions under Brittany and Andrew regarding Vanessa Guillen, George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, Black cultural org initiatives, and the alumni movement “Letters4Carleton” that is in solidarity with the Black student-led movement.

Campus Offices/Organizations:

The Cave (Carleton Campus Spot) Counter Staff Worker, January 2019 – June 2020
Organized counter, participated in staff meetings, promoted and hosted events, conversed with guests, and was a driving force in making The Cave a queer-inclusive space.
Planned Carleton’s first-ever and campus-wide annual Queer awareness week.
Academic & Civic Engagement Fellow for 2019-2020 school year
Administered academic civic engagement projects and classes with the college.
Organized a queer film screening on a gender-breaking culture in Mexico, which involved a talk on how to combat Mexico’s current anti-insurgency state.
Gender and Sexuality Center Associate (workshop team) for 2020-2021 school year
Co-writer for educational workshops on diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Currently rolling out a Racial (In)Justice: Freedom Dreaming series, a political education based series on Black trans lives and abolition with my friend and coworker Octavia Washington.
Robust “They Said” program for Residential Assistants to share with their residents on how to respect pronouns and how pronouns are important to sustaining an equitable atmosphere at Carleton.
Presentation at Rainbow Retreat to welcome all the new LGBTQiA+ Carls.
Collaborated and executed a presentation at Peertalk on undoing the colonial, carceral ways that we think about forming community at Carleton and how we are more interconnected with and responsible for our socio-cultural environment than we think.

Pre-Law Society Founder and President, April 2019 – Present
Coordinated events, culled LSAT prep resources, and streamlined Law School resources catered to FGLI students.
Latin American Student Organization Member, September 2018 – Present
- Performed at the annual Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration (Fall 2018, and Fall 2019) a speech.
  - The speech focused on uplifting queer Latine voices while simultaneously critiquing Mexican culture in its perpetuation of homophobic and misogynistic violence against queer Latine youth.
Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color Member, September 2018 – Present
- Coordinated with other intercultural groups to host events, participate in the Queer Awareness Week, made performances at the Annual Intercultural Festival, and aim in providing a space for marginalized queers within the LGBTQ+ community on- and off-campus.
TRIO, Student Support Services Scholar
- As a TRIO, SSS Scholar, I have participated in various events the past three years with fellow FGLI students and friends, and as a result, have come to understand valuable information about what is currently working and is not working in terms of programming, resources, and needs. In addition, a majority of my friends from my cohort are current Peer Leaders so collaborating with this space will be easily facilitated and effective.
Anexstad Leaders for Tomorrow Scholar
- As an Anexstad, Leaders for Tomorrow, Scholar I have been in conversations with fellow change-makers in other campuses as well as contributed extensive feedback in how to construct a scholar network that is tailored to the specific needs of marginalized students who tend to display proclivities toward social justice.

Committees and Conferences:

I have served on several committees but some of the particularly notable ones include (1) the CSA Presidential Search Committee Application Team, where we chose the two students for the CSA Presidential Search committee; (2) Disability Services external review where I provided suggestive feedback on invisible disabilities and cultural stigmas; (3) Out After Carleton (OAC) alumni board to connect QTBIPOC with resources; (4) Joint sessions with MCAN, college administration, and OAC; (5) CSA Senate Constitutional Reform Committee; and (6) CSA Appointments Committee.
Two conferences worth noting is (1) the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference (MBLGTACC), an annual conference that I participated in last year with the GSC. By attending the conference, I gleamed how to connect, educate, and empower fellow queer and trans+ college students as well as gain inisght into how to allocate better, trauma-informed, and culturally-receptive resources for QT+ students at Carleton.

Closing Remarks:

My passions and drive only exist by the mentoring of previous CSA presidents that I call my friends, cultural communities that have made Carleton feel safe, and the diligence of QTBIPOC who continue to show up in demonstrations against unfair policies despite the adverse conditions of everyday life.

All of these initiatives, past experiences—both lived and informed—have drawn on the outside of Carleton work enacted by Black feminists and Black abolitionists led by Black revolutionaries such as Black femmes and Black trans women. As a non-Black student, who has had personal encounters with gender, sexuality, class, and xenophobic marginalization, I still understand and hold the necessity to step back and center the voices of the most vulnerable. To be the best supporter of Black trans lives that I can be as a non-Black student, I will develop and work closely with Black cultural organizations in a manner that is trauma-informed, culturally-receptive, and understands that my being is the one that needs to be on the line — not theirs. This is what radical loving means. To love Black students and to love each other. Together with our radical love we can make Carleton a place of radical living.

As such, I strongly believe that with Maya Rogers by my side and the heart of revolutionary ideas within me, that we will be able to make tremendous strides toward a horizon of possibilities that for once will be within our reach.

Radical Loving Makes Radical Living

Vote Maya and Alé 4 CSA

Con Cariño,

Alé Cota

Communicated and approved with: LASO, QTBIPOC, & Pre-Law Society

Molly Zuckerman ’22

Hello Carleton students!

My name is Molly (she/her/hers), and I am a junior from New Jersey, a state that has worse of a reputation than it deserves. I have served on CSA as a class of 2022 representative since my freshman year. This coming year, I am hoping you will give me the opportunity to represent all of you as your CSA President. I thought I’d tell you a little about myself before discussing what I’ve done on CSA so far, and finish with what I hope to do if I am elected president.

Introduction

At its core, I see CSA as an organization meant to create positive change on campus and to empower Carls to get as much as possible out of their Carleton experience. And I believe that CSA has so much to offer in that respect. The thing is, Carleton isn’t working for everyone right now, and neither is CSA. In long conversations during quarantine, Manjari Majumdar(my running mate) and I talked about some of the problems facing Carleton: a disjointed pandemic response, unaddressed white supremacy and racism, a shortage of mental health services, continued sexual violence, and so much more.

Manjari and I were drawn together by both of our desires to see real, concrete, and immediate change at Carleton. The issues facing Carleton are why I am running for president: Not just because they exist, but because I firmly believe that CSA has the resources to make rapid change happen at Carleton if we significantly alter our policies and where we focus our attention. Manjari agrees, and we want to get to work! To make concrete changes happen, for you.

Outside CSA Experience

Both of our work on and off CSA make me confident that, with all of your help, we can get this change done. Outside of CSA, I spent the past few years before covid organizing for a grassroots coalition in Minneapolis that advocated for fair housing for formerly incarcerated people. This past summer, I worked for the New Jersey Democratic Party. Manjari has done incredible organizing and volunteering in politics too—check out her platform!

CSA Experience

A lot of my experience setting policy and collaborating with others has come from CSA. Being on CSA for the past three years has given me the opportunity to work with folks from all different parts of Carleton to develop projects and initiatives for you. Here are some of the highlights.

Expanding Green Dot/Sexual Violence Prevention Training

This past summer and fall I had the opportunity to collaborate with the Title IX office to figure out how CSA can be an ally in preventing sexual violence. This fall, I wrote a resolution mandating Green Dot Training (sexual assault prevention training) for leaders of clubs that receive CSA money. It passed, and I am so happy to say that Green Dot participation has increased.

2021 Election Working Group

This fall, I co-led CSA’s election working group. Our goal as a nonpartisan entity was to give Carls the resources they needed to go out and vote (or order their absentee ballots). We partnered with the CCCE to disseminate information about voting around campus, from designing posters and infographics, to tabling in Sayles and having info sessions, to doing social media takeovers.

Sustainable Menstrual Supplies

This is probably one of the longest running projects I’ve been involved with on CSA. Last winter, Brittany Dominguez and I began reaching out to Carleton offices like OHP and the GSC to push for the use of sustainable menstrual products at Carleton. While this is certainly an ongoing project, one major milestone was the Menstrual Cup program, in which we ordered and distributed around 90 menstrual cups to the student body. And while we have so much farther to go with this initiative, we have gotten off to a great start by increasing access to sustainable products.

Social Activism Working Group

As a member of CSA’s social activism working group this past summer, I helped author CSA resolutions on the creation of a Black center on campus; the murder of Breonna Taylor; and the murder of Vanessa Guillén.

Budget Committee

I have been on CSA Budget Committee for about a year and a half. Our job is to allocate CSA’s nearly $600,000 to various clubs and organizations. My experience on Budget Committee has given me insight into how CSA can more equitably and effectively use its funds, something I will outline in more detail in a moment.

CSA Laundry Fund

My first year, I was part of a committee of senators that advocated for free laundry for students. Ultimately, the administration began funding laundry as an included cost the following year.

Internal CSA reforms

I authored a resolution founding an internal mentor/mentee program in which new senators are paired with returning senators. These pairs meet twice a term, the goal being to help new senators adjust to Senate and learn its ins and outs (working groups, sub committees, resolutions, motions…it can be a lot!).

Constitutional Review Board

This is my second year serving on the CRB. It is our job to annually review the constitution and make sure it reflects current needs at Carleton. In my opinion, streamlining the constitution has helped enormously with Senator accountability, which has, in turn, helped us get more stuff done.

PLATFORM: here is what Manjari and I hope to do for you as President and VP

Everything listed here covers broad topics in short paragraphs; feel free to reach out if you want to hear how we plan to get to work on something in greater detail!

Social Activism Fund

It’s normal and important to be involved with the outside world while you’re in college. Manjari and I believe it is CSA’s job to encourage you to pursue that activism. I want to establish a CSA fund for Carls who want to get to work in the outside community volunteering or working internships for grassroot organizations. This fund would cover the cost of transportation, food, clothing, and anything else needed to make your organizing/activist ideas realities. In addition, CSA should work with faculty and the administration to provide academic accommodations for students who choose to pursue this type of activism: in short, life outside of the Carleton bubble is important even when we are within it. We should be doing everything we can to encourage Carls to get involved.

Cultural Org Funding

Some of you might remember a vote last year to allocate special CSA funding towards cultural organizations. The vote barely failed. We need to re-propose the initiative and actively advocate for our current cultural org fund to be something that we create every year, not just this one. Cultural organizations are the backbone of so many communities here at Carleton. Giving them the funding they need to operate is the very least we can do to give them the respect they deserve.

New Graduation Requirements

Part of our school’s journey towards confronting white supremacy, racism, sexism, ableism, and other issues on this campus can begin in the classroom with new graduation distribution requirements. Specifically, Manjari and I believe that a new requirement for students to take a course centered on social identity and privilege would begin giving students the skills they need to initiate conversations on subjects we too often push to the side at Carleton. Departments involved could include Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies; Africana Studies; Cross Cultural Studies; Interdisciplinary Studies; more!

CSA Allying with Black Student Organizations

All Carleton students must take actionable steps to be allies of Black students and student leaders, beginning with calling for the administration to unequivocally adopt the Ujamaa Collective’s lists of demands. To the extent that CSA participation is wanted, I will prioritize using CSA resources to press the administration to adopt each demand fully.

There are areas in which I feel CSA can be an impactful ally. With the permission and support of Black student leaders, CSA can help mobilize existing support amongst students for the immediate establishment of a Black center in an accessible and central location on campus.

Further, similar to existing CSA policy regarding Green Dot training, CSA can withhold funding from chartered clubs until leaders undergo mandatory anti-racism training.

While I would make addressing racism at Carleton a top priority as president and hope to take action on day one, any courses of action CSA decides to pursue must be done in collaboration with Black student leaders, with their explicit consent and support,and with their voices at the forefront.

Sustainable and Accessible Menstrual Products

The Menstrual Cup Program was an amazing start to what needs to be a much larger initiative to make menstrual supplies at this school sustainable AND accessible. CSA needs to fund menstrual products in campus buildings for free; no more paying for tampons. In addition, we can partner with small businesses to supply accessible menstrual pads that are also environmentally friendly.

Expanding SHAC

If there is one consistent theme that comes up in conversations with my fellow classmates, it is that students are not getting what they need from our health and counseling service. SHAC needs to move out of the Davis Basement. SHAC needs a more diverse staff. SHAC needs more staff. As president, addressing these issues would be one of my top priorities.

Accountability to You

CSA exists for you. If we aren’t doing our job, we should know and be held accountable. As president, I hope to have weekly “office hours” to hear directly from you. Accountability goes farther than office hours. Accountability means listening to your ideas and implementing them. Accountability means we use every second of our Senate meetings to create agendas that will help Carleton, and that we don’t waste our time.

In Conclusion

Carleton and CSA need change that will meet the moment and meet the needs of so many students who are not satisfied with the way things are. Being on CSA for three years has shown me what works in our bureaucracy, and what doesn’t. I know how to prioritize efficiency and accountability so that CSA keeps its promises to you to get to work and make change happen.

I also know how urgently so many of you need changes at Carleton, how some of the problems I’ve discussed in the abstract are, for many, deeply personal. Getting to work fixing them isn’t something that I, Manjari, or any one person can do alone. We all need to step up to listen harder, be more kind, and actively work for a more equitable Carleton. That’s why Manjari and I are asking you to get to work alongside us.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions, concerns, or are curious to hear more. I’d be happy to email at zuckermanm@carleton.edu or find a time to chat over zoom. And follow @mollyandmimiforcsa on instagram to hear about myself and Manjari’s goals in more depth!

Let’s Get to Work!

With care,

Molly

Vice President

Delina Haileab ’22

To my peers:

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my platform; I greatly appreciate it. Should you happen to have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me (haileabd).

My name is Delina Haileab, and I use she/her pronouns. I am running for Vice President of CSA because I believe that I can leverage my skills and experiences to continue the amazing work of the previous executives while bringing a fresh approach to how CSA operates. Over the past year, CSA has taken on initiatives such as the Menstrual Products Program and the Cultural Organizations Fund which I intend on continuing and strengthening. Further, the actions that CSA took in response to the lynching of George Floyd last year and the general support of the Black Lives Matter movement will continue and expand if I become Vice President; I will make sure that we as a student body broaden the ways in which we show up and do our part. These are some of the elements from the current administration that I would want to continue. Allow me to highlight some of the new ideas that I look forward to implementing should I become the next Vice President of CSA.

Facilitating Spaces for Collaboration Amongst Student Orgs:

Over the years, through different groups I have been involved with and different events I have attended, I have gotten to know a wide variety of people with different skills and lived experiences. As a result, I have become a “connecter” if you will; connecting people whose skills and lived experiences compliment each other nicely and can together accomplish amazing things is something that I love to do. I would love to bring this aspect of my experience to CSA. We have many fantastic student organizations doing great work for the campus community and beyond. A lot of student organizations collaborate with one another already, and as Vice President of CSA, I will ensure that these collaboration efforts are advocated for by CSA, and that they are given a space and provided with resources and support. I will work hard to build campus-wide momentum around these collaboration efforts. The work that these organizations are doing is incredible and deserves the utmost support of CSA.

Increasing Transparency and Involvement:

Let’s be honest; a lot of us are unaware of what goes on in CSA. From my experiences, I don’t believe that this is because there aren’t enough outlets by which information is disseminated through; I think that the CSA newsletter and other means of communication are great (we can always do better). However, I think that it is integral that the student body is more involved with what goes on in CSA, and this in turn will lead to more awareness which is extremely important considering the consequential decisions made by CSA (i.e. the student activity fee). I will create a campus-wide digital forum where the student body can directly inform CSA of what they think needs to be reviewed, changed, added, removed, discussed and/or debated. For example, the Budget Committee, which I have been a part of for a little over a year now, reviews the financial guidelines every so often. This review session tends to be a closed-door meeting with little to no input from the rest of the student body, despite the fact that the financial guidelines impact all who apply for funding from the Budget Committee. Through this digital forum that I will work to create, we can directly notify the student body when we will be discussing an important matter, such as the financial guidelines, and can get direct input that will guide our discussions and debates.

Decrease the Deficit, Sustain the Cultural Org Fund, and Fundraise:

Over the past few years, the Budget Committee has been moving towards a deficit in our spending. This is very different from the so-called deficit at the federal level of our government (which is a talking point used by fiscal conservatives (whatever that means) to oppose policies that improve the social welfare of people, but that’s for another day); that is not what I’m talking about here. Rather, the deficit that we are facing in the context of our Budget Committee means that future Carleton students will have difficulty funding activities that are an integral part of student life. I will work hard to balance our budget by creating a CSA commission that is dedicated to fundraising; this commission will be responsible for thinking of creative ways to fundraise and implementing these ideas with the help of the entire CSA/student body. While balancing the budget, sustaining the cultural org fund will be a priority of mine. The monies that have been allocated to ensure that cultural organizations receive the funding that they need in order to carry out their mission will be prioritized.

Reorganizing CSA:

Decentralized, strategic, and intentional organizing is my love language. As it stands, CSA is an organization where most of the power and responsibilities are centralized and belong to the executive team. If I become Vice President, I will work hard to bring an approach of horizontal organizing to CSA so that the power is distributed among us all and the CSA experience is more meaningful for all of those involved.

Relevant Qualifications:

Over the past few months, I have been an active member of the Ujamaa Collective, the group responsible for the demands to make Carleton an actively antiracist institution. Through this experience, I have worked closely with the leadership of Black Student Orgs as well as the College’s administration. I will advocate strongly for these demands as Vice President.
For a little over a year now, I have been an active member of the Budget Committee. More specifically, I have been heavily involved in the financial guidelines committee, spring allocations, and the cultural org fund committee and this experience will be helpful in my role as Vice President.
I am a member of NorthSTAR (Northfield Stands Against Anti-Racism), a Northfield based group that is pushing for widespread systemic changes in the Northfield School District. I have been involved in this group as a college student, and as an alum of Northfield High School, my capacity in this group has allowed me to facilitate meaningful connections between the Northfield and Carleton community. As Vice President, I plan to continue facilitating connections and collaborations between the Carleton and Northfield community.

In Closing:

If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read/skim my platform; I appreciate it! As Vice President, I promise to approach all decisions I am faced with in a manner that is actively antiracist, advocates for students with disabilities, promotes and achieves equity, and strives towards climate justice. Don’t forget to vote in the CSA senate elections! Polls open Thursday, February 18th @ 9 p.m. (CST)! As I mentioned in the intro, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, comments or concerns (haileabd)!

Manjari Majumdar ’22

About:

Hi!

My name is Manjari “Mimi” Majumdar (she/her/hers), and I’m running alongside Molly Zuckerman to be your next Vice President! I’m a junior POSC/IR major + Gender, Women’s Sexuality Studies minor, and I grew up in Rochester, MN. Sometimes, I go to my parents’ house to do laundry. Is this sad or smart?

I’m a student representative on the ECC (Education and Curriculum Committee), a member of MOSAIC (Mosaic of South Asian Interests at Carleton), a facilitator of IDSC 103: Student Conversations about Diversity and Community, a web assistant at Carleton Web Services Group, and a bad stand up comic at Queens of Comedy.

Off campus, I’ve done a bit of work in Minnesota politics: from working at the MN DFL and Capitol, to being a Keith Ellison Organizing Fellow in which I created a program aimed toward breaking barriers between urban and rural communities in Minnesota. Here’s the thing: if I can help facilitate communication and break barriers, I’ll do it. The biggest takeaway I’ve gotten out of my organizing experience is that one usually leads to the other. Often, it does not take very long to realize we share common goals. It’s having the meaningful initial conversation that’s the hard part.

Primary Goals and Why I’m Running:

If I am elected your VP, my rote primary task would be to preside over Budget Committee. Along with making sure budget allocations are distributed more equitably and sustainably, I hope to help continue to bridge the gap between CSA and the larger student body as a whole. As a newcomer to CSA myself, I have a fair share of critiques on the way CSA runs. Let’s just say sometimes I feel like Robert’s Rules take precedence over what it is Robert actually has to say.

So, I want to challenge the role bureaucracy and tradition play in CSA, and push the members of this organization to work with its student body in more thoughtful ways. CSA is your organization, as Carleton is your campus. As such, I want to remind you that it is okay to ask for better. I am excited to hear and implement your ideas, and these are ways I will strive to work for better alongside Molly:

New Graduation Requirements

Part of the reason I joined the ECC was to see if there is a way to incorporate into the curriculum opportunities for Carls to learn how to think about/talk about questions of social identity and privilege. After the murder of George Floyd, it was evident that many Carls don’t know where to begin when it comes to having conversations about white supremacy, race, oppression, etc. Furthermore, it fell on the shoulders of BIPOC students to contextualize this event in history and educate well-meaning white students on how they can help. It is not the job of minorities (particularly Black students) to constantly educate, brainstorm solutions to white supremacy, and demand justice for themselves. As such, Molly and I believe it is essential that this learning happens in the classroom and will push for the addition of a graduation requirement that helps Carls answer questions of social identity and privilege.

Cultural Organization Funding

Being a member of MOSAIC, I understand the frustration of having barely enough funds to operate, let alone have meaningful cultural events. One of my greatest wishes is for MOSAIC to be able to have a huge Holi celebration at the Bald Spot. Molly and I are committed to providing more funding to cultural organizations so that we can all be represented in the way we wish to at Carleton.

Social Activism Fund

As someone who had to figure out logistics/my own funding for an internship in the cities that was concurrent with a Carleton term, I want to help create opportunities for other Carls to step away from the Carleton Bubble to do some good, and gain experience. Carleton advertises itself as being only 40 minutes away from the cities, but what good does that do if there are limited ways to get there? Transportation, food, and clothing costs (at the bare minimum) should be provided by a CSA Social Activism fund to let Carls pursue opportunities that students at other colleges get to all the time! In addition, I want to see a CSA push for the appropriate academic accommodations that come with pursuing these types of opportunities.

Expanding SHAC

It is every Carleton student’s right to have consistent access to mental health and counseling services. Furthermore, there is a dire need for broader representation in race, gender identity, and sexual orientation in service providers. I think often about a time when a white counselor suggested I talk to my immigrant parents about an issue they would never understand.

Sustainable and Accessible Menstrual Products

I know how much work Molly has put into initiatives like the menstrual cup giveaway, and free tampons and pads across campus. It should be anyone’s right to access menstrual products on campus, whether they face financial/social barriers that prevent them from doing so, or like me can’t be bothered to carry a tampon in case of emergencies. No questions. No stigma.

Allyship

As a woman of color and a product of the public school system, there are few places at Carleton where I don’t feel like an outsider. I’ve learned to ground my plight in activism, and as a newcomer to CSA, I promise to empathetically listen to the concerns and ideas of any student, regardless of their proximity to CSA as an organization. Not just as VP, but as a friend and a fellow Carl.

Having faced some degree of plight due to the color of my skin, yet still having privileges as a non-Black WoC, I feel the least I can do in this moment and positionality is stand with my Black friends at Carleton. If elected your VP, I promise to use this platform to further continue the work of acting as a mediator and a facilitator between BIPOC and white students. And I have to give credit where it’s due here, the Ujamaa Collective and individual Black students at Carleton have been shouldering a lot of the anti-racist work. It’s time for the rest of us (white students and non-Black POC) to really step up. Let me help you do that; reach out and let’s have a conversation, or consider casting a vote for me as your CSA Vice President.

Read This Paragraph, If Nothing Else:

I think it’s fair to say Carleton is hurting right now: from pandemic fatigue, to the effects of the white supremacy that permeates this campus, this country, this world so deeply. If you’re feeling pain, sadness, anger, confusion, or nothing at all right now, I remind you that is okay. Take the time you need to heal, and lean on others. But then come back, and dig a little deeper. We can all do so much better for our students than forwarding an email template someone else wrote to an administration that is likely counting on that to be our only form of collective action. Let’s come together, and more importantly, let’s get to work.

Warmly,

Manjari

P.S. Reach out if you have any questions or just want to chat majumdarm@carleton.edu

Treasurer

Rahul Kirkhope ’22

My name is Rahul Kirkhope (he/him/his) and I am a junior Political Science major and History minor from Alexandria, VA. I’m running to serve as CSA Treasurer for the 2021-22 school year in the hopes of solving some of the financial concerns that have sprung up in the past few years. In my years at Carleton, I have been lucky enough to work within, as well as side by side, organizations of all sorts. From these experiences, I understand wholeheartedly the frustrations that can arise while navigating the CSA Bylaws and Financial Guidelines. My goal is to alleviate some of this tension by better connecting CSA to the student body.

QUALIFICATIONS:

I continue to serve on the CSA Budget Committee after six terms and I participated in revising the CSA Financial Guidelines in Spring of 2020. More recently, I assisted in the policy writing for the Cultural Org Fund as it will soon be formally added to the CSA Financial Guidelines. The Budget Committee has the responsibility of allocating the CSA budget across all student organizations and club sports teams, providing me with a deep understanding of the intricacies of the Financial Guidelines as well as the more pressing problems the CSA currently faces.
I also continue to serve on the CSA Governance Committee after five terms, which is tasked with chartering new student organizations.
In my sophomore year, I served as a board member on MOSAIC, or Mosaic of South Asian Interests at Carleton. During my time as a board member, I assisted in the planning of major events on campus such as Diwali and Holi/Purim, a joint event hosted by MOSAIC and the JSC, in addition to hosting regular meetings.

INITIATIVES

Student Activity Fee: As Treasurer, I hope to address the fluctuating prices of the Student Activity Fee and organize a long term plan to lessen the burden on students to whom the rising costs are prohibitive.
Compensate for Budgetary Losses: I will also work with the administration to figure out a stable income replacement for the loss of laundry fees that would help fund the CSA annual budget.
Streamline Budget Applications: In working within the Budget Committee as well as a student organization such as MOSAIC, I have learned that there can be a severe disconnect between the student governing body and individual campus organizations. If elected, I will work with the incoming administration to make the organization funding application process less daunting and more accessible.
Redefine the First Year Experience: With COVID dramatically altering life on and off campus, many first year students have had lackluster experiences. I would like to increase interaction between first years and upperclassmen by creating a new, adequately-sized fund to encourage creative events that foster new relationships amongst students, thereby redefining the first year experience.

Public Relations Officer

Mel Gonzalez Vazquez

Hello, Carleton!

My name is Mel Gonzalez Vazquez ’22 (she/her/hers) and I am a 3^rd year Political Science major and Philosophy minor from Houston, Texas. I currently serve as your Club Sports/P.E.A.R. Liaison. Before then, I was on CSA as a Student-At-Large through the Education and Curriculum Committee and a member of the Undocumented Students Working Group. Throughout my time at Carleton, I chartered and currently serve as a board member of Define American [a group interested in championing immigrant voices, particularly those of undocumented migrants]; serve as a board member of the Latin American Student Organization [LASO]; and have been involved with the Latin-American community in Northfield and Faribault by way of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church and other community service opportunities. In the rest of my platform I would like to explain why I would be honored to continue my time on CSA as the Public Relations Officer for the 2021-2022 school year.

Experience

I am uniquely qualified for this position because not only have I gathered copious experience on social media management [for non-profit, commercial and private use] over the last seven years, but I also provide an interesting perspective of Carleton College as a board member of two cultural organizations as well as through my lived experiences as a minority in several respects. I presently run Define American and LASO’s respective Instagram pages, and before that I used to run social media pages on multiple platforms for local Houston businesses [3 years], a TEDx licensed venue [2 years], a nationwide non-profit [2 years] as well as a congressional campaign [1 election cycle]. I take messaging very seriously, especially in an ever-increasingly digitizing world where first impressions are key in every exchange. I recognize that I will be working with others to provide both the internal and external Carleton community with a unifying, yet nuanced, image of the institution’s developments. With so many Carls scattered all over the world, I hope to bring us all closer together through social media as well as provide more transparency between the CSA and general Carleton community.

Values

Diversity and Equity Through this position I would serve as the chair of the Committee on Outreach, Media, and Publicity (COMP). In that capacity, I would ensure that we critically engage with as many social groups on and off campus to provide an accurate and wholesome depiction of Carleton during [and hopefully post-] COVID-19. No pandemic, political turmoil or social unease should limit the way Carls come together and persevere as one. However, that is only possible if and when we are aware of the college’s happenings.

Sincerity As a voting member of the CSA Senate, I vow to make the best decisions according to needs of the most marginalized members of our community. I will keep the grievances of cultural organizations and communities at the forefront of my service to ensure that CSA actively and critically considers them in every conversation.

Transparency In my capacity as Public Relations Officer, I promise to gather as much pertinent information as possible to ensure that Carleton stays informed on what Office and Committee Liaisons are working on. I also plan on distributing this information in an aesthetically pleasing and accessible manner given that Carls are notorious for always being on the go.

Accountability I will be compiling two reports each academic term detailing projects, initiatives or accomplishments of the term which will serve as a means to keep CSA liaisons accountable for actively serving the Carleton community. Everyone on CSA has the campus’ best interest in mind and my job is to accurately communicate those endeavors.

All in all, I hope to contribute my social media and communications skills to the overall Carleton community by serving as the Public Relations Officer.

Class of 2022 Representatives

Dae’Kevion Dickson

Hey there, Carleton!

My name is Dae’Kevion Dickson ’22 (He/him) and I am a junior Psychology major and Neuroscience minor from the countryside of Texas. Previously, I was on CSA as a Student-At-Large through the Education and Curriculum Committee. Throughout my time at Carleton, I chartered and currently serve as the president of Forte with Dae’ Dance Club. It’s a freestyle dance club that aims to expand dance through cultural interests and individual preferences! Additionally, I am a community and wellness guru and youth advocate. While on-campus and off-campus, I am a part of many organizations, for example, Northfield Union of Youth, Project Friendship, Big Brother Big Sisters, and Laura Bakers Services to promote youth equity, wellbeing, stability, and engagement, outside and within the communities.

In my platform I would like to emphasize efforts to bring our community together, allow more of student’s voices and experiences to be heard in departments that we value, and create a fun and eventful year for those on-campus and off-campus. It has been a tough year, and I would just love to see this upcoming school year be focused on us. After all, I am your boy making big moves for you!

Community Engagement

I would love to expand the Carleton Community to secondary schools. There are a lot of kids from different backgrounds in the local Northfield community that would love to see college students like us. You can say that they have a soft spot for us. I think that having this type of interaction with the community can offer more engagement in how they see college.

I suggest creating a passion awareness campaign that would bring attention to students interests and passions that they think the rest of Carleton should know about. I suppose having demonstrations to showcase these passions.

Creating Opportunities

I want Carleton to create modules around culture and race. Students should become more aware and prepared for the various cultures and identities on campus to help reduce or limit biasness, racism, discrimination, passive aggressiveness, etc.. These modules can be created by us and incorporate our voices and thoughts.

I want to provide more activities for our class. In respect to being the potential class representative for the class of 22’, I would like to build memories, create and plan events that are circulated around us.

Empowerment

I think that empowerment looks different for everyone. I would like to create and upheld a platform where students can debate about political conversations, have a right to demonstrations and manifestations, and project media about current issues to the Carleton student body.

I would like to work closely with CSA, Carleton’s editorial board, and various departments on campus to spotlight historical contexts, influences, struggles, etc. that pertain to departments, such struggles relating to being queer, disabled, culture, academics, etc. Additionally, I wish to add student voices in how they would like to see this going forward.

Becky Shapiro

Hi y’all,

Welcome to Becky’s Squawk Box.

I am 100% serious about running for CSA, but I intend to make this platform a little bit more casual. CSA has always been foreign and unfamiliar to me – it shouldn’t be that way.

I’ve never run for CSA before, I barely know anyone who’s been involved, and honestly, the last student-body position I held was in middle school. There are, almost certainly, many people in our class that are more qualified than me and who might even do a better job. But, because (in my opinion) CSA feels so separate and haughty and time consuming etc, y’all probably didn’t run or even think about it. I think that that perception hurts CSA’s credibility and makes it so our representatives aren’t actually representative of the student population. That’s an issue.

Here’s what I want to do:

Change CSA:

Make CSA cool.
Increase student engagement – all students, not just the ones on CSA, should have more power over where CSA money goes/what decisions are made. People should also want to/feel comfortable applying to CSA positions – there should never be uncontested elections!

More broadly at Carleton

Change the advising process at Carleton, especially for 1st/2nd years
- The advising system at Carleton is quite flawed. You don’t get an advisor until after you arrive at Carleton, so you have no guidance on classes as a frazzled almost-freshman. When you get to school, you’re paired with a random advisor that is usually not in a field you’re interested in. They often don’t care that much about you for more than the check box on your hub account, and you often don’t care that much about them. It’s a tedious process, but it could be one that’s truly helpful. Students should be paired with an advisor in one of their potential majors, and there should be more support within the advising system. Advising should be a support system, not an annoying road block.
Revamp NSW
- NSW sucks. It’s not the fault of the NSW student organizers – they do a great job with what they’re given. But it’s an unfortunate way to get to know a really wonderful place. Carleton can do better – peer institutions do a much better job! See Bowdoin, Colby, Tufts, Bates, Pomona, Amherst, Williams, etc’s orientation programs/trips. We don’t even have to do that much, we just need to make it not incredibly boring.
Change GenEds and add Environmental Literacy and Diversity as potential requirements
- Maybe you should pick and choose them, but I think that Environmental Literacy and Diversity (whether in Africana Studies dept or in a class like Conversations about Diversity) are just as, if not more, important than a bunch of other gen eds here (cough cough my unfinished Literary Art Analysis). I’d love to hear your ideas.
Allow overloading frosh year
- People should be able to do what they want to do 🙂
GSC involvement w campus
- Despite being pretty darn gay, I am 0% involved with the GSC. I think that the GSC does a pretty good job for a small subset of the queer population on campus, but it’s not ultra welcoming to the whole queer population here. In high school, my best friend and I run BQB (big queer breakfast) which was awesome and welcomed all sorts of the gays. I’d love to make the GSC a bit more connected with all of campus

Obv there’s more that needs to be done. What I advocate for will depend on what y’all seem to care most about.

You, my friends, are all cuties. Remember that.

Xoxo

Becky

BTW vote for jacob and molly too 🙂

Jacob Smith

CSA needs a reboot. The Carleton Student Association has become distant from Carleton students, and has lost credibility because of it. My central goal as representative for the Class of 2022 will be to restore public confidence and trust in CSA. By pursuing and supporting broadly tailored initiatives, we can rebuild our student government and create a more enjoyable Carleton experience for all Carls.

Transparency: It has become very evident that our student government is failing to effectively communicate with a large portion of the student body. This is unacceptable. CSA has a responsibility to ensure that the students who fund it are well informed about its initiatives and processes and must rethink the ways through which it makes itself and its decisions visible.

Engagement: CSA has an engagement problem. Less than fifty percent of students voted in the 2020 CSA elections. This year, multiple positions received no applicants, even though there are plenty of capable students that would make wonderful representatives. So, why don’t more Carls participate? I believe that there is an element of bureaucracy to CSA that pushes students away. Our student government limits itself by recognizing few instead of many. As a representative, I will take every action to make CSA more accessible and welcoming to all.

Funding: CSA needs to do a better job of educating students on the methods of acquiring funding. If more students understood the funding process, more students would submit funding requests. This would lead to more events and opportunities for students to get involved in organizations and would ultimately foster a more active and connected campus community.

Undeclared Advising: Undeclared students do not receive sufficient advisory support. It is a challenge for faculty to find enough time to adequately advise students who may have interests in departments and programs with which they are entirely unfamiliar. I propose a comprehensive event during NSW that exposes students to everything Carleton academics has to offer, as well as a greater commitment from departments to conduct outreach to undeclared students.

Credit Policy: Carleton doesn’t determine tuition by credits taken. There is no reason that a student that has proven themselves academically capable, is willing, and has the consent of their professors, ought to be limited in the amount of credits they can take. Carleton must also revise its policy for credits earned at other institutions. To automatically dismiss credit earned somewhere other than Carleton is elitist and discourages students from pursuing awesome opportunities elsewhere to supplement Carleton. There should be no limit to learning!

Sexual Violence Prevention: The NCAA recently adopted a mandate that requires all student-athletes to complete education in sexual violence prevention for each year of athletic participation. I would like to see Carleton adopt a similar mandate for all of its students. Our Title IX lead team is fantastic and has developed a number of trainings that would function well as annual instructions on how to identify warning signs and respond to harmful behavior.

Thanks for making it through my soap box. I’d be honored to represent our class.

P.S. Becky is fabulous and deserves your vote too!

– Jacob

Class of 2023 Representatives

Jaxon Alston

Hello Carls! My name is Jaxon Alston and I am a Sophomore from Hamden, Connecticut. I am officially running to be the next CSA 2023 class representative. I am a member of the Carleton Singing Knights, BSA, ACA, and Model UN. I am running because I believe that the Senate is in need of a common-sense perspective that focuses on the fundamental needs of the student body. Therefore, my ideas are simple yet guaranteed to improve student life at Carleton College.

Leadership Qualifications:

Hamden Hall Country Day School
- Co-Head of Hamden Hall Model UN Club
- Co-President of Senior Class
- President of Hamden Hall chapter Rho-Kappa History Honors Society
- Co-Founder and Co-Head of Hamden Hall Peer Tutoring
Carleton College
- Interim 2023 Class Representative
- Secretary of African Carribean Alliance
Finance Assistant for Mayor Toni Harp, city of New Haven
- New Haven, Connecticut Mayoral Campaign; re-election campaign during the summer of 2019
Outreach Coordinator
- Politixentral, under co-founder William Ruiz during the summer of 2019
Campaign Manager
- 2020 Jason Bartlett for State Senate | June 2020 – September 2020
- Coordinated the collection of over 3,500 petition signatures, securing public financing Ran the campaign social media accounts
- Led debate, interview, and forum preparation sessions
- Managed political relationships with elected officials and organizations

Proposals

I will be proposing a resolution for free and reusable masks that will always be available in public spaces, specifically Gould Library, SWA Office, and SHAC, throughout the entire school year. Given that we are still in the midst of a once in a century global pandemic, it is imperative that masks are widely available for all students. People’s masks may become misplaced, ruined in the laundry, etc. We want to make sure that no one, no matter the circumstance, has to pay out of pocket for a mask.

Having a snack bar and powerbar vending machine in Gould Library would be beneficial to students while they are working. When studying, a snack is often needed for more energy and students should not always have to travel to the cafeteria or to Sayles just for a quick snack. Access to a vending machine all day and a snack bar that can include granola bars, hot chocolate, and cookies, beginning around 9 p.m., would be a wonderful addition to the Gould Library.

I will be proposing a resolution that will provide free menstrual products, available on at least one floor in Anderson, Gould Library, Sayles, Weitz, and Leighton. It’s ridiculous that menstrual products are not free of charge nationally, anyway.

Although this next proposal may be controversial, I believe that Carleton needs it. I am proposing that courses that extensively cover racial equity, equality, and diversity become a graduation requirement. In light of the recent abhorrent racial events nationally, and on our campus (Jay Haws incident), it is imperative that more drastic steps are taken to ensure that Carleton is a more inclusive environment for people of color. This graduation requirement can be in conjunction with environmental justice courses, which are currently being proposed in CSA.

Thank you for coming to my TEDx Talk! I appreciate you taking the time to read my platform and I hope I can count on your vote. Leadership is not something I take lightly. This is the second time I am running for class representative, therefore I am eager, willing, and ready to represent you to the best of my ability.

Kind Regards,

Jaxon H. Alston

Jancyn Appel

Hi, I’m Jancyn Appel; I’m a sophomore from Kansas City, MO. I participate in women’s varsity volleyball, coach men’s volleyball, work for admissions, and currently serve as co-founder and president of the Black Student-Athletes of Carleton (BSAC)

I’ve enjoyed my time on CSA and would love to continue serving the Carleton community. In my last year as one of the class of 2023 representatives, I helped launch the social justice working group that challenged the administration on a formal response to anti-Black racism in the larger community and the outward support of social justice initiatives on campus.

Recently, we’ve been focusing on expanding access to financial resources on campus. From financial literacy aids to streamlining the language (and lack thereof) on the financial aid website. I also have been working with Dean Livingston on expanding and clarifying the Emergency Funding so students are more aware of the financial assistants that are available to them. One focus of mine in this process has been to promote how the college can aid students with medical bills and other peripheral costs that come.

It’s been great to represent the class of 2023 this past year, and I hope y’all will let me continue!

The TL;DR – my platform:

COVID Response Team Liasion

I, like many students, have been frustrated with the lack of consistent and clear communication about decisions surrounding the pandemic and how the school will make changes that affect the student body. I’d push for the creation of a liasion position that would work in coordination with the Infectious Response Team, Dean Livingston, and then would report back to CSA.

Financial Vernacular

The Student Financial Services website is complicated, unclear, and at times, even unhelpful. I would be able to continue the work I’ve been doing with the Social Justice Working group (within CSA), to help deliver our suggested edits to the website.

Africana Studies Graduation Requirement

Carleton is an incredibly wealthy PWI, and because of that most disenfranchised and marginalized groups are forced to interact with academia in a non-nuanced and white-washed way. The best way for Carleton to truly demonstrate their “anti-racism,” is to require students to interact with the Africana Studies department in a meaningful, tactful, and consistent way. The Africana Studies courses I’ve had the pleasure to take have been fascinating and challenged preconceived notions of mine, internalized racism I’d developed from past PWIs, and delivered Black content without the untrue “Linear Progress Narrative” approach that many of us receive in high school.

Class of 2024 Representatives

Aryan Arora

Hiiii everyone!

My name is Aryan Arora. I’m from Rockford, Illinois and have had the INCREDIBLE privilege of serving as the class of 2024 representative for the past couple of terms. Outside of CSA I am involved with Mock Trial and the Investing Club!

Here are some of the things I have been up to these past couple of terms:

Emails: You have likely seen a number of emails from me throughout this term. I have been sending you guys information on summer internships, different programs on campus like the textbook library and winter closet, and even information on this election! By far my favorite part of the position is sending you guys emails with strange gifs and dad jokes!
Constitutional Board: I have gotten the opportunity to be a part of the constitutional board which allowed me to look over the CSA constitution, make sure that it was updated to fit the unprecedented challenges we have been going through, and ensure that it was suited to best serve all of you!!
Social Activism Council: We have been up to so many amazing things as a part of the Social Activism Council. By far my favorite is working on the financial aid page to make financial aid resources more accessible to students. We also had the opportunity to speak with representatives from the financial aid office to understand more of how Carleton approaches financial aid and express some of our concerns about the process

Here are some of the things I want to do this next year:

Mental Health: Carleton is an incredible place, but it is no secret that it is a highly stressful environment—especially for BIPOC students. I want to take the opportunity to organize more stress-management opportunities for the class of 2024. This year, as a part of CSA, I had the opportunity to write emails to faculty asking them to be accommodating of students during election week. I want to continue to be an advocate for members of the class of 2024 and work with faculty at Carleton to make this a safe and inclusive environment for all.
Financial Aid: This year I had the opportunity to work with the financial aid office to better understand how Carleton goes about financial aid, but my work is far from done. Especially amidst of a pandemic, there are innumerable special cases that financial aid needs to be cognizant of. In the coming year I want to work with financial aid to continue making the aid resources more accessible to students, and advocate for the needs of students that the financial aid office might not have thought of previously.
Getting to know the Class: I know how challenging it can be to make friends even at a collaborative place like Carleton. This next year I want to put a great deal of my attention on creating opportunities for members of the class of 2024 to get to know other Carls. I want to organize Covid-friendly sports sessions and collaborate with SAO to help promote and support their getting to know one another opportunities. Independent of how this election turns out, please feel free to reach out to me at any time, I am always looking for opportunities to meet new people J

There are so so many exciting things that I have gotten the opportunity to do (and hope to continue doing) as the class of 2024 rep, but getting to know all of you and hearing about all the amazing things you all have done/continue to do at Carleton has been a genuine privilege. In dependent of this election, I am so honored to be a part of this community and so excited to get to know more of you 🙂

Thank you,

Aryan

Shaheer Jaffar

Who am I:

Hello there!! My name is Shaheer Jaffar and I am a first year. I was born in Pakistan and spent most of my childhood moving across 4 cities in 4 different language regions. The resilience and adaptability I developed moving from place to place taught me to listen before I speak. Living in a state of constant change made me crave continuous innovation, and I see my work as an extension of just that.

What I have done:

Starting the fall term remote from a place 8000 miles away from Carleton made it tough to actively take part in extracurriculars. I could hardly keep myself up for the 5 am History class, but I could not just be involved with Carleton. I had worked very hard for me to give up on extracurriculars. Thus, I have been involved with:

CEDI: Working closely with a team of college administration, staff, professors, and students to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion in the campus community. The recent incidents on bias were deeply discussed and it was highlighted that the college is very slow with processing bias incidences. It is one of my aims to demand that this process be made more public and reacted to in a timely fashion.

OIIL: My participation with OIIL has been a combination of multiple things. Being an international student, I wanted to be included with people in a similar situation to the one I was in. The schedule in remote learning was not an easy process and it was good to know I was not alone. Furthermore, I participated in the mentor/mentee program that gave me a chance to experience Carleton — the good parts and the bad parts.

In high-school I was involved with:

Student Council: I have served as the A-Level subject counselor, a prefect, and a student body representative. As an A-level counselor, I have helped my peers in selecting the best subject options based on their interests. Furthermore, serving as the prefect and student body president, I have tried to represent the views of my peers as clearly as possible. I have always tried that the voices of my peers do not go unnoticed. I plan on doing the same if I become the 2024 representative.

Board Member of the Environmental Club: In recent years, excessive smog enveloped the urban industrial centers globally, with Lahore being among the deadly smog hit cities. Specifically, in the autumn of 2016, a smog blanketed Lahore and brought everyday life to a halt. The Board took the initiative to plant 100 Toot trees (a native tree that sucks the toxic air and significantly reduces the smog pollution) by the end of the year. Since that day, we have been planting about 150-200 trees using public funding around different areas of Lahore.

What I want to do:

Working towards transparency:

Working on the CEDI team, I have experienced first hand how the college deals with issues of racial bias. I am committed to demanding that this process be made more public and reacted in a timely fashion.

Represent YOU

Your problems
Your concerns
Your ideas
Your solutions

Improve Accessibility

To Class Timings
- No more 2 am classes! – I still remember the time when I had to take 5 am History classes in Lahore, Pakistan, when I was remote. I am looking forward to designing a model that informs professors of how well a particular time works for the enrolled class.
To Academic Resources
- Designing an online platform for instant 24/7 Question/Answering for the Carleton community – for every question you help with, you get cashable points for Sayles, the Bookstore, etc.
To Mental Health Resources
- By making initiatives more student-driven. Trained students will be the first respondent – who get the conversation going – and can then refer you to the professionals on campus.
To Resources allowing YOU to stand up to injustices: letting the school-based organizations speak in the matters that they find concerning. More people that know about the situation, the more chances that they spark discussion.

Sparking Innovation//Strengthening the Community

Networking nights for Carleton students to connect to students across years and departments.

Why Shaheer ~ (Real) Reviews:

”His jokes made me laugh so hard I needed to take stomach-medicine.” – Friend X

”Had fun meeting Shaheer. He’s smart, energized, and personable!” – Best Friends Mom

”Extremely caring, loving, thoughtful, and a great friend” – Ex-girlfriend