Meet the new Multicultural Leadership Council

This past week, the Multicultural Leadership Council came before the Executive Board for confirmation of its members. The MLC is unique because of its application process for voting members, where the committee chair and committee members are internally selected. This week, I want to introduce the Rensselaer community to the newest members of the Multicultural Leadership Council.

Dragana Dragutinovic ’20 is studying Chemical Engineering. This is her second year on the MLC. Her goals for the year are to help the new council members transition into their roles and to make sure the committee continues to promote the pillars of diversity.

Natalee Ryan ’20 has spent the past two years working as a graphic designer in the Union Admin Office, helping create GM Week mugs and other promotional material. She helps grow the cultural experience and diversity on campus, highlighting RPI students and what makes them so unique and passionate. Her goals for the year are to increase marketing for events to maximize turnout and help make the MLC more recognizable.

Harry Zhou ’20 wants to help represent the student body and encourage more collaboration between clubs that typically wouldn’t interact with each other very much. He wants the MLC to help inform people about important issues regarding diversity on our campus, while he works to spread the voices of Asian students here on campus.

Kerryn Harrington ’20 wants to create more service programs that engage the community and simultaneously improve the diversity representation on campus. She also wants the MLC to become a more organized committee with positions and more structured meetings.

Samuel Harrison ’22 would like to increase the awareness of the MLC and all the resources they have to offer. A greater presence and involvement in the community the Council serves would facilitate this increase in awareness. He has been working to push the Institute’s goal of multicultural sophistication and wants to use the MLC as a platform to continue to push this initiative.

Anisa Misra ’22 wants to be a voice for the female community. She hopes to educate females in the Troy community to show them that STEM fields are approachable to girls, as well as develop their interests in typically male-dominated areas of study.

Jayshon Adams ’20 wants to be an advocate for the community and for underrepresented groups. His main goal is to work toward expanding multicultural spaces and resources on campus.

Sundjata Suma ’21 wants to represent the multicultural community and ensure that there’s a culture on campus which welcomes and uplifts under represented groups. Its goal is to help create the plans for a substantial multicultural space on campus that adequately supplements the needs of the multicultural community on campus.

I have immense faith in these people and this committee to help ensure the Union is at the forefront of cultural sophistication, here at RPI. It is no secret that in recent months there have been many incidents that have targeted specific ethnic groups on campus. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. As an Executive Board and as a Union, we recognize our duty to help educate the community about different cultures and create an environment where all students feel welcome. I want all students to know that Student Government is here to support you with whatever problems you may be facing. I encourage all students to speak up and let us know how we can best help and support you. As with all committees, I encourage you to get involved and help create the best RPI community we can. As always, please feel welcome to reach out to pu@rpi.edu with comments, questions, or suggestions.