Hi! I’m Ava, and I’m a first-year student who’s interested in following a major in Public Policy or Political Science. I’m really passionate about community wellbeing and student representation. I appreciate how DKU has a close and collaborative campus due to its small size, and I’m applying to join the Student Board because I want to help strengthen this culture of care, especially as it applies to women on campus. Also, I believe that the experience I would gain from a leadership role early in my college career would be very beneficial for when I apply to internships and jobs in the future.
It’s important for a young and growing university like DKU to establish resources specifically for women early on, so that equity and representation become built into campus culture from the start. If selected, I’d like to focus on improving how we support women and others who face social or emotional challenges on campus. One of my main goals would be to work with Counseling and Wellness Services to create a specialized counseling pathway for students affected by harmful rumors, online gossip, or gender-based pressure. These experiences can be deeply stressful, even If they don’t fall under formal misconduct, and students deserve a safe space to seek help. I’d propose that CAWS pilots at least one peer-support workshop per semester to address issues like digital harassment to solve this.
I’d also like to model new programming after Duke University’s Women’s Center, adapting it to DKU’s international setting. This could take shape as a Women’s Support and Empowerment Hub, which would offer confidential support and peer advocacy, community-building spaces and cultural events, climate surveys to gauge the attitudes of female-identifying students on campus towards their safety and representation and DKU, and potential collaboration with our clinic to provide female-specific medical resources and information.