Officer	[]
Email	suavpd@ucsc.edu
Office Hours	Thursday 11:30-2:30
Major	Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
College	Cowell

Hello everybody!
        My name is [], I am a fourth year Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Student. I was born and raised in Santa Cruz and have had the privilege of continuing my education at our beautiful UC Santa Cruz and have loved every moment of my time here.
        Through my undergraduate education I have found that my life’s main calling is to join the thousands of scientists who have devoted their entire lives and careers to cancer research, thus I have spent the last two years working in a research lab contributing to these research efforts. If you would like to know more about my research please come to my office hours and ask, I love sharing my science with others!
        Aside from my science interests, during the last three years, I have also solidified my commitment to increasing diversity and opportunity in higher education for underrepresented students. For me, Diversity and Inclusion is realizing that we are all different in our own unique ways and that these differences should not drive us apart, but bring us closer together. Our unique backgrounds and personalities are the driving force behind new ideas that ultimately lift humanity to a greater level and create an accepting, warm, and equitable environment for students here at UC Santa Cruz.
        In the past, I have worked very intimately with various organizations in outreach efforts targeting undergraduates as well as high school students in efforts towards increasing the number of students of color in S.T.E.M. Through my experiences, I have learned that it is critical for students to create and foster a strong support network of like-minded individuals who are experiencing similar struggles, but more importantly, share similar goals.
        Through my term, I hope to unify students of different backgrounds in their time at UCSC, while recognizing and celebrating the differences that make us all unique. Ultimately, I aspire to create a campus climate that is welcoming for ALL students which will promote healthy social development and host a productive learning environment for our students.
        While I have my own projects, I also would like to support all efforts towards diversity and inclusion, so if you have any ideas or projects that you would like my support in, please come to my office hours and share! I’m excited to help!
Lastly, we are at a crucial point in time in this country, while there are many forces trying to segregate us and instill hate and fear for one another’s sexual orientation, race, or religion. We must be strong and counteract these efforts everyday of our lives. Speak out against acts of bigotry and hate.
        Standing by and watching is simply not enough. Please, if you have yet to do so, I would like to encourage you to get involved in the fight for equality!

Respectfully,
[]
SUA VP of Diversity and Inclusion