Voting for candidates running for positions in the Undergraduate Student Government closes today on UConntact at noon. This year, two candidates are running for the position of Chief Diversity Officer. Below are their profiles.
Sadaf Zarei
Sadaf Zarei is a mathematics and economics major and a computer science minor in her sixth semester at the University of Connecticut. She is also an international student from Iran, which has helped form her platform and her ideas for UConn, she said.
“This role is essentially important because it is there to let students of every walk of life, every religion, every color, every sexual orientation, to know that no matter what, there is a place within the USG structure that cares for them,” Zarei said.
Zarei noted that while she believes USG has a thriving internal culture that promotes international students, she hopes to improve the organization’s outreach capabilities. The CDO is meant to advocate for the causes and cultures of the students on campus and help increase the mobility of students from underrepresented backgrounds, she said.
“It is really good that we care about diversity but also the missing element has been empowering people within different diverse backgrounds to increase their social mobilities,” Zarei said. “If elected, that will be something that I am very keen on advocating.”
Zarei specifically mentioned granting international students access to alumni counsel, legal advisory and work opportunities at UConn. International students can primarily only work on-campus student jobs, and Zarei hopes to help connect students with possible employers, Zarei said.
“There are not many resources available to students of different backgrounds,” Zarei said. “If there were to be a change, the top priority should be perhaps giving people of different backgrounds connections to the alumni of their respective background.”
Zarei said other universities have done this practice before, and she hopes to extend it to UConn. On the topic of legal advisory, while USG and the Office of the CDO have already begun the process of setting up a system for students, Zarei hopes to continue this initiative.
“If elected, I would definitely be doubling down on that and that initiative,” Zarei said. “And I would work tirelessly to enhance it.”
Syna Patel
Syna Patel is a fourth-semester political science student based on the Storrs campus. Patel was previously living and studying at the Waterbury campus last year and conducted a semester abroad in Florence, Italy before arriving at Storrs this spring.
“I’ve met with so many people and while everyone is so different I’ve seen that they all have one unique thing in common, which is inclusivity and belonging. Everyone has a sense of that,” Patel said. “With meeting all these different people and kinds of people, I’ve seen, what really stands out is the sense of belonging that people have.”
Patel noted that she sees a CDO as someone who is meant to inspire a sense of belonging on campus. If a student were to experience harassment or encounter ICE on campus, she said she wants there to be availability for students to address these issues.
“I feel like I do a really good job in my personal life on making sure that people belong,” Patel said. “Because I’ve felt that I haven’t belonged for a very long time. I’m Indian, my background, I’m always like — I never feel like I am Indian enough, so I understand the inclusivity portion of it. I feel that I could do a really good job of bringing that to other people.”
Patel noted that she’s discussed with the Chief Diversity Officer of her mother’s company to see what kind of events and duties the position holds.
“I’ve had meetings with her, I’ve talked to her about it,” Patel said. “I’ve seen some of the events she’s done and I’ve attended them. And I’ve seen how well they change people’s perspectives, there’s so many friendships that have been made throughout these events.”
Friendship is an important part of her platform, Patel said. Finding community can be especially difficult when a student is new or has recently transferred, and even more so if a student is only enrolled in large classes, she said.
“I want everyone to have that one person,” Patel said. “Whether that be me or be someone else, that they can go to and be like ‘hey, I’ve had a really hard day, and I just need someone to talk to. I just need a friend right now.’ And that’s kind of my goal; I just want everyone to leave UConn knowing that they’ve felt like they belonged.”