Three students are running for the Director of Social Justice and Equity position next academic year. The role is responsible for implementing shared governance through student participation in social justice initiatives, including serving as a voting member of the Board of Directors and Government Affairs Committee, organizing events and representing the multicultural community.
Cynthia Cobain sees increasing resources for students with disabilities and for the LGBTQ+ community as her biggest concern.
Carlos Cortez sees prevailing ideology and social pressures, people’s fixed customs and an unwillingness to engage or communicate as the biggest barriers to progress on social justice and equality.
Jordan Rothe sees advancing reproductive justice, abortion-access information on campus, and better advocacy for underrepresented student communities and gender equality as her biggest concerns.
Cynthia Cobain
Cynthia Cobain is a first-generation student, a junior psychology major in the Honors Program. She’s using this opportunity to test and practice the leadership she learned through the Honors Program, to advocate for students and amplify their voices to create a more inclusive, diverse environment.
“I am usually a vocal person and I really wanted to make others feel welcome by allowing them to let their voices be heard through me and then allow me to be a voice for them as well,” Cobain said.
As Director of Social Justice and Equity, she would want to be an advocate for servant leadership by engaging with the student body to learn about their concerns and amplify their voices in board meetings.
“I would hope to engage with all the students and get to know more about the resources they all enjoy on campus and would like to enhance regarding inclusivity, diversity and equity,” Cobain said.
Resources for her personally have played a key role in who she is today. As a first-generation student, she credits AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), a college and career readiness program, for the reason she’s at Chico. At Chico, she credits the Honors Program for her training in leadership and her equity focus lens through being part of the REACH Student Success Center that supports first-generation low-income students. ‘
“I am going to be a voice for those who need it and be loud about it as well,” she said.
If elected, she plans to increase student resources to help strengthen campus inclusivity, diversity efforts and engage student organizations to surface important issues that she has personally experienced and already experienced in her campus involvement.
Cobain admits that her biggest challenge would be ensuring her efforts were taken seriously and ensuring the administration listens to her. “I am a pretty young student and I just really want to make sure that everyone I am engaging with is heard and listened to within the administration as well.”
After graduation, Cobain hopes to attend grad school in psychology, hopefully staying at Chico, but is open to other options. If elected, she hopes to build relationships and elevate student concerns in meetings, as well as provide more helpful campus resources, especially to those with disabilities and in the queer community.
Carlos Cortez
Carlos Cortez returned to college later in life to pursue higher education, bringing real-world work experience alongside his current studies. He’s a senior with a major in business with a focus on accounting. If elected, he will focus on analyzing the community’s progress and accomplishments to come up with long-term, sustainable solutions to whatever issues present themselves.
He plans on executing the role by getting input on what the community’s needs are presently and then listing them in order of priority to help create immediate and long-term solutions.
As Director of Social Justice and Equity, he plans on being a prime advocate to ensure fairness for the student body, address systemic issues and increase communication and community engagement to prioritize immediate and long-term solutions.
“I think I have a lot to give and it’d be unfair for me to hold back the talents and skills I have that can benefit not only me but the community at large,” Cortez said.
His concerns are prevailing ideologies, social pressures and a lack of communication and engagement. If elected, he will lead by gathering community input and prioritizing student needs to come up with community-driven solutions.
Cortez said that one of the things that he thinks will make him a worthy candidate is his experience with both life and school. As he returns, he believes he brings in new talents and skill sets. “I also have age on my side…I’m emotionally balanced, so I don’t run around with my feelings,” he said.
Cortez admits that his biggest challenge is that his effectiveness depends on student engagement. “If the constituents don’t get involved, my voice and my energy have less power.” He instead hopes that the community is willing to speak up so that he can get needs met and goals accomplished faster.
Cortez is involved on campus with the Accounting Club for his major and has previous participation in a variety of student groups across campus, rather than just sticking to one. “I don’t just think that I should experience it by sticking to what I’m comfortable and familiar with, but I should also go ahead and engage with what I’m not comfortable with and not familiar with, so that I can become more rounded and I can broaden my views.”
After graduation, he plans to work in accounting, possibly in the nonprofit sector, where he can use his accounting skills while staying involved in social justice and equality work to help the community. “I want to use the talents I’ve gained to help the community and improve people’s quality of life,” he said.
Jordan Rothe
Jordan Rothe is a junior majoring in Criminal Justice with a Paralegal Studies certificate. She is a transfer from Riverside City College and is now eager to engage with the Chico State community.
“This position speaks to me personally and I’ll use it to push policy change and ensure every student’s voice is heard,” Rothe said. “Social justice is not something that I take very lightly.” When it comes to social justice, Rothe is especially passionate about reproductive justice. “My goal is to make Chico State more inclusive, improving lactation spaces, reproductive-health access, and outreach to transfer and minority students,” she said.
“As a transfer student and aspiring public defender, I’ll bring real advocacy experience and dedication to represent underserved communities,” Rothe said.
Rothe in Riverside had an internship at the Chief Attorney’s Office and is currently working with the Rural Reproductive Justice Alliance, an on-campus organization centered around reproductive justice for the North State and rural communities. She is also actively working toward going to the Capitol at the end of the month to help advocate to California representatives about reproductive justice, specifically AB 2540, which is about pushing out abortion access information on college campuses. She is also making sure that lactation spaces are up to California Code. Rothe is also advocating for cancer testing for both female and male students on campus.
“I’m training and studying to become a public defender, so this is something that I’m completely invested in and want to dedicate the entirety of the rest of my life to,” Rothe said, when explaining why the role just speaks to her.
If elected, she will be motivated by her transfer-driven motivation to be part of the community and engage on campus, as well as increasing representation through cultural humility and outreach to underrepresented and transfer students by organizing inclusive events and policy advocacy.
Rothe will use her advocacy and legal training to listen and learn as she pushes campus improvements and legislative action. Rothe chose to transfer to Chico because she heard how good the criminal justice program is. After graduation, she will work as a paralegal before going to law school to become a public defender.
The biggest challenge she may come across, however, is understanding and effectively representing all of the campus community. She acknowledges that she’s “not like, particularly a minority” and says she must cultivate cultural competency and humility to “listen, learn and then be able to advocate on behalf of those students.”
With different backgrounds, priorities, personal definitions of the importance of social justice and approaches of advocacy, each confident offers a distinct vision for the role. Students will have the opportunity to decide who best represents their priorities and cast their vote for one of these candidates to serve the Chico community when voting opens on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, every Chico State student will receive an email with a link to the ballot. The link will also be available here on its website. You will need to sign in with your Chico State login to access the ballot.
Lucy Bakowski can be reached at [email protected]
