Khujista Umama prioritizes student experience as newly elected Representative for Transfer, International, and Commuter Students
The Student Government Association (SGA) Elections Commission released the Fall 2024 SGA Election results by email in September. We checked in with Khujista Umama about what she’s looking forward to as the Representative for Transfer, International, and Commuter students.
Photography by Abigail Rabbitt/The Barnard Bulletin
November 15, 2024
Khujista Umama (BC ’26), the newly elected Representative for Transfer, International, and Commuter students, brings her motivation to create impactful change in the community to her role. As a junior spring semester transfer and commuter student, Umama’s first hand experience allows her to better understand the needs of those she represents. She explained, “I feel like I’m a pretty outgoing person, I love talking to people, but despite all of that I still had a really, really difficult time adjusting last semester. I’ve also met a lot of international students who are also transfers and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be in a completely new country with no family and you don’t know anyone. It’s a lot.”
While she was running, Umama didn’t expect to win the election since she was new to campus. Yet, she valued the experience rather than just the outcome. Umama believes that “even if you don’t win it’s okay to run and put ideas forward because maybe whoever does win will adopt some of those ideas and that way it’ll be better for the entire community as a whole.” She was motivated to run on the basis of fostering a stronger community and ensuring that all students felt like they had a place on campus. Umama said that when she was writing her campaign message for the ballot, “I just sat down and thought about ‘okay, what would I tell a friend why I’m running and what I want to do?’” She spread the word that she was running by telling those who knew her best.
The first action Umama intends to take in her new role is to send out a form to all international, transfer, and commuter students to hear from them individually and be comprehensive in her approach. “What is it that you feel like we could be doing better? Or something that already does work for you that you want to see strengthened?”
Umama recognizes the plurality of the people she’s representing, stating, “I have things that are personal to me, but there are so many people that fall into one of three categories, sometimes more than one, and it’s important to remember there are other people involved, this is their school, and we have to make sure we’re doing what we can for them,” she said. Umama urged students to make their voices heard through this form saying, “The more data we have, the more possibilities there are for making concrete changes.”
Going forward, Umama plans to focus on organizing events for commuter students that take place at a convenient time for them and allow them to form a community. Umama noted that as a recent transfer, “It’s all really fresh in my mind.” In regards to the international student community, Umama said, “I think there’s a really strong international community and the work that the International Department is doing really great work in making sure that they have the community and are able to see each other and have a really strong support system. I really just want to aid in that in whatever way I can.” She also plans to create a consolidated list of resources for students so that they can keep track of everything available to them.
Umama hopes to make a lasting difference in the experience of international, transfer, and commuter students at Barnard. “I have a year in this position, and I really want to do things that will last and help students,” she said.