Melissa Baker-Boosamra

Email 
bakerbme@gvsu.edu

Title 
Associate Director of Student Life - Civic Engagement and Assessment

What does Civic Engagement mean to you?

Civic engagement means working together to co-create the world we want to live in.

What issues are important to you? 

The health of our democracy, racial equity, immigration, environmental issues.

Giavonna Ward

Title

Graduate Assistant for Civic Engagement

Program

College Student Affairs and Leadership, Graduate Student

What does Civic Engagement mean to you?

To me civic engagement means being an active member of your community. For me it includes our democratic duty to be engaged in elections and law making, our community engagement with local small businesses and resources, and being strong allies with our fellow community members.

What issues are important to you?

I’m very passionate about education and the quality of education that is provided to students across different communities and how resources are allocated within education. I’m also very passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, the wage gap, and reform of the criminal justice system. I’ve been very interested recently in learning more about voter suppression and what that has looked like historically and how it affects communities of color.

Dae'Aunee Charles

Title

Civic Engagement Associate

Major

 Political Science

Year

 Sophomore

What does Civic Engagement mean to you?

Civic engagement to me means being an active member of your community. It means you take it upon yourself to be educated but also to make sure others around you are developed as well. It’s an act of being aware and almost selfless in a way to be a part of making a better whole.

What issues are important to you?

Issues that I'm personally passionate about are injustice , reform in courts and the justice system, rehabilitation and recidivism in jails, and mental health awareness.

Abigail Caswell

Title

Civic Engagement Associate

Major

 Writing and English

Year

Junior

What does Civic Engagement mean to you?

To me, civic engagement means staying educated and involved in order to build a community that supports and provides for everyone.

What issues are important to you?

LGBTQ+ rights, racial equity, gender equity, mental health awareness, universal healthcare

Title

Civic Engagement Associate

Major 

History Education for Secondary Ed

Year 

Sophomore

What does Civic Engagement mean to you?

Civic engagement, in my eyes, means that you are actively trying to engage not only yourself, but the people around you within your community. You and your community take it upon yourselves to expand the willingness to help each other, and ultimately create your community a better place to be.

What issues are important to you?

Some issues that are important to me, that I am also very passionate about, are student engagement within both the school community and the classroom, mental health awareness inside and outside of school (and through life), better healthcare for all classes and types of people, LGBTQ+ rights, and women’s rights.