Student Trustee Candidates Share Opinions at Debate

Trustees

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The year’s eligible candidates are Andrew Juan ’25, Bahram Mehretu ’26, Audrey Pinard ’25, Veronica Lewis ’25 and J.P. Swenson ’25. A sixth candidate, Heily Gonzalez ’26, dropped out of the race this week.

According to the 2023 election website, candidates must be a fulltime undergraduate student registered in good standing throughout their two-year term.

Among other requirements, candidates must also petition for at least 150 undergraduate signatures and attend the candidate forum. At the forum, candidates were asked seven questions about experience, relations with other trustees and the University, constituent needs and priorities for their term.

Andrew Juan

Juan is a sophomore in the Brooks School of Public Policy who is running on a platform of improving health, access and spirit. He described his vision for how the Cornell community can improve access to healthcare.

“Ever since the pandemic, our generation as a whole has lost a sense of belonging because we’ve all been separated for so long,” Juan said. “Now that we’re all back together, we need to work to [foster] social connection. We need to bring back that sense of belonging. We need to make sure that every student at Cornell feels welcome and feels like they belong at Cornell.”

Juan specifically mentioned that negative perceptions of Cornell Health discourage students from seeking out assistance. He believes community engagement is the way forward.

“The Board of Trustees needs to ensure that we increase funding towards building social communities at Cornell through clubs, activities [and] athletics,” Juan said.

In order to do this, Juan said he would draw on his previous experience in administrative bodies. Juan is currently an undergraduate representative on the University Assembly and a chair of the U.A. Campus Welfare Committee.

“I will be doing nothing more than just continuing the work that I already do just on a larger scale with the Board of Trustees,” Juan said, “ensuring that I can balance what our institutional focuses are with the focuses and needs of the student population.”

Bahram Mehretu

Mehretu is a first-year student in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations who hopes to address housing, food and financial insecurity at Cornell. He emphasized that ensuring basic needs are his top priority — and that he would be firm in demanding them.

“I believe that one of the largest issues that we face on campus is basic needs and insecurities,” Mehretu said. “These basic needs are somewhat hidden from the larger Cornell population, but these are insecurities that we see on a daily basis. We know that students aren’t on the meal plans, we know that students are struggling to find housing in their junior and senior year [and] we know that students are struggling with their finances. This is because of a lack of centralization of resources, as well as a lack of resources.”

Mehretu said that he believes that the Board of Trustees should advocate for a central basic needs center to boost access.

“Let’s house a financial aid office that can provide other options besides high interest loans. Let’s provide housing offices that can provide you aid to find a property that isn’t predatory,” Mehretu said. “Let’s focus on creating food depots where students can come and take food privately, without having shame.”

Mehretru also emphasized that he will advocate for student needs on other important issues like Title IX reform and mental health.

“I would look to keep [relations with the Administration] cordial and respectful, and at the same time be firm on very important issues,” Mehretu said. “When it comes to [mental health, basic needs and Title IX reform], amicability is not going to be my first intention. I will be going in there with respect and cordiality, but I will not be looking to give [the] Administration leeway or give administrators grace in some of these situations, because they are too important.”

Mehretu also emphasized a desire to bolster mental health services. In order to achieve his goals, Mehretu said he would draw on previous leadership and advocacy positions in social justice organizations. He noted that these positions taught him to speak up and to compromise.

“Before I came to Cornell University, I was the executive director of a social justice organization. Within this position, I was meeting with politicians. I was meeting with the city council and the mayor. I was meeting with the state senate and state representatives,” Mehretu said. “In these interactions, I’ve learned the skills of when to recognize to compromise and how much to compromise.”

Audrey Pinard Pinard, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, wants to make sure students’ voices are heard in the decision making process, and is advocating for improved sustain- ability efforts, equal opportunities and simplified misconduct reporting services. Pinard explained how she believes Cornell’s mental health system is the largest challenge facing the University.

‘I definitely think we have to address the mental health crisis on campus,” Pinard said. “With the increasing academic pressure and stress levels, students are experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression and also other mental health challenges.”

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