Danielle Geathers (President) and Yu Jing Chen (Vice President)

ihtfp. A phrase we’ve all come to learn and love. At MIT, we’ve found a home in the passionate people and distinct communities. But we’ve also struggled and spent many long nights on a crowded Stud 5. Nevertheless, we persist and find a way to leave MIT a better place than we’ve found it.

We are Danielle and Yu Jing and we’re running to protect and improve the parts of MIT we’ve all grown to love, while advocating for solutions to the many problems we all face. 

 This year is unlike any other. Now more than ever, we need to be united. COVID-19 has changed a lot for us, there’s no denying that. But we won’t let it define us. Your support systems matter. Your MIT experiences matter. The homes we’ve created together matter. Whether it is advocating for those of us hardest hit by this pandemic, those unseen and unheard, or bringing together our community in these times of uncertainty, we all need the right leadership.

Throughout our time at MIT, we have both actively fought for student voices and empowered vulnerable communities. Our leadership increased accessibility to student resources on campus and levied student concerns to administration, ranging from the Burton Conner transition to the search for the new Institute Community and Equity Officer. Our impact spans from creating MIT’s first and only black women recruiting initiative to pioneering MIT representation at America’s largest Asian American student advocacy conference.

From institutionalizing “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” to implementing food pantries in non-dining dorms, we will amplify and support student organizations that have been fighting for these changes for years. By restructuring the UA for increased student engagement and formulating policies focused on transparency, we will transform the UA’s relevancy and support for students. Together, we can achieve this and more.

Unity

We are stronger together. We plan to facilitate real collaboration between different spheres of the Institute through shared governance with student leaders, increased access to student spaces on campus, and more Institute-wide events fostering school spirit (roll tech, anybody?).

Equity in All Policies

For the UA to truly be inclusive, it has to be representative of our diverse student body. We will establish the UA’s first Diversity Council with a mission to carry out joint projects and dialogue to address student concerns. Additionally, whether it is the distribution of free hygiene products to all dorms or a push for the expansion of the Violence Prevention & Response team, we will actively fight to make MIT a more equitable place.

Open Leadership

To accomplish the UA’s mission of improving student life, it is necessary to integrate student voices into all initiatives so we can accurately represent our whole student body. Our appointed Secretary will bring back The Byte to increase dialogue between the UA and the students we serve. Along with UA transparency, we will w​​ork towards greater administrative transparency, making sure student voices are prioritized in decision-making that affects us and our MIT experience.

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Danielle Geathers is currently the Officer on Diversity for the UA, sits on the Committee for Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid and is the founder of Talented Ten, a program focused on increasing the matriculation rate of black women to MIT.

Yu Jing Chen is currently the founder of the Asian American Initiative, MIT’s first advocacy-based Asian American group, the Events Coordinator for Class Awareness Support and Equality (CASE), Director of Deep Dive for Amphibious Achievement, amongst other activities across campus. 

Choose Different: Vote Danielle and Yu Jing :) 

For a more detailed platform visit: https://danielleandyujing.wixsite.com/2020.