As SA vice president, I plan on leaving a lasting impact

In Spring 2022, I was elected to serve as the Student Association 66th Session’s executive vice president with the intention to leave a legacy that prioritizes students and our interests.

I’ve always been a serious, goal-driven and task-oriented person. Since high school, I have held my academic career in high regard and I have also always prioritized being a culturally literate member of the global community. Those two have been abiding themes throughout my college life—what’s most important for my career and what’s most important to me morally. I want a legacy not merely of social acceptance or popularity, but one that demonstrates my commitment to further Syracuse University and the communities within.

As a Black woman of Afro-Latinidad identity, I embody a multifaceted identity, carrying the weight of multiple worlds on my shoulders. Having had a diverse array of challenging experiences here, I genuinely want students—particularly marginalized students—to feel like they can come to me with pressing issues, new initiatives and ideas, and general inquiries as to how to participate in revising university policies. While it’s important to acknowledge individual experiences, it’s even more important that we remember that we are a piece of the legacy of Black student activists that carried the torch for us. In doing this, we can always remember that advocacy doesn’t have one face, one story or one name. Advocacy means creating space for those coming after you.

In Fall 2019, I chose to be part of #NotAgainSU. At the time, that movement outweighed everything for me, even my academics. I was at a crossroads between my two most crucial priorities: values versus ambition. I chose my values. Instead of a legacy of excellence defined by academics and careerism, I chose one that transcended those things to leave a real and lasting impact on SU.

Though some part of me wishes I could’ve preserved my academic standing, it’s still a choice I’d make every time. I gave my entire life to being a student, up until that point all of the things that I had sacrificed for academia felt selfish and trivial, but in this case, the thing pulling me from daily college life was something bigger than myself.

I dedicated my time to #NotAgainSU because it was the chance to embrace the humanity of a moment that was calling to me to be brave, involved and invested. Important racial incidents on SU’s campus were being deliberately ignored, and knowing SU’s history on these matters I had to take action and speak truth to power. Ultimately, my choice aligned me with a community of people who put everything on hold to change the world we had into one we deserved.

Among many goals, I will work to ensure the Black Student Union has the full support of SA to ensure their success and longevity during their first official year as an organization at SU. I’m also committed to getting rid of all single-use plastics on campus and working with the university to advance their goals for carbon neutrality ahead of 2040.

At a community level, I serve on the DPS Community Review Board and work to oversee campus safety and hold them accountable. While these are just some of the goals which are of utmost importance, there is still more work to be done. I won’t leave this institution comfortably without knowing that the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) strategic plan has not only been thoroughly rewritten but that all members of this community charged to uphold it are truly dedicated to handling it with care and intentionality.

I said this when I first arrived at SU, and I’ll say it again: if I can do just one thing during my time here, it will be ensuring that the institution I leave is distinctly better than the one that was passed down to me. That’s the legacy I’m pursuing.

Adia Santos, Executive Vice President of Student Association, Class of 2023.