The Power of Involvement: Becoming a Voice for Change

By Harmony Sanchez | Published Feb 25, 2022

Earlier this year, Kean University participated in a virtual roundtable on Student Debt cancellation hosted by U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker. The roundtable garnered perspectives from undergraduate students at Kean including Junior Delia Latini.

With two minutes to make her mark at the roundtable, Delia spoke on her experience with student debt. Sharing how it’s shaped both her pre-college and post-college journey.

“As I’ve progressed through my college career, my friends and I, we keep circling back to what we are going do next,” Latini said. “What are we going to do with our student debt.”

Despite having such little time, Latini provided political figures better insight into the personal experience some students have when navigating college debt.

But how did the opportunity for her to share her story and help her peers arise? Delia attributes this opportunity to her dedication to student leadership and involvement at Kean.

“Going into college, I was really involved in high school and wanted to keep that momentum. The Leadership Institute really threw me in the right direction and got me off on the right foot,” Latini explained.

Latini started her college career as a student in the Bronze Leadership Program. This is a program through Kean Leadership Institute designed for first-year students within the Center for Leadership and Service (CLS). She went on to work for the very same program as a Leadership Specialist within the CLS.

Sandra Espinal, assistant Director for Student Leadership and Development at the CLS explains that Latini has served as a mentor to many of the students in the Leadership Program.

“Delia has been a great addition to the Leadership Institute, her energy and work ethics has impacted our students greatly. She gives 100% to making sure that our students get the best out of our leadership experience.” Espinal said.

Latini has developed many professional skills that have aided her in discussions with higher-ups at the university and in her career field, all of which she credits to her involvement on campus.

“My involvement has quite literally everything to do with my professional journey in college,” Latini said.

Currently, Latini is also the Junior Class Treasurer in Student Government, a member of the President’s Advisory Council, and the Student Leadership Council at Kean.

“I knew that there was more that I could do on a higher level,” Latini said.

The council meetings allow student leaders like Latini to discuss improvements for student life at Kean. Vice President of Student Affairs, Matthew Caruso, spearheads the Student Leadership Council, the administration that is responsible for Latini’s campus involvement. Within these councils, Latini and her peers were able to push for different causes to be achieved on campus.

Last year, the Commuter Resource Center in the Nancy Thompson Library extended it’s hours to cater to students, an initiative achieved by student leaders like Latini within these councils.

Kean University President Lamont Repollet was officially installed at the university last October. Since then, the university administration has taken active steps to improve student life at Kean.

“Dr. Repollet has really followed through on the initiative to give students a voice. Kean is entering a new era,” Latini explains. “Students are taking the initiative to make the administration listen and use their resources.”

Leading up to the Student Debt Cancellation Roundtable, Latini received the opportunity in an email from university relations to represent Kean Students on the topic. Latini credits earning the opportunity through the connections she made in her involvement at Kean.

“I felt heard,” Latini said after the roundtable. “Sharing my story, and how it’s not the most unique story, because so many students experience the same thing, was truly something I never thought I’d do but that I’d do again in a second.”

Having the opportunity to represent her student body in front of two U.S. Senators was a prideful moment for Latini. Her goal as a student leader has alway been to incite change.

Latini offered some advice to aspiring student leaders on campus,“It seems crazy on paper. The long days, the sprinting from class to somewhere, and everything else in between; it seems crazy on paper. But take the challenge, try something once.”

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