Akelia Reddie has big plans for her time as the Community College of Aurora’s (CCA) student representative on the State Student Advisory Council (SSAC). Having been elected to serve on CCA’s Student Government Association (SGA) this spring, she says she was elated to have also been elected to serve as the Vice Chair for SSAC. 

Reddie is pursuing her Associate of Arts in Public Health at CCA, and plans on attending Metropolitan State University of Denver next year, studying Environmental Science and Microbiology. 

Representing CCA’s student body at a state level gives her unique perspective and power to voice the concerns of her fellow students to the broader Colorado Community College System (CCCS). CCA’s Mike Mestas spoke with Reddie about her new position, and what plans she has in store as she serves as the voice of CCA’s students at a state level. Click the play button below to listen to the interview.

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*This interview has been edited for time

First, congratulations on being elected as Vice Chair to this Council. What does it mean for you to have been nominated by your peers for this position?

Thank you so much for that congratulations, and for me personally, I think being elected as Vice Chair is a tremendous honor, and I feel incredibly proud to have been elected by my peers, mostly because it was students from all 13 community colleges, which I didn’t have a personal relationship with any of them. I had to do a whole presentation, and solely based on my presentation, they thought I had the potential of actually being the Vice Chair.

Tell me about your role and some of the responsibilities you’ll have as Vice Chair.

Mainly serving the Chair and ensuring that all meetings are ran smoothly. So currently, I help with agendas, facilitate group discussions to go over, what I would say is essentially important, and I also keep everyone engaged. It is my job to essentially be the buffer to the Chair. Concerns, complaints, or questions come to me first, then I navigate to the Chair. My job is to solely foster a collaborative environment, making it easy for everyone to have a space where they can be heard.

What will be some of your initiatives and goals in your service?

I have two major initiatives that I want to start. The first one, I want to start here at CCA, and it has to do with bringing knowledge to the undocumented population, because I know specifically for CCA and in most rural community colleges, they have a larger population of undocumented immigrants. I want to use all the tools and everything that I’ve learned, and we’ve gathered here to bring to the other 13 community colleges. Usually, when we go off initiatives for all 13, for CCCS in general, we usually like to meet to see if this is an ongoing issue for every campus. So after the completion of my initiative here at CCA, I will then bring what I’ve learned to the Colorado Community College System.

As a CCA student, how do you plan on using your position to represent students at your own college? What sorts of representation can they expect through you?

I think representation is key, and I believe when it comes to being in a position of leadership or advocacy, I always aim to be relatable. I want to create an open channel for communication, making sure students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns. I also want to foster a sense of community by organizing events and forums where everyone can express their ideas and issues. This is your environment, this is your home away from home. You’re going to spend a lot of time here, so the goal is to make sure they feel as though they have a seat at the table, and that is the representation I bring. We are the people who will be your voice.

Since this is a position at the state level, what sort of impact do you want to have on the broader community college system here in our state?

The main impact I want to have is leveraging and fostering communication across all 13 community colleges. I don’t think we foster enough community amongst all 13 community colleges, and I think there’s different aspects and things that each college does that I think another college would find beneficial. Leveraging all those things together would create a really solid foundation when it comes to the power of 13.

How do you encourage other students to become involved?

Sign up for student government. Be involved in your campus community. You have no idea the opportunities and the people you meet when you get involved with your campus community. It’s a great way to be connected and stay informed.

Again, congratulations on that position. I think it’s amazing. I’m excited to see the work that comes out of it for you.

Thank you so much. I’m so honored to have had this opportunity. Thank you.