Meet the Inclusion Task Force
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The Inclusion Task force was formed in Fall Quarter 2012 to assist with the development and implementation of various programs and services that will be executed from the Department of Campus Inclusion and Community. This group of 22 dedicated student leaders representing every academic school reflects the richness and depth of diversity that exists within the Northwestern student body.
Graduate Intern
Brianna Davis
- Major: Higher Education Administration & Policy
- Academic Status: First-Year Master's Student
- Hometown: Lee's Summit, Missouri
Brianna joined the task force because she had heard about campus climate issues, particularly surrounding inclusion of community members of underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds, and wanted to get involved hands on with educating the NU community helping to create an environment at NU where all people feel welcome. Also, her research interests lie the area of social interactions in the undergraduate community and how those impact campus climate and and she knew that getting involved in the task force would provide her first hand experiences with better understanding of the NU undergraduate community.
Dialogue Program
Austin Romero
Austin wanted to join the task force because he was inspired by the passion that many of the students last year showed when events of racial and cultural insensitivity struck the campus. Each one of the students showed that students can and will make a difference in the way that our university includes and recognizes diversity. He saw the task force as a chance to continue what his peers had started as well as a chance for him to help make a positive impact in the community.
Jazzy Johnson
- Major: Communication Studies
- Academic Status: Senior, School of Communication
- Hometown: North Richland Hills, Texas
Jazzy joined the Inclusion Task Force because, as a senior, she is committed to making an impact and leaving Northwestern better than she found it. She has a passion for constructing environments that allow people to be their most authentic selves and that takes a lot of hard work, dedication, knowledge and sacrifice, but it's worth it! Jazzy joined the task force for all of her peers now and for those who will come after her to have the best possible experience at NU.
Kaitlyn Chriswell
- Major: Double major in Political Science and Spanish
- Academic Status: Junior, Weinberg
- Hometown: Clarence, New York
Kaitlyn has a special interest in the areas of immigration and national security. She is from Clarence Center, New York, which is a small, rural town just north of Buffalo and south of Niagara Falls. This task force is important to her because there is the opportunity to make a real difference at Northwestern. Ultimately, she wants our campus to become a more open and inclusive space for all of us. It's important to recognize that this is an active process, and she is so glad to be a part of this change.
Noor-Ul-Ain Hasan
- Major: Double major Creative Writing Poetry sequence and Legal Studies, with a pre-law focus
- Academic Status: Junior, Weinberg
Noor is involved in various multicultural groups like McSA and Brown Sugar A Cappella as well as larger student organizations like Associated Student Government and Northwestern University Dance Marathon, she believes that while the Northwestern student body is intellectual and engaged, there is much more to be done in regards to inclusion at this university. She serves on the Associated Student Government's Diversity and Inclusion Committee which has given her the insight to get involved in Dr. Lesley-Ann Brown's Task Force.
Sarah Watson
- Major: Social Policy
- Academic Status: Sophomore, SESP
- Hometown: Shoreview, Minnesota
Sarah wanted to be on the task force to support our new division in identifying the core problems regarding diversity and inclusion on our campus and implementing new strategies to fix them.
Education and Training
Jeremy Woo
- Major: Journalism, Medill
- Academic Status: Sophomore
- Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Jeremy joined the task force to be part of progress on campus, to effect positive change and create a more inclusive Northwestern.
Lauren Cervantes
- Major: Journalism Social Policy
- Academic Status: Sophomore
- Hometown: Naperville, Illinois
Lauren wanted to be on the task force because she is interested in helping resolve diversity issues on campus. Her background working with the minority community through Alianza (Northwestern's Hispanic/Latino Student Alliance) as well as through her connections with other parts of the Northwestern community through Associated Student Government. She has witnessed first hand how members of the Northwestern community have not felt included. Through her work with the task force, she hopes to help create a more inclusive student body.
Mallory Mattimore-Malan
- Major: Social Policy
- Academic Status: Senior, School of Education and Social Policy
- Hometown: Springfield, Illinois
Mallory wanted to be a part of this task force because of her love of Northwestern and is proud to go to this school, except when the issue of diversity comes up. Although she will not be around here much longer, she wanted to leave the school in a better place, so that future students can be proud of Northwestern in its entirety.
Sofia Sami
- Major: Biological Sciences and Middle East Studies double major along with a Global Health minor
- Academic Status: Junior
- Hometown: Carbondale, Illinois
Sofia in the past two years through her involvement with student groups on campus has seen the importance of diversity and student interaction at Northwestern. Sofia sees diversity as a key component of examining issues in the classroom as well as a key component in building a community on campus that can serve students well beyond their time at Northwestern. In the years to come she hopes to bring related issues and efforts as a priority to student life at NU through the Task-Force and a number of other groups.
Zoe Goodman
- Major: Social Policy
- Academic Status: Senior, School of Education and Social Policy
- Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Zoe Goodman is a senior Social Policy major in the School of Education and Social Policy from Boulder, Colorado, originally, but relocated to Evanston with my family in high school. She is a proud Wildcat of the class of '09. At Northwestern, she has been a member of FMO, SASA, Alternative Student Breaks, Dance Marathon, and the Varsity Spirit Squad for over four years. She is really excited to be serving on this task force because it's an incredible opportunity to give back to the NU community, and especially the multicultural community at NU, that has given so much to her during her time at NU.
Marketing
Courtney Marcusson
- Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Academic Status: School of Communication, 2015
- Hometown: Lake Forest, IL
Courtney wanted to be on the Task Force, because she feels that inclusion is an important issue on this campus that needs to be improved.
Hayley Stevens
- Major: English/Media Studies/Latino-a Studies
- Hometown: Randolph, New Jersey
Hayley has spent nearly her entire four years working within various aspects of the multicultural community and loves working to better all of our incredible communities. Her goal is help make every NU student comfortable on campus. Hayley currently serves as the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion in ASG and serves on various committees including the University Diversity Council and was formerly the President of Alianza. She is very excited to be a part of this task force and is hopeful that it can enact some change at Northwestern.
Ian Coley
- Major: Mathematics and Classics
- Academic Status: Senior
- Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Ian Coley is a senior majoring in Mathematics and Classics from Cincinnati, Ohio, planning on pursuing a doctorate in Mathematics after graduating. His involvement with the Inclusion Task Force stems from a desire to appeal to the silent majority of students who are hampered from joining the discussion by fear or so-called political correctness and to expand his own world view in the process.
Nikita Ramanujam
- Major: French Horn performance & Economics; Bienen School of Music
- Academic Status: Sophomore
- Hometown: Fremont, California
Nikita joined the Task Force to raise awareness about the different students and groups on campus and how they are all essential in creating One Northwestern.
Stephen Piotrkowski
- Major: Journalism, Economics, Integrated Marketing Communications Certificate
- Academic Status: Sophomore, Medill School of Journalism
Stephen feels extremely proud to be a member of the Northwestern community, and as a member, feels the need to be a contributor. The Inclusion Task Force will allow him to contribute in a way that will make everyone at Northwestern feel as proud to attend this university as he is. He feels there is an unbelievable amount of opportunity to improve and take part in the conversation about Inclusion and Diversity, and as a member of the task force, he cannot wait to bring the dialogue to all corners of campus and community life.
Operations
Brandon Staunton
- Major: Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
- Academic Status: Sophomore, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
- Hometown: Erie, Michigan
Brandon comes from the extremely small town of Erie, Michigan, which is about 1/5th the size of Northwestern. He wants to be on the task force to try to help people feel more welcome at our university.
Hanan Abdisubhan
Morgan Purrier
Elena Westbrook
- Major: Social Policy
- Academic Status: Junior
- Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Elena calls Chicago her hometown and hopes to return there to pursue work in public policy and government following graduate school. Elena’s interest in the inclusion task force arose from her education at Northwestern, curricular and extracurricular, regarding race-related issues.
Paul Jackson
