Written by Emma Zellmer, vice chair
Hello students, alumni and supporters,
My name is Emma Zellmer and I am so excited to work with, represent and advocate for our over 65,000 current, past, and future students this year as the Vice Chair of Students United. I followed in the footsteps of my great grandma, grandfather, and parents in becoming a Maverick at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I am currently a Junior majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics with an emphasis on Political Science. I promise to work tirelessly until students are included in every university, system, state and federal decision being made to ensure that no students’ needs are left behind.
I started my journey in advocacy and Student Government my freshman year as a Residential Life Senator before having the honor to serve as the Speaker. I have been lucky to be a part of two great Student Senates which worked to keep student fees low, push for a more inclusive emergency grant for students and create a committee to focus on combatting the food and housing insecurity that many students face. My passion for working with and for students only increased during my first experience at Students United, the first advocacy conference. It was there that I realized the power of collective action and the importance of bringing student voices to the Legislature.
Outside of student advocacy, I have a passion for working on political campaigns and participating in and organizing collective action efforts. I have spent hundreds of hours as a field organizer, on-campus organizer and volunteer on competitive campaigns with a personal hope to increase voter turnouts in younger generations. My love for politics started during my high school speech and congressional debate career. I was fortunate enough to be able to compete at a state and national level, with competitors from across the country all passionate about pushing for positive change in our country.
Beyond politics, I enjoy spending time in the outdoors camping, hiking and being on the lake. It is a life goal of mine to learn how to surf, however that may have to wait until I am able to go and visit my family’s former international exchange student from Brazil. I hope to travel some day and stay with our first exchange student who is from São Paulo and our other 5 exchange students from other countries. I love to learn about and experience different cultures and cannot wait to work closely with our many International students!
I truly believe that we can all do better when we all work together to ensure that no student is left behind and that our voices can never go unheard.