“I think right now at BC, we're at some sort of a crossroads coming out of the pandemic and moving into the University's future plans for what they want to do with this institution,” Benjamin said. “I’ve expressed my concerns about different things, and they’ve been met with positive feedback from [the] administration. So I’m really hoping to continue those relationships and continue to advocate for students at the highest level because it’s one thing to have a seat at the table, it’s another thing to be heard at the table. And that's really what I’m all about this year.” 

“A lot of people are on the margins for a lot of different reasons,” she said. “That could be [that] your sexual orientation is not societally accepted, or you’re lower income, or you battle with depression or anxiety, or you don't have the resources you need as an LGBTQ+ student. Those students need to be heard and served, and oftentimes, they are left underserved as the majority benefits.”

“I used to write things in a book and on a little piece of paper, but I would call them Chiemi fragments,” Schroffner said. “And I would kind of pull them out every so often like, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about this phrase, that could be a bridge somewhere. I have to figure out where it fits. Where does that concept fit?’”

“My biggest form of advocacy and social justice, I believe, is my skill of oratory,” she said. “That’s something I’m skilled in and something I take pride in, and I try my best to use my voice to bring light to, … [and] to amplify the experiences of people who look like me and don’t look like me.”

“We’ve always taught that there are just two ways to teach a religion,” he said. “One is to teach it objectively, … not attempting in any way to influence people’s lives or their values. The other is to teach it in such a way that people embrace it and become it. But there’s a middle ground between the objective teaching and the catechizing.”