KLAB Candidate Statements

Emilia Lacy

Hello! I’m Emilia (she/her) and I’m running for re-election as a KLAB Co-Chair Executive. For starters, I major in Poli Sci & Philosophy with a minor in Music. I play cello in BU’s biggest orchestra, I will have studied abroad thrice by the end of this academic year, and I’m a Trustee Scholar.

Next semester will mark my fifth on KLAB. I know the ins and outs of this board. From restocking the KHC toilet paper and Target snack runs, to compiling bus quotes and merch orders, I know the value of the mundane tasks without which we wouldn’t have our community-building events and initiatives. My drive early on in my time on KLAB opened up the breadth of my involvement to KHC strategic planning input, piloting class-specific social events, and integrating new ideas to make our staple events more awesome. I’ve been honored to collaborate and represent such a forward-thinking group of students and lucky to work with an administration so open hearing from us and experimenting how to best strengthen the college’s core values. From mass emails to agenda writing to budget configuring, all the way to meeting and hanging out with you all, I’m a leader motivated by enhancing KHC’s noble academic mission while creating the most well-rounded experience for us through transparency, creativity, and compassion. I have more I want to see happen through KLAB, too: more equitable compensation for Keystone research participants, streamlined Choose Your Own Adventure co-curricular attendance submission, and longer-term budget planning and optimization to make under-/upperclassmen events bigger and better.

I hope my passion for and belief in this board is clear, and I couldn’t ask for a stronger foundation to continue serving as Co-Chair. And please let me know your thoughts about anything I’ve mentioned at emilia@bu.edu. Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

Shriya Jonnalagadda

Hello! I’m Shriya Jonnalagadda, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to run for Co-chair on the Kilachand Leadership Advisory Board.

Over the past year, KLAB has been one of the most grounding and energizing parts of my Kilachand experience. Serving as the Co-Curricular Chair the last two semesters, I’ve had the chance to design and coordinate initiatives that directly strengthened our community: organizing free CPR training, facilitating sign-ups for our annual Red Sox event, running our dodgeball tournament, collaborating with the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library for an interactive co-curricular, and planning smaller moments of connection like our pumpkin-painting event.

These experiences shaped my understanding of what thoughtful leadership in Kilachand looks like: listening closely, executing clearly, and approaching every idea, big or small, with creativity (and humor!)

As Co-chair, my goal is to help build a KLAB that is forward-thinking, student-centered, and unafraid to try new approaches. I want to strengthen communication, elevate student perspectives, and support initiatives that genuinely improve the Kilachand experience: academically, socially, and collaboratively.

Kilachand is at its best when students feel connected, empowered, and part of something they can help shape. I’m committed to leading with that spirit in mind and to making our community even stronger in the year ahead.

Thank you for considering my candidacy. I’d be honored to serve as your Co-chair.

Alexia Nastasia

I’m Alexia and I would greatly appreciate your vote for KLAB! Vote for me so I can be an effective representative for you!

I am interested in serving as a KLAB representative because, as a member of a family of new immigrants from Eastern Europe to the United States, I believe that a vibrant community cannot be maintained without the joint efforts of its members, so I am committed to doing my share to contribute to the vibrancy of my academic home, Boston University and in particular of its Kilachand Honors College in which I am delighted to be part of. In the past two years, I have been both a Kilachand Ambassador and a Kilachand Mentor, engaging with prospective and incoming students and discussing with them about what our honors program has to offer.

I have the breadth of experience needed for being an effective KLAB representative. At Boston University, I’m pursuing a double major in International Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology as well as two minors in Urban Studies and Philosophy. For the school year 2025-2026 I am hired as the Communications Assistant for BU’s Institute of Culture, Religions, and World Affairs and a Sustainability Ambassador with BU Sustainability. I interned with the Spotlight team of The Boston Globe in summer 2025 and I studied abroad in Paris in spring 2025. During freshman year, I was a Student Senator and an editor for the International Relations Review. During sophomore year, I was a member of the CAS DEI Student Council, a Kilachand Ambassador and Mentor, and an editor for the Arche journal. During junior year, I have returned to the Student Senate, I continue as a Kilachand Ambassador and Mentor while also being an Experiential Learning Mentor, and I am an International Relations Review writer. Between 2023 and 2025, I spearheaded and led a collaborative research project pertaining to student experiences with environmental injustice and student perceptions on BU’s environmental justice efforts, with funding from BU’s Campus Climate Lab. In summer 2024, I pursued the project “Mapping Worldwide Youth-Driven Initiatives for Addressing the Climate Crisis: Best Practices, Values Informing Climate Action, and Environmental Justice,” with funding from BU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

If elected to serve on KLAB, I will jumpstart several initiatives aimed at further improving the academic and social experiences of Kilachand Honors College students. I will advocate for a Kilachand meet and greet at the beginning of the school year and a Kilachand party at the end of the school year, which will be meant to increase the cohesiveness and sense of belonging of honors cohorts. Moreover, I will propose an increased focus on activities related to the diversity of our community and to sustainability, more options for Kilachand activities on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, as well as a spring break option specifically dedicated to Kilachand students. I also plan to organize club presentations for Kilachand students to gain insight into available extracurriculars, as well as listening sessions with Kilachand students to assess satisfaction with existing programming, gather ideas on new activities, and ensure KLAB responds to the needs of students.

Thank you for your vote!

Kilee Simon

Hello, Kilachand family. My name is Kilee Simon, and I am a junior in KHC studying political science. I am seeking renomination for KLAB Junior Class Representative because student voices are essential to the growth and accountability of any educational institution. As your representative, my priority will be to advocate for your concerns and expectations to the Kilachand faculty, helping ensure our KHC experience is not only meaningful but also supportive and manageable.

One initiative I plan to advance this year is advocating for Kilachand Seminar courses to be recognized as 4-credit classes. The workload, intensity, and expectations of Seminars are equally, and often more, demanding than many of our core major courses. Because of this, our effort and performance in these classes should carry the same academic weight as any standard 4-credit course.

If you support this initiative and want a representative committed to amplifying student voices, I would be honored to earn your vote as Junior Class Representative and serve as your advocate in the rooms where the decisions are made. Vote for Kilee!

Lydia Palmer

I would like to join the Kilachand Leadership Advisory Board because I care deeply about bringing the ideas I hear from my peers to life and turning them into real, thoughtful improvements within Kilachand. My past experience in student government and event planning has shown me how meaningful it is when students are given the freedom and resources to shape their own community, and I truly appreciate Kilachand’s willingness to support creative, student-driven initiatives. I also value the spirit of collaboration among Kilachand leaders, who care deeply about this program and work with genuine passion. One idea I hope to introduce is better documentation of our shared memories. I would love to create a photo platform such as a SMUGMUG where a talented BU or Kilachand student photographer can capture our events throughout the year, building a stronger sense of community and preserving the moments that make Kilachand special. I also want to advocate for more opportunities that build technical literacy, including introductory workshops on coding, personal website creation, and emerging AI tools and agent building, along with expanded Kilachand alumni career-focused programming that helps students explore their future goals with confidence. Kilachand is a community I care about deeply, and I would be honored to help guide it in ways that are meaningful, creative, and supportive for all students.

Michael Demske

To my fellow Kilachand classmates – 

My name is Michael Demske, and I am running to be one of your class of 2027 representatives. I am a junior from Kent Island, Maryland, and am studying Health Science at Sargent.

To be completely honest, this is my third time running for KLAB, and my last chance to get elected. What makes this campaign different, you may ask? Let me tell you what I have been up to this past year.

Here are some new leadership roles I picked up last year:

• President – Club Baseball Team
• Brotherhood and Philanthropy Chair – Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
• Treasurer – Sargent Class of 2027

Here are some clubs and organizations I was a part of last year: 

• BU Pre-Health Club 
• Kilachand Peer Mentors 
• Daily Free Press

This is not a resume nor a humble brag, but a glimpse into the different insights I can bring to the KLAB meetings. I keep seeking election because Kilachand is an important part of my identity at BU. It’s where I met some of my best friends, took my favorite classes, and had my favorite professors. 

There are plenty of issues that need to be addressed, such as the high dropout rate among upperclassmen and the diversity of fields represented in co-curricular activities. I look forward to working alongside my fellow Kilachand classmates to keep improving what is already a great community.

Thank you for the support and vote for Michael Demske!

Miles Brown

Declan Lacey

Hello all!

My name is Declan Lacey, and I’d love to have the opportunity to represent our class on the Kilachand Leadership Advisory Board.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone for giving me the chance to represent our class this past year as KLAB treasurer. As you probably know, this year was filled with a lot of university-wide changes and uncertainty. I personally saw this through pushback on our funding for KLAB events and initiatives, though in the end we fortunately faced no adverse effects from these policies.

Despite this uncertainty, I believe we are currently going through some pretty exciting times. It is important to remember that KHC is still quite young—we’ve seen huge changes to our curriculum, faculty, and policies over the past couple of years. As students, we have the unique opportunity to direct and mold these changes, which is why the single most important thing I want to focus on as we position for the coming year is increasing student connection with the administration.

Without a solid means of hearing student concerns, we have no constructive path forward in creating events and guiding honors college policy. I want to address this by increasing the means of providing feedback and by creating a check-in system for students to use if they have any ideas or suggestions.

I also plan to continue to work on creating staple annual events that students can look forward to as they progress through KHC. Last year we were able to implement events for the sophomore and freshman classes, and I want to continue to adapt and strengthen these initiatives based on community input.

With regard to student life improvements, I will continue to push for a removal of the laundry service fee. Past efforts similar to this have been successful, and I believe we are close to being able to negotiate new facility contracts.

My passion for this position is rooted in the opportunity to advocate on behalf of our community and to see student ideas become real initiatives: if you have any questions, concerns, or recommendations, please feel free to reach out to me.

Thank you for your consideration!

Matthew Allen

Hello! I’m Matthew Allen.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to run as a 2028 representative for the Kilachand Leadership Advisory Board.

My friends can tell you that I’ve spent years working to build community and create welcoming, inclusive spaces wherever I am. I believe that offering safe, comfortable places for people to meet, connect, and try new things reflects one of Kilachand’s core values and that KLAB should continue to foster this spirit. As a representative, I hope to expand the range of events and opportunities that bring us together and strengthen our shared community.

I also believe that strong leadership, in KLAB and beyond, must be direct, engaged, and solution-oriented. Addressing challenges head-on, thinking creatively, and working persistently toward meaningful outcomes are essential to supporting and enhancing the incredible community we already have. Kilachand is shaped by its students, and I hope to help elevate their voices so we can continue improving our collective experience.

Thank you for your consideration. I would love to represent and serve you.

Tuvimanyu Gautam

I consider KLAB a platform to voice students’ opinions and to work for their welfare. Having been a part of my school prefectural board for seven years, I’m appreciative of the significant role that a student body like KLAB plays in shaping the opinion of the fellow students as well as the administrators, as also of the constant effort such leadership roles entail.

As the school Head Boy in my senior year, I relished undertaking the efforts needed first to build a cohesive team, and then constantly finding ways to keep it motivated to achieve goals. The experience gained from mentoring and organizing my fellow students for MUN in my middle school years came in handy. Beyond academics, I founded and led an environmental student volunteers-run not-for-profit based in Dubai that recycles electronic waste. It has molded me into a team player open to diverse perspectives and innovative solutions. I also run a community engagement not-for-profit with a school in Malawi. Exploring my various interests at BU student clubs has strengthened my belief in wanting to take up responsibilities with deeper involvement in student activities.

I eagerly look forward to bringing my skills and insights to KLAB. I hope to make meaningful contributions to its ongoing efforts and be a useful member of its inclusive environment.

Anas Farrag

Camila Ferrer Gomez

View Camila’s election video!

Hannah Gilchrest

View Hannah’s election video!

Ling Lu

View Ling’s election video!
Miada Abdalla

View Miada’s election video!
Natalie Moody

Hello, my name is Natalie Moody, and I’m running for class representative because I want to help create a class environment where everyone feels supported, informed, and represented. I value communication, fairness, and teamwork, and I’m committed to taking your ideas and concerns seriously. For example, I think we should have the ninth floor closed off to Kilachand students only during finals and midterm week. I think we should have ice machines and a sink on every floor. I also think we should host more available social events for all students and would love to hear some ideas about more things we can do. I am open to hearing more ideas about how you think we can improve our current Kilachand.