Dealy is elected to student-trustee post

By John Wilson '98

Katie Dealy enjoys tackling the work that comes along with an elected post, but she's not a fan of campaigning. How, then, was she persuaded to run for the position of student-elected trustee?

There were her friends who urged her not to allow her broad-minded views on social justice to be absent from the race. And there was her mother, who reacted to her daughter's reluctance by saying, "That's a real girl response. Think how much good you could do!"

So Dealy finally resolved to enter the fray. When university officials announced the election results March 9, Dealy learned that she had defeated all nine of her opponents. She will begin her two-year term on the 42-member Cornell Board of Trustees July 1, replacing graduating senior Julie Chon and joining the other student-elected trustee, junior Stephen Rockwell.

A native of Pittsburgh, Dealy is a sophomore majoring in government with a concentration in women's studies. No stranger to campus governance, she currently is completing a term as an Arts and Sciences representative on the Student Assembly, in which she also serves as liaison to the provost and chair of the committee on multicultural issues.

Dealy said that as trustee she will work to promote diversity and improve the living and learning environment at Cornell. Attention to these areas is all the more imperative, she said, given the impending changes in campus housing policy.

"President Rawlings' housing plan has tremendous potential," Dealy said. "It's a fabulous idea to have all freshmen live on North Campus." But the plan must be implemented carefully, she cautioned, so as not to weaken the various program houses. The university should also devote more energy into strengthening ethnic studies programs and recruiting students and faculty from underrepresented groups, Dealy recommended.

But how will Dealy, who turns 20 this summer, make her voice heard among her fellow board members, many of whom hold high positions in business and government?

"There are advantages and disadvantages to being a student," she conceded. "People who haven't been students in a long time sometimes forget what it's like, and it's my role to remind them. But I'm not going to yell at them or attack them if they disagree with me, and I hope they will also respect my right to disagree."

In order to keep connected with her constituents, Dealy said she hopes to set up more "focus groups," or meetings at which students can discuss campus issues before the trustees take action on them. "I want to make sure that students feel their input has importance," she said.

Besides social issues, Dealy is interested in French and Francophone culture and is spending spring break on a study tour in Senegal. Her major "release," however, is ballet. She has been dancing ballet for more than a decade, studied at the Joffrey Ballet in New York during two summers and performed professionally with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. Most recently she appeared in the March dance concert at Cornell's Center for Theater Arts.

Dealy is not certain about what she wants to do after college, though she mentioned the Peace Corps or working for an international human rights agency as possibilities.

And what about future government service? "An appointed position would be great," she said, smiling. "But no more campaigns."