HKS Student Government Candidates Vow Support For International Students at Debate

Kennedy School Student Government presidential candidates promised to strive for increased support for international students amid threats from the Trump administration at a Wednesday debate.

In advance of next Tuesday's vote, the three presidential candidates each pitched a crowd of around 50 students on how they would navigate concerns raised by Harvard’s extended conflict with the White House. The student body of HKS is 59 percent international, making the school especially vulnerable to recent attacks on visas by the Trump Administration.

Two of the three candidates, second-year Masters of Public Policy Jerwin Tiu and Harry Park, said HKS did not provide enough support for international students in the spring and committed to filling those gaps.

“I even felt the anxiety, the concerns regarding the international status, my visa status, but we couldn't get sufficient response from the school,” Park said. “We do not need to be consistently concerned of what would happen to our visas.”

If elected, Tiu said he would add workshops tailored to the international student experience, expand career pathways with the Center of International Development, and create a standing KSSG committee on international students.

Last year’s elections were dominated by internal drama — an eleventh-hour revelation that KSSG was mired in a $46,000 budget deficit. Though then-president Zubeir Merchant was credited on Wednesday for restoring some financial stability to KSSG, this year’s candidates did raise ongoing concerns about transparency and accountability.

Park called the KSSG decision-making process a “black box” and acknowledged that most students “don’t really know what the KSSG does.”

Tiu said that the KSSG deliberations were “hard to navigate” and even he didn’t know where to access meeting minutes from last year.

“These funds are directly coming from our students, and we should be transparent on how we're spending them and how we’re using it to best serve the students,” Tiu said.

Dianah Mukundwa, a mid-career Masters of Public Administration student, said she would focus on connecting students with one another and alumni if she was elected president by introducing a directory.

The presidential debate was preceded by brief remarks from each vice presidential candidate. (The KSSG elects 12 vice presidents, who are each responsible for managing a different area of student life.)

Ruhee Wadhwania, a second-year Masters in Public Policy student running for vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism, vowed to double down on diversity efforts even as the University distances itself from the flashpoint issue.

The Kennedy School quietly renamed its Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging last July, in line with a University-wide rebranding. The school is still searching for someone to head the newly coined Office of Belonging, Community, and Connection after the departure of ODIB Dean Robbin Chapman in June for unrelated personal reasons.

Wadhwania, who worked with ODIB last year, said she would take up the mantle.

“When diversity is under attack by the Trump administration, and this office I worked with no longer exists, this KSSG position is the only thing at the school with diversity in its name,” Wadhwania said.

“I’m running to continue the work I’ve been doing here, to formalize and fund immigration resources and to hold our administration accountable in supporting underrepresented students,” she added.

But other candidates refrained from criticizing HKS Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein, who in his first year on campus has largely received praise from students for being accessible and receptive.

Park, who said he met with HKS administration regularly while serving as a Cohort Community Representative, expressed optimism about the ability of KSSG to exert influence with administrators.

“The school actually listens,” Park said. “When we delivered something, they actually listened, and they tried to give us a response by our next meeting.”

And Tiu, who worked on a financial aid initiative with the dean’s office last year, said KSSG could take advantage of Weinstein’s willingness to engage with student feedback.

“KSSG, right now, has a very unique opportunity. Dean Weinstein is new. He's looking to reimagine HKS,” Tiu said. “Now is a good opportunity to question the fundamental experience of students.”

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.