DEAL Senate student liaison
Brooke Musial ’21
Major: Anthropology
What inspired you to join the DEAL Senate as a student liaison?
“Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are extremely important to me on a personal level, and they also are the fields I am pursuing a career in. I feel that Wheaton should be a place where the humanity and dignity of every member of its community are honored. I want everyone not only to be recognized but also to be celebrated for who they truly are. I want them to have the opportunity to thrive, become their most authentic selves, and achieve their goals and dreams.”
What are your basic responsibilities and activities that you engage in for your role?
“My role is to facilitate communication between DEAL and students. We have recently been working to improve the way in which DEAL shares information with students and to increase the transparency of DEAL’s work. While my role is to serve as a connection between DEAL and students, I strongly believe that my ultimate responsibility is to the students. Their voices need to be heard, and I feel that if I am not adequately representing their opinions and concerns within DEAL, I am contributing to systemic inequality on Wheaton’s campus.”
What have you learned and what skills have you gained from the experience so far?
“Because I feel that I am ultimately accountable to students, I have been learning how to effectively and assertively advocate for them. There are times that I have felt resistance when advocating for students’ interests. The resistance that I have sometimes encountered has given me the opportunity to learn how to balance acknowledging DEAL’s work while also striving to improve that work in a way that benefits students. I have been able to develop skills around pushing back against resistance in a constructive way.”
Brooke Musial ’21 is an intergroup dialogue co-facilitator, an anthropology teaching assistant and a member of the Social Entrepreneurship Club.