My name is Emily Milton and I am running to be your At-Large Representative!

I’m from Alexandria, Virginia, and am a Political Science and Criminology double major, with a minor in History. I have previously served in the 18th Assembly of UPUA in the First-Year Council (FYC), the Strategic Planning Board as the First Year Representative, and the first year of UPUA Benefitting THON as the First Year THON Chair. In the 19th Assembly, I was publicly elected as an At-Large Representative, internally elected at the Association of Big 10 Students (ABTS) Liaison, and served on the Campus Operations, Academic Affairs, and Student Life Committees.

Policy and advocacy have always been priorities of mine and are topics I strive to learn more about. In high school, I served for two terms as one of two student representatives for Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) School Board. This meant going to city-wide events, associated meetings, and advocating to the 9 School Board members what was best for the ~16,000 students that we served. I also was appointed an editor of my high school newspaper (Theogony) where I learned a lot about how to properly gauge student interest and input, as well as share information. I was also the youngest member in Virginia of the Community Services Advisory Board, where we determined how to better serve the mental health community in Alexandria.

Through my experience working as the UPUA ABTS liaison, I have gained insight into student-led advocacy at the highest levels. Attending the conferences where I can hear from other Big 10 schools what they are prioritizing, what they are struggling with, and what we as Penn State could implement, has been an amazing asset to our internal policy work. Some of the pieces of legislation I am most proud of from the 19th Assembly are the Light Up The Night Bill, the Water Filling Station Initiative, and coordinating Mental Health and Wellness Week. In these 3 pieces of legislation I worked to pass out free bike lights to students to comply with State College laws, to discuss with the Office of the Physical Plant (OPP) how we can fix the perceptions surrounding the Water filling stations on campus, and tabling for one whole week to promote mental health resources to students.

With my previous work on mental health services in my hometown, and the work I have done in the Student Life committee, my goals for the 20th Assembly surround this topic. After hearing what other Big 10 schools are doing, I want to improve access to mental health training services, and improve access to services for our most vulnerable. The dorms and Residence Assistants are an underrated source of support and can be utilized to make the transition easier for our freshman students.

I’m excited to continue learning and growing in my policy-making and advocacy skills, and I hope on April 2nd you will vote Emily for At-Large!