When arriving at Cornell’s campus, I knew I wanted to join many student organizations. However, after hearing that Cornell had over 1,500 student organizations, I realized that choosing only a few clubs would be difficult.

At ClubFest, I remember putting my email on as many club sign-ups as possible—I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any opportunities. Sorting through the club emails a day later, a particular one caught my eye: CUDAA. Their email invited me to attend their upcoming meeting and consider applying for membership. Now, I’ve been a CUDAA member for nearly eight months.

What is CUDAA?

CUDAA, or Cornell University Diversity Admissions Ambassadors, is a student-led organization that works to support prospective and admitted students from underrepresented communities. We do so by sharing our own lived-in Cornell student experiences. Realistically, how can you be expected to decide what the next four years of your life will be like based on one visit or one virtual session? CUDAA ambassadors strive to share their student life experiences with future Cornellians, and with a mission focused on inclusion, our team continues to make an impact.

What is CUDAA’s impact?

It’s so easy to paint a perfect picture of Cornell—wonderful professors, an astounding number of majors, and endless career opportunities that come with being a Cornell student. But every university should strive to be accessible to every applicant from all backgrounds. CUDAA hosts events that address the processes of financial aid, the experiences of first-generation students, how academics and advising work, living in Ithaca itself (how does one even dress for Ithaca winters?), and so much more. By doing so, we aim to present a realistic view of the challenges and opportunities underrepresented groups may find themselves working with as Cornell students.

Why I became a member

As you may have inferred, one of the benefits of Cornell’s plethora of clubs is that you can sign up or even become a member and decide not to participate if it doesn’t fit your personal interests or support your academic growth. So you may be wondering: What about CUDAA persuaded me to become a member? Outside of my passion for advocating for more inclusive representation, especially in higher education institutions, the environment of CUDAA was unlike any other club I had tried.

From the first meeting, CUDAA felt like a community. It’s a place where we acknowledge that our lives as Cornell students are not linear, and we discuss the common challenges that we face. We celebrate each other’s successes and relate to each other’s failures. To me, CUDAA has been an inclusive community while intending to make more inclusive communities.