Student ExComm Coordinators and Ambassadors Continue Public Service into the Summer

Public service does not end with the academic year–at least, not for multiple coordinators on Dwight Hall’s Student Executive Committee. Elected by Dwight Hall’s Student Cabinet, the Student Executive Committee (ExComm) is made up of typically sixteen coordinators or ambassadors who support Dwight Hall as a nonprofit institution. While ExComm does not formally convene outside of the fall and spring semesters, many coordinators are spending their summers in public service-related or inspired fields. In particular, three coordinators and ambassadors–Ray Jin ’25, ExComm Senior Co-Coordinator Carlos Brown ’23, and Yusuf Rasheed ’25–are taking part in such opportunities. Hear from them below: 

Ray Jin ’25

What are you doing this summer?  

I am interning at the City of New Haven Department of Economic Development as a Yale President’s Public Service Fellow. I help use $125 million in American Rescue Plan funding to implement COVID-recovery programs. I help attract and retain quality investment in both the public and private sectors, develop local jobs and businesses, revitalize New Haven’s neighborhoods, and improve New Haven’s global competitiveness as an exciting and fulfilling hometown. 

How has your role on ExComm influenced or inspired your work? 

As an Outreach Ambassador on ExComm, I wanted to better understand the landscape of New Haven nonprofits and businesses. By working in the Economic Development Administration, I have acquired a better understanding of how city government functions and how the City can help New Haven nonprofits and businesses thrive. I also feel that I now have a deeper connection with the City and its residents. New Haven is becoming “home.” 

Carlos Brown ’23

What are you doing this summer?

This summer, I am interning for Senator Mark Warner of Virginia on Capitol Hill. As a Virginian, it has been an honor to work in his office and further its mission to serve and represent the people of this state. 

How has your role on ExComm influenced or inspired your work?

As a student, it’s been inspiring to see the concepts that I’ve studied and policies I’ve explored be incorporated into real life. Working in the federal government right now is far from easy, but I have already learned so much from this incredible experience. 

Yusuf Rasheed ’25

What are you doing this summer? 

One of the most fun things I did this summer was an EMT course. Usually, EMT courses are like any general class you would take, but this was like a mini college where I got to go there and live with everyone. That fostered some special experiences and moments that I do not think would have happened otherwise. The second unique characteristic of this EMT course was that it combined wilderness medicine and urban medicine. Now that I have taken and passed my exam, I would like to work as an EMT. Additionally, I am also working in a doctor’s office in the Bay Area where I help out by checking in patients and taking their vital signs. 

How has your role on ExComm influenced or inspired your work?

At Dwight Hall, I am one of three Membership Coordinators. On the surface, EMT work and handling member groups do not have much in common. However, the commonality is in the whole idea of Dwight Hall’s mission of being a center of public service and social justice. I think EMT falls in that category, seeing as we are doing a really important public service for people who may die if no one comes to their aid. We are the first responders. In that sense, being an EMT embodies a special aspect of public service. 

The EMT course also reminded me of how important soft skills are when doing anything public service-related. It is really easy to get caught up in the technical side of the work you are doing. Yet the most meaningful and impactful aspects of that course for me were when I was acting as a patient for an exercise. When the people that were acting as rescuers genuinely embodied that spirit of being kind and wanted to provide that public service and empathy to whoever they were taking care of, that is what made me feel the most fulfilled.