Jiya Patel Elected as 2026 Transfer Student-at-Large

Tess Kujawa ‘29

Credit: Jiya Patel ‘29

In the Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) fall Student Senate General Election, second-year Jiya Patel won the seat for Transfer Student-at-Large. A transfer student herself from Texas A&M, Patel is hoping to better the transferring process for everyone involved. Patel has first-hand experience with some of the challenges a transfer student could face, as she had delays with some of her credits from Texas A&M, which pushed her graduation date to Dec. of 2029. After discussing with the admissions team, Patel may have to take summer classes in her home state to graduate on time, as she plans on applying to law school. “I don’t think that’s something we should have to do, especially if we’ve already been in college for a full year. Why aren’t all of our credits transferring over? To delay my graduation is kind of insane, especially as I was taking 18 credits at A&M,” Patel said. “So that’s something I wanted to work with them on, and that’s a big goal of mine as Transfer Student-at-Large.”

Other issues Patel wants to help combat include the difficulty transfer students can have integrating with their class year, making sure transfer students as a whole are not overlooked in the Student Senate, and broadening the peer tutoring program on campus. “I’ve noticed that a lot of the tutoring services at the school are geared around the STEM classes, but I think the other classes also need help,” Patel commented. “I’m in Latin, and my Latin professor had to jump through a lot of hurdles to get peer tutoring set up for us.”

Patel’s Latin professor, Doctor Emily Anhalt, is also her don and has been meeting with Patel through her first semester at Sarah Lawrence. Anhalt explained, “I'm just beginning to get to know Jiya as my donnee and a student in my Beginning Latin course, but Jiya impresses me as dedicated, hard-working, friendly, thoughtful, and eager to benefit from and contribute to the SLC community.” One way Patel is benefiting from the SLC community is the time spent at the Barbara Walters Campus Center, either getting food with or chatting with other students. “Everything’s so busy right now, and that’s become a really nice way for me to unwind in between classes,” Patel said. 

Aside from sitting in the Barb, outside of classes and the Student Senate, Patel also enjoys watercolor and acrylic painting, reading dystopian novels, playing pickleball, and dancing. “I painted a lot of the artwork hung up in our dorm and in my house, but I’m a lot better at acrylic than I am at watercolor,” Patel mentioned. “I also danced for a really long time, so I’m excited to dance here.” Patel’s roommate, first-year Lola Berchem, sees how Patel lives every day and is confident her qualities as a roommate will translate well into her position on the Student Senate. “She is very organized and loves keeping everything clean and tidy, which makes our space feel comfortable and welcoming. She is also very considerate and always thinks about the people around her,” Berchem said. “Jiya is also such a caring and generous person. She is always willing to share her things and is someone you can easily talk to about anything.” 

Berchem is sure that Patel will be a good representative of SLC students and that her previous experiences in student organizations, including being on the Operations Committee of the Texas A&M Student Senate, have prepared her to be SLC’s Transfer Student-at-Large. “She is responsible, thoughtful, and genuinely committed to everything she takes on,” Berchem said. “Her past experiences have strengthened her ability to communicate effectively, take initiative, and work with others to accomplish shared goals.” 

If a student, transfer or not, has a concern that the Student Senate can tackle, Patel encourages them to contact her through email jpatel@gm.slc.edu, her voting Instagram page @vote.jiya, or just approaching her in person. Patel concludes, “Whatever they’d like to see, or whatever ideas they have, they can tell me, and I can move through the process of getting things passed.”