By: Kathryn Ksiezak
Senior Anitzia Murillo plans to bring her experience as a peer LEADer to help fellow students as this year’s student trustee.
The 31-member board of trustees oversees the university’s overall direction and mission. Murillo was chosen anonymously to apply and then elected to represent students on the board for 2026-2027.
“I want to make sure students’ concerns, perspectives, experiences, and ideas are being heard at the university level.”
Murillo is a psychology major from the Southwest side of Chicago who came to the job after multiple leadership roles. She has been a teacher’s aide for research statistics and methods in psychology and has been a peer LEADer for two years in the office of Student Success and Engagement.
As a student trustee, she represents other undergraduate students and speaks during board meetings. Sarah Johnson explains that as the student trustee, Murillo has the same power as any board member. Johnson and other administrations, such as the associate vice president of student success & engagement, Dr. Gabe Lara interview applicants for the position. Along with the trustee board, Murillo is a representative for the mission and enrollment and student success boards.
The board brings together a wide variety of people, including Dominican faculty. Sister Marci Hermesdorf has been at Dominican for 46 years and has served the board for four years.
She said that during the meetings, members are presented with an agenda and discuss the institution collectively.
“We are in charge of making sure the mission continues,” Sister Marci said. “That any decisions we make about the university are mission driven and aligned with the mission.”
Dominican’s mission is, “As a Sinsinawa Dominican-sponsored institution, Dominican University prepares students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service, and to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world.”
Sister Marci hopes Murillo is invited to speak freely to contribute to that conversation to live the mission unconditionally.
Murillo said she also hopes to use her experience as a peer LEADer to hear students’ concerns, specifically those about enrollment, finance, and registration.
She prides herself on being able to hear students’ perspectives, which is similar to how Rawan Almoaiber views her job as Student Government Association (SGA) president.
Almoaiber explained that the president of SGA and student trustee work together because they represent and advocate for the student body. She hopes that they can continue to work together to better understand student concerns and work toward solutions together.
Murillo shares her strong feelings regarding the university,
“What I love most about Dominican is its sense of community. There is a feeling of belonging here, and I think that comes from the people, the relationships we build, and the opportunities we have to get involved.”
She strives to encourage students to try to be involved. You can succeed, but you must take initiative if you want it, go find it. She can form relationships with many higher ups at the university to achieve better, newer opportunities to emphasize the importance of community and living the Dominican mission.
Be the first to comment