Rasheda Gilyard, a New Jersey native, is a sophomore double major in Political Science and French at Hampton University. She is Pre-law, with an emphasis in International Relations. Rasheda is the Vice President of the campus Political Science club, President of the Hampton University Speech and Debate team, Campus Coordinator for The Democracy Matters Institute, and a Student Area Coordinator for Amnesty International USA. She will be establishing a Model UN chapter on her campus for the coming year. She has been on both the National Dean’s List and her university’s Dean’s List and is a member of her university’s College. Rasheda studied French at Universite Laval in Quebec City, Canada and hopes to continue her language studies at l’Institut Sciences-Po in Paris, France. She plans to enroll in a joint program in International Relations and Law at Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University with career aspirations in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Chelsea Toy is a sophomore majoring in journalism and specializing in international studies at Ohio University. Born outside of Pittsburgh, PA, she grew up competing in professional rodeos as a barrel racer. Currently, Chelsea is the managing editor of The InterActivist, a Campus Progress funded publication. Through The InterActivist, she has traveled to Washington, DC, to report on the United for Peace and Justice march in January 2007, as well as to Selma, AL, to report on the 42nd Anniversary of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights’ march. Chelsea is also involved in organizing direct action campaigns for CODEPINK: Women for Peace in Athens, OH. This year, Chelsea plans to report from Malaysia on deforestation while on an environmental research trip with OU professors. After that, Chelsea will be interning in Cape Town, South Africa for the winter of 2008.

Chrissy Elles is a junior pursuing a double major in environmental studies and political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is passionate about stopping global warming, fighting apathy, and finding innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This past summer she interned for the Environmental & Energy Study Institute in Washington D.C., researching the economic benefits of investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency. As Campus Progress representative last year, Chrissy jumped right into action and hosted an event for the CP West Coast tour and later screened the documentary “When I Came Home” as part of the Iraq Film Project. She is also an officer for the UCSB Campus Democrats, and plays for the nationally ranked UCSB Women’s Water Polo team.

Hooman Hedayati is an Iranian immigrant, student, and political activist who founded Texas Students Against the Death Penalty in 2005 and the national organization, Students Against the Death Penalty in 2006. He has since been committed to activist campaigning for the abolition of capital punishment. Hooman was presented the "Youth Service Award" by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and "Student Action Award" by Campus Progress in 2007. He is also a board member of the Texas Moratorium Network and member of Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Hooman assumed responsibility for organizing the anti-death penalty alternative spring break. He recruited a record number of participants by inclusively using new media advertising outlets. Hooman’s media-savvy promotion of the alternative spring break attracted the attention of MTVu and NPR, which sent a camera crew to Austin to cover the alternative spring break activities.

Mark William Savage, originally from Albany, NY is a senior, majoring in sociology with a minor in political science, at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. He is an active member of Campus Progress as he is returning as a member of the Student Advisory Board. Through his involvement with Campus Progress, Mark has been an integral part in bringing events, speakers, and discussions to the campus. He organized two forums, entitled “Youth’s Role in the Media Today” and “Student Activism: From the 60’s to the Present”. He recently interned at the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center, where he helped promote cultural awareness and diversity through a multitude of events and leadership trainings. Mark was a team leader for the Alternative Spring Break which is affiliated with the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center. Mark is also the Tour and Artist Manager for Hip Hop Congress and their hip-hop group, Today’s News. This is Mark’s 3rd year involved with Campus Progress and he is looking forward to helping spread the progressive message even further.

Mary C. Smith is a first year graduate student studying Continental and Existential Philosophy at the University of Memphis. She is currently serving her second term as the national Feminist Issues Coordinator of the Young Democratic Socialists. Before graduating from the University of Central Arkansas, Mary co-founded two progressive organizations on campus; a chapter of VOX (Voices for Planned Parenthood) and a coalition building group known as the United Leftist Front, which annually hosts the Mid-South Conference of the Left. She has most recently been focused on activism related to reproductive freedom, gender/racial equality and building grassroots movements specifically in the South. Mary was proud to represent Campus Progress at the August 2007 United States Social Forum in Atlanta, GA, giving a workshop entitled "Radical as Reality: The Pragmatic Politics of the Student Left." This is her second year serving on the student Advisory Board.

Mitra Jalali is a senior at UW-Madison majoring in political science. In addition to serving on the Campus Progress Advisory Board, she interns in the office of Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton, works closely in events programming and community service with Wisconsin Union Directorate (UW-Madison’s student programming board), and waitresses at a Persian restaurant. After graduation, Mitra plans to attend law school, work in Washington, D.C., or enter the non-profit sector. In her spare time, Mitra likes to read, frequent coffee shops, and listen to Reggaeton and Bhangra music; her hidden talent is successfully eating copious amounts of food, and her favorite city is Minneapolis!

Perry W. Green, III is a senior at the University of Louisville, majoring in Pan-African studies. Perry is the former Chair of the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC) at the University of Louisville. Currently, Perry is a Program Assistant at the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville, Co-Chair of the Progressive Alliance of the University of Louisville (PAUL), and sits on numerous boards and is involved with a multitude of organizations throughout the campus and nationally. Perry is deeply passionate about social justice— particularly education reform, racial equality and the environment.

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza is a junior concentrating in government and public health at Harvard University. Areas of focus include reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. She has served as a Senior Editor of the Harvard International Review and as co-Director of Harvard Students for Choice, through which she helped to found a Boston pro-choice student network. She’s also completed a Radcliffe Research Fellowship Partnership on race and poverty in the Americas and is a member of the Harvard Advocates for Human Rights and the Institute of Politics Survey Group. In her off-campus life Rebecca is a Drum Major Institute for Public Policy Scholar and a returning member of the Young Women of Color Leadership Council of Advocates for Youth. She has interned with the Global Fund for Children and worked in the office of James Carville, where she has conducted research for a forthcoming book on the 2008 US presidential election. Her great loves are books, film, classic rock, crossword puzzles, travel, and iced tea.

Sarah Baird, an H.W. and Adelle Stodghill scholar, is a second-year student at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky with concentrations in anthropology, sociology and history. She currently serves as Membership Director and Interim Communications Director for College Democrats of Kentucky, Chair of the Kentucky Women’s Caucus, the Kentucky Representative for the CDA Women’s Caucus, and is a founding part of the newly formed CDA National Finance team. She is also a Bonner Scholar, Vice-President of CentrePeace, and is the Founder and the President of the currently-forming Centre-on-Women Project.

Stephanie Lee, a Kentucky native, is a fourth-year interdisciplinary studies student in the Western College Program at Miami University. She is interested in community-building and organizing, student movements, and participatory media and education. She has interned with The Field Museum in Chicago, as well as Chicago Indymedia, and recently returned from a field experience in Mongolia, where she worked on a participatory radio project, creating educational radio segments with Mongolian school children. Stephanie is writing her undergraduate thesis on democratic education, citing in particular the potential of student activism to reform and improve democracy from within the educational system. She is also an avid biker, film enthusiast, and enjoys book-binding, playing the guitar, harmonica, drums, and going to concerts. Stephanie keeps her own blog at Free Rad!cal Ritings.

Tim Fernholz is a senior at Georgetown University studying political science, theology, and Arabic. He has written for Campus Progress for over a year and has been a contributing writer since fall 2006. Fernholz is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Georgetown Voice, Georgetown’s liberal newsweekly since 1969, where he has won three Bunn journalism awards in feature writing, review, and commentary. Tim began writing for CampusProgress.org in the spring of 2006, when he pitched and reported several articles on Congress, including one on student loan legislation. His writing has also appeared in The New Republic, the Nation Online, and the Washington City Paper. He served as the finance director of a congressional campaign in 2006.

Tony C. Anderson, Senior, is a political philosophy major at Morehouse College located in Atlanta, GA. As the former Student Body Vice President, his current work focuses on building the Atlanta Coalition of Student Environmental groups among metro Atlanta institutions, including, Agnes Scott College, Clark-Atlanta U, Emory U, Georgia State U, Georgia Tech, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. This two-term member on the USSA Board of Directors has developed, with the assistance of the Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative and Campus Progress, "Let’s Raise a Million." This campaign is a policy-driven, community-based initiative connecting underrepresented communities with leading environmental and climate change organizations. Tony has an identical twin brother, and interned with Campus Progress in the summer of 2007.