Talia Davood is an Iranian, first generation American, undergraduate student at UCLA and an elected USAC General Representative. This past year she has shown up with tremendous courage, clarity, and sheer resilience. In April, Talia organized an event where former Hamas held hostage Omer Shemtov came to share his story of captivity, an event attended by hundreds of people. While the event was taking place, a condemnation letter from a fellow student council member was published, framing the event as insensitive to the Palestinian cause, and questioning the security presence that was there to protect over 350 attendees, security that any event of that size is fully eligible.

Talia responded with her own letter, one that she read aloud at a subsequent student council meeting that was direct, rational, and completely dismantled every allegation. Talia doesn’t just push back, she’s pushes toward. She is doing the work to build real bridges across faith communities, finding common ground with students who want to move forward together, even amidst deep divides.

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