Rahul Gorawara, a third-year Engineering student and a first-year Batten student, was selected Friday as the next nonvoting student member of the University Board of Visitors.
Gorawara’s term will begin at the conclusion of the Board’s April 2009 meeting, Board Rector Heywood Fralin said. Gorawara was selected from among a pool of about 30 applicants, comprised of both graduates and undergraduates, Fralin added.
After reviewing all applications, a committee of students and administrative officials selected 14 students for interviews. Of these 14, six semifinalists were reviewed by a separate executive committee, Fralin said.
All six received positive reviews from the executive committee.
“You [could] close your eyes and point and not come up with a wrong choice,” committee and Board member Alan Diamonstein said. “I know that all of them were a lot brighter and more involved than I remember anybody being when I was a student at U.Va.”
The executive committee eventually made its recommendation to the Board, though, which finally approved the selection of Gorawara, Fralin said. Gorawara is currently pursuing an undergraduate triple major in computer engineering, electrical engineering and economics, as well as a master’s in public policy. Additionally, Gorawara is both a Jefferson and a Rodman scholar, Fralin said.
Pat Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, said Gorawara stood out because he “brought an energy to his interview.”
She added that she believes Gorawara is “in touch with students as a [Resident Adviser].”
Gorawara said his role as a resident adviser has helped him “get a good sense of how [students] view their role in the University community” — a perspective he said he believes will be helpful when considering the Board’s decisions.
As the next student member, Gorawara said he hopes to bring two priorities to the Board to consider during the coming year. The first is the University’s affordability and accessibility in the current global crisis and the second is academic development.
Gorawara said he believes the University should “make sure we offer classes that provide perspective and skills to allow [students] to better understand and compete in the global economy.”
He also said he expects to play an active role as student member, whose job he sees as twofold: to “voice student opinions to the Board, and relay the Board’s priorities and thoughts to the student body.”
The student member plays an important role because he or she sees the student body from a different perspective than the Board, Gorawara noted.
He has also been involved in several activities such as the McIntire Investment Institute, the Virginia Policy Review, Future Business Leaders of America and the Indian Student Association.
Gorawara’s extensive exposure to several student groups makes him “well prepared to represent the student body and relay information back to the student body,” he said. “I want to give back to future students [and] make sure that their experience at U.Va. is even more enjoyable than mine has been.”
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