Crystal Kayiza, Ithaca College

Crystal Kayiza is a senior documentary film studies major at Ithaca College. She serves as President of Ithaca College’s Student Government Association, is a Park Scholar at IC, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Crystal’s film “All that Remains” received a regional Emmy award for telling the story of one of Oklahoma’s last remaining all-black townships. Crystal continues to make films that address issues of injustice in the United States, and she intends to blend her skill and interest in media arts with a career in Civil Rights law.
-Thomas Rochon, President

Being civically involved is incredibly rewarding work. It has become my personal truth that creating change is not the work of an appointed few—everyone can play a role in improving their communities. It is important for me not to simply be a member of my community but an active participant who is involved in creating tangible change. Whether it’s producing media that engages various identities and narratives that oftentimes go unheard or participating in organizations that are forming solutions. I have only arrived in the position through the various civil servants and groups that took that time to help me realize my own potential. Oftentimes the media labels politically involved youth as subversive or radical, but to be radical, as Angela Davis describes, simply means grasping at the root. I firmly believe that America’s future belongs to those who are willing to dig.
-Crystal Kayiza