'I hope to be a leader for students, to be a familiar face and just be my authentic self'

CMU has narrowed down and selected seven students that represent the core values of the school.   

These seven candidates will compete for the title of 2024 Gold Ambassador during the Rock Rally.

"I want to be remembered, at least for me, as someone who makes someone's day better, every day," said ambassador hopeful Carnell Poindexter. 

Jacelyn Hutchins

Jacelyn "Jacey" Hutchins is a senior from Albion who is majoring in Recreation and Event Management.  

She said being a Maroon Ambassador means representing CMU’s core values, such as being respectful, inclusive and compassionate, having integrity and displaying excellence.  

“I am just thankful to use this opportunity to represent the CMU student body and be someone people can look up to,” Hutchins said.  

Hutchins is involved in several activities and on-campus organizations such as the Association of Recreation and Event Professionals (AREP) and Program Board.  She also works as an event coordinator for the Office of Student Activities and Involvement (SAI) where she oversees planning committees for events such as Homecoming, Sibs and Kids Weekend and MainStage.    

“I hope to be a leader for students, to be a familiar face and just be my authentic self,” she said. “I feel I do have leadership qualities by demonstrating the core values and to be a voice for the students.”  

Hutchins said she is grateful to be nominated for this position and to be among other student leaders.  

“There is a really great candidate pool this year so I’m honored to be standing beside them," Hutchins said.  

Marlee Remenap  

Marlee Remenap is a senior from Grandville who is majoring in social work with interdisciplinary minors in education and leadership.

Remenap said being a Maroon Ambassador means being a bunch of different things, from a leader on campus to a passionate student.

“Some days a leader looks like advocating for students and raising your voice when needed,” Remenap said. “Other days a leader on campus looks like picking up trash in the University Center (UC).”  

Remenap said becoming Homecoming ambassador means just representing the University while encouraging other students to make a difference.  

“It's our job as Maroon Ambassadors to create that space for students, to create change on campus, within their communities and overall creating a better platform for students here,” she said.  

Remenap is the President of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority on campus and founder of Beyond a Body, CMU’s first and only eating disorder awareness and body neutrality student organization. She also runs the social media for the CMU Leadership Institute.  

Remenap is also a Leadership Advancement Scholar (LAS), a core staff member for Leadership Safari and a member of the Student Social Work Association.

She hopes she can be a role model for students, but mostly a friend and someone to lift other people up.  

“When I’m engaging with other people, I hope they leave the space feeling heard, seen, advocated for and loved,” Remenap said. “I hope that I can be a role model in a way that leaves them empowered (to) not only model me, but have the ability to empower others as well.”  

Mitchell Basham

Mitchell Basham is a junior from Lawton, Oklahoma, majoring in philosophy and political science.  

He said being a Maroon Ambassador means being recognized for hard work that aligns with the values of the University. 

“It means I’ve been doing great work and the students have also viewed me as an important person to the university and their culture as students,” Basham said.  

Basham is involved in many activities around campus such as Student Government Association (SGA), Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc, and serves as the president of the Multicultural Greek Council. He is also Multicultural Advancement and Cofer (MAC) Scholar.

Basham is also the lead training and diversity coordinator for the Undergraduate Admissions Office, a Community Council advisor for the original Towers, an IMPACT key team member, a dialogue facilitator at the Institute of Transformative Dialogue and a Writing Center consultant.

When asked about being a role model for students, Basham said he feels like an imposter.  

“It blows my mind … but everything I’ve done is because of personal passion and drive,” he said.  “I try to do what feels right in any given moment…and if people look up to me in that way, that's great.”  

Basham said he feels a bit nervous about becoming that role model, but grateful at the same time.  

“I think the thing to look up to is not the person, but more so the person’s choices: how they live their life, how they carry themselves and how they make peace with the world's chaos and craziness,” he said.  

Basham said he wants to thank Lena Kandah for being a support system for him, as well as the librarians who have helped him through his life.  

Tupac Holmes

Tupac Holmes is a senior from Chicago, majoring in information systems with a focus on cybersecurity.  

Holmes said being a Maroon Ambassador means having the ability to develop a personal connection with faculty and students.  

“It means developing our university furthermore and making a big impact with the opportunity that I’ve been given,” Holmes said.

Holmes said he connects with the university by being involved in organizations. He is the vice president of the Cybersecurity Club, president of the Boxing Club and a workshop coordinator for IMPACT.    

Holmes is also a member of Black Males Rock organization, a member of Elite Men at Central, a member of National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and help out at the Student Activities and Involvement (SAI) office.

Holmes said his position of being a leader or role model is to show that anybody can make it.  

“I’m just a regular person … there's nothing special,” Holmes said. “I leverage everything I have and use it to my advantage to build connections with people because you can’t make it to the end on your own and (I) want to show that if I can do it, everybody else can.”

Lucia Dominguez

Lucia Dominguez is a junior from Davisburg, double majoring in electrical and computer engineering with a minor in math.

“For me, college is the time to try out so many new things and to use it as a platform to accomplish your goals and explore your passions,” Dominguez wrote in an email. “As I reflect on my time at college, I am so happy that I was able to do just that and to share that with the new generations as they start their own journeys."

Dominguez is the President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Chair of Justice, Equity and Inclusion for the Alternative Breaks program. She is also a member of the Empowered Latino Union (ELU) and Ballet Folklorico de la Luz.

“For me, being a maroon ambassador ... is proof that I made an impact on the people around me, including those of my own community and the communities I have connected with," Dominguez wrote. "I hope that I can share that story with more students and have them truly use college as a time to grow and develop into incredible and passionate leaders."

Aaliyah Howard 

Aaliyah Howard is a senior who lives in Detroit. She’s majoring in sociology with a concentration in social and criminal justice. 

She said she felt honored to be selected as an ambassador.

“I feel like it's a way of really acknowledging what I do on campus,” Howard said. “A lot of people have told me I deserve this because all my involvements sort of wrap into the Maroon Ambassador role.”

Howard is the president of Black Girls Rock and the Treasurer of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Incorporated. She also serves as a campus ambassador for undergraduate admissions, an intern at the office of diversity, equity and inclusion and a Newman Civic Fellow.

“It's important for me to represent my school, especially with me being a student of color, a Black woman, in a predominantly white institution," Howard said. "I want to be a role model for other individuals who look like me so then they know that when I’ve graduated they can achieve the same things I did.”

Carnell Poindexter III

Poindexter is a junior who lives in West Bloomfield, and who is majoring in economics with a minor in public law.

“(Being Maroon Ambassador means) presenting myself in every community I’m a part of and making Central Michigan a home, not just a school,” he said. “Whoever you are, whether you’re staff member, student or alum, making this place a comfortable place for you.”

He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, the National Black Law Association (NBLSA). Poindexter is also an IMPACT student mentor and has been involved in numerous DEI efforts on campus, such as being a member of Central Michigan Life's DEI advisory board, being on the planning committee for Martin Luther King Jr. week and leading student protests after the racial slur incident on campus in May.

Poindexter said he is excited to meet and stand alongside the other Maroon Ambassadors. 

“It’s an honor to be in their presence, they’re really great people,” he said.