Hi, my name is Arwa Elmashae. I have lived in the city of Cleveland for almost 10 years, and I have been a student at Cleveland State University since the beginning of this semester. However, I feel I have been on this campus for a while because of the sense of belonging that Cleveland State University offers to their students. They welcome them with an open heart. I am also participating in a college student Redistricting Fellowship with Campus Vote Project, an organization that is empowering college students to have a voice in their state’s redistricting process.

About our campus, we are in downtown Cleveland. We have powerful partnerships like the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospital, and MetroHealth. This makes our campus a unique place for students who are interested in the medical field. We also are partnered with the Cleveland Browns and the Museum of Natural History. We have the Playhouse Square for our theatre majors, so they can have the opportunity to grow and apply their learning in a meaningful way. Our campus is also considered unique because of easy access to transportation. Cleveland State University offers the RTA bus ticket to all of its students, so it is easy for commuters and non-commuters to travel around the city and explore all that it has to offer.

At Cleveland State University, we have 14,433 students. 9,097 of these students are undergraduate, while 1,836 are graduate students. Our student population includes 65.1% white, 12.9% black, 7.9% Hispanic, and 14.1% complete our racially and ethnically diverse campus community. We consider ourselves a very diverse campus community because we have students who come from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds and religious identities. As a campus community, we strive for inclusion of everyone. We are encouraged to express our own opinions and views and let our voices be heard. We have over 100 different student organizations where students can find their own smaller communities at Cleveland State University. Our student organizations are like families for so many students.

While we are united as a campus community in terms of who we are as Vikings, our districts split us apart and make it challenging for our students to be civically engaged. At the moment, our campus community is split between State House districts 10 and 11. While most of our campus community is in State House district 10, the buildings between E 18th St., Carnegie Avenue, Cedar Avenue, the Innerbelt, and Prospect Ave. E, which are part of our campus community, are in State House district 11. In addition, 37.1% of the population between E 49th St., Luther Avenue, E 55th St., and Payne Avenue are students who live near Cleveland State University and should also be included as part of the same district as the rest of our campus community. We have been split up for 10 years as a district. However, we have managed to stay together and not let the line drive us apart. Today, I am advocating that the Ohio Redistricting Commission consider that our Community of Interest be drawn within one State House district instead of two. When we are split up, it is harder for us to advocate for our needs and have our representative meet those needs. It can also affect our safety and the accessibility of our community.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my request to unite the Cleveland State University community.