Ruth Thompson of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a junior double-majoring in Social Thought and Political Economy (STPEC) & Women’s Studies. She is a Resident Assistant in the Van Meter/Butterfield Cluster, she is a member of the Haitian American Student Association (HASA), Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated, the ALANA (African, Latin@, Asian / Pacific Islander, Native American) Caucus, and she is an Educator Advocate for the Everywoman’s Center.
Ruth has served as a highly active senator in the Student Government Association for the past two years, representing the Central Living Area. Last year, she served on the SGA Ways and Means Committee, which allocates 1.3 million dollars to various Registered Student Organizations and student agencies. Ruth was elected to serve as the chairwoman of Ways and Means for 2006-2007, and she also served on the SGA Finance Committee.
Ruth has worked to increase the accessibility of the UMass Amherst campus since she was a freshman. She has worked with the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black and other Minority Students (CCEBMS) since her freshman year, she was coordinator for Take Back the Night and the Everywoman’s Center Vigil, and she is one of the creators and founding interns of Student Bridges, a new student-funded and student-initiated advocacy agency that connects UMass students and student organizations with local youth groups, organizations and schools in order to enrich the UMass campus and to increase access to higher education for underrepresented students.