ASOC Presidential Convocation Speech
August 25, 2025
Good morning! My name is Trisha Bhima, President of the Associated Students of Occidental College and I am so excited to welcome you all to the start of a new academic year. For our returning students, welcome back! And for those of you who are new to Oxy, welcome to our community.
Convocation marks the beginning of a new academic year. It’s a moment of excitement and possibility. But I want to take this opportunity to reflect on what it means to be a college student right now—in America, in 2025. Because this is not a normal time.
We are living in a moment where higher education itself is being questioned and attacked. We are watching funding for research shrink, attacks on science and data grow louder, and even efforts to dismantle the Department of Education altogether. Diversity, equity, and inclusion—values that many of us hold at the core of who we are—are being stripped away in statehouses and boardrooms. And for many of us who are immigrants, or children of immigrants (including myself), the message feels clear: you do not belong.
But here’s the truth. We do belong. And our voices as students, scholars, and members of this community matter more now than ever.
Historically, college students have always been at the center of change. From the civil rights movement to the anti-war movement, from protests against apartheid to climate justice, students have shown again and again that we are not just learners of history but makers of history.
That tradition is ours to carry forward. Because if we want a future where knowledge is valued, where science guides policy, where all our communities are protected, and where equity is not just a slogan but a practice, then we cannot be passive. We must be active participants in shaping our communities.
Being active doesn’t just mean running for office or leading a march...It means paying attention. It means showing up. It means engaging with people whose experiences are different from yours, and listening deeply. It means using the resources you have here—your professors, your peers, this city of Los Angeles—to learn how to think critically, how to argue with evidence, and how to imagine something better.
Here at Oxy, that legacy runs deep. The Obama steps, where former president Barack Obama delivered his first public speech calling for our school to divest from apartheid in South Africa, is a testament: ideas born here carry an impact far beyond our campus walls.
Being active doesn’t just mean running for office or leading a march, although some of you will. It means paying attention. It means showing up. It means engaging with people whose experiences are different from yours, and listening deeply. It means using the resources you have here—your professors, your peers, this city of Los Angeles—to learn how to think critically, how to argue with evidence, and how to imagine something better.
It also means remembering that change does not only happen “out there.” It happens in the choices we make daily: in our classrooms, in our clubs, in the way we show up for one another on this campus. Community is not abstract. It is built in the everyday moments where we decide to care.
While I was trying to write this speech, I came across Michelle Obama’s 2016 commencement address in New York. She said, “Here in America, we don’t let our differences tear us apart. Not here. Because we know that our greatness comes when we appreciate each other’s strengths, when we learn from each other, when we lean on each other.” Those words are just as true today.
In times like these, it can be tempting to shut down, to retreat to cynicism and to say “the problems are just too big.” But I want to remind you that courage is not about never feeling afraid, but it’s about acting anyway. And college is one of the rare spaces where you get to practice that courage over and over again.
So as you begin this year, ask yourself, What kind of person do I want to be? What kind of world do I want to help create? Then take one step toward that answer every day.
Remember you are not just students at Occidental College. You are inheritors of a legacy of activism, inquiry and community. You are part of something bigger than yourselves. Your voice and your presence, they matter.
Let us begin this year not only as learners but as builders and as leaders committed to justice, knowledge, and to each other.
Welcome to the new academic year and let’s make this moment count.
