New UPUA president talks about her role advocating for students
Erin Boas (junior, international politics and economics), was recently elected president of the University Park Undergraduate Association.
Image: Courtesy of Erin Boas
New UPUA president talks about her role advocating for students
Katie Moats
May 04, 2021
Erin Boas, a junior in international politics and economics, felt a range of emotions after being elected University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) president in March.
“It was very humbling,” Boas said. “You get into these areas of learning about student needs. [With] the whole process of campaigning and trying to reach out to different students and trying to find different student needs, you gain a lot of responsibility and you feel that responsibility.”
It’s that time of the year again, folks. The University Park Undergraduate Association has a new president: rising senior Erin Boas.
Boas won the election uncontested with her running mate, rising junior Najee Rodriguez. She will kick off the organization’s 16th Assembly when UPUA returns virtually.
To learn more about Penn State’s next student body president, we virtually sat down with Boas.
Onward State: How and why did you first get involved with UPUA?
Erin Boas: I, like many freshmen, went to the involvement fair. I remember weaving through all the tables, and on the outskirts, UPUA had a table set up. As I was leaving, there was somebody shouting out from the UPUA table, “Do you want the chance to better at least one life of a fellow Penn Stater?,” and I thought that was a sign that I should listen.