The Cornish Student Senate (CSS), composed of elected officials and the entire student body, is the governing body that advocates on behalf of all Cornish students. Through transparency, integrity, authenticity, and inclusivity, this group works directly with Cornish Leadership to ensure that Cornish is an enriching environment for all students.

We recently spoke with Fredy-Andrés Pesante Castro, CSS Chair (Music ‘25), Moriah Pechaček, Faculty Senate Liaison (Performance Production ’25), and Quinton Kuhn, Representative (Music ‘26) to discuss their roles within CSS and how the Student Senate impacts the day-to-day life of current students. We also discussed how students can get involved and make their voices heard.

Pictured (left to right): Quinton Kyhn, Moriah Pechaček, Fredy-Andrés Pesante Castro

What inspired you to join the CSS, and how has this experience shaped your journey at Cornish College?

Fredy-Andrés: There’s not only one thing, but I love helping people, and that’s been my main motivation in most of my life. When I got here, through the very moment that I arrived, I was helped by many others. And, through the Student Senate and first-year application, I saw an opportunity to give back to the community that had helped me so much in such a short time. I went to Kerry Hall and was interviewed by our advisor, Kaitlyn Vallance, and had a really wonderful conversation that I remember fondly. I was then selected for the position of First-Year Representative. Over the last four years, through my work advocating for students and my fellow artists, I have become a musician that values making others sound better— uplifting them through my music and my sound more than valuing how it can help me. Of course, I still have to worry about how things affect me, but what comes first is helping others and getting them through whatever they need. That’s where I find my motivation as an artist through the Student Senate.

CSS recently visited Washington’s capital, Olympia. What were the goals of this visit, and how is the Senate applying what was learned to its work in CSS?

Fredy-Andrés: Recently, [we] visited the Washington capital, Olympia for Arts & Heritage Day. We sent two of our representatives, Raine Jackson and Ann Marie Barni, on our behalf. The goals of that visit were two fold, almost three fold. The first goal was to understand the legislation process that helps our college, because we’re an arts institution, and there is legislation in the Senate, in the Congress of our state that helps us as an institution. And secondly, is also to see what being a representative looks like in action in the wild, not just in a small environment like Cornish, but seeing how people who represent thousands interact with each other on a grand scale. And that all ties back into our goal as Cornish students to become better citizens. So it’s good for us as representatives, and also it’s good for us as artists to see what it’s like to be a very impactful citizen, and seeing that in action, that was great. 

Can you share a memorable project or event the Student Senate has led that has significantly enhanced student life?

Fredy-Andrés: Through a previous iteration of [the CSS], students gave lots of feedback about needing a travel day for Thanksgiving break. We didn’t always have three days for it; we used to have two, and students were expected to have to miss class on the Wednesday before break in order to make it back home in time, if they wanted to. Through Student Senate, they were able to successfully advocate for a travel day, which meant that the break went from two days to three. That’s all because students looked to the Student Senate and told them what they needed.

How does the Student Senate encourage students to voice their ideas and concerns? 

Moriah: We encourage students to voice their concerns a lot of different ways. We’re always tabling [in Nellie’s Cafe]. We have a lot of different surveys that we bring to tabling, and sometimes through email. We try to cover a lot of different bases as well through our open meetings to make sure that students know that they have a place where they can go and talk to us. One of the big ways that that has manifested is a lot of students have voiced concerns about communication throughout the college, and that’s been a big project of ours. We’ve been working really hard and have seen some tangible results. We’ve gotten more specific emails from administration with details on big things that affect the student body—it’s been really great to see that change.

Serving on the Student Senate requires balancing academics, personal life, and Senate responsibilities. How do you manage this, and what advice would you give to students considering joining?

Moriah: Balancing Student Senate with academics, personal life, etc, etc, can be kind of challenging. I myself am a very, very busy person. I actually don’t remember how many jobs I currently work. I can’t count them right now. I’ve got, you know, my full load of classes. I got my BFA coming up. I’ve, you know, I’ve got a personal life somehow, and in terms of Student Senate specifically, and balancing that with everything else, [I follow] great advice that I got from Kaitlyn Vallance. When I was initially trying to decide whether or not I was going to be a part of the CSS, she told me that you are a student first, and you get out of it what you put in.

What exciting plans or initiatives does the Student Senate have in store to further enrich the Cornish student experience?

Quinton: Some current initiatives of Student Senate are that we’re tabling three times a week during lunch, and we’re here to provide information on big topics around the school to students, and vice versa. If students have any issues, complaints or anything good about the school that they want us to talk about we are there for them. We are there to take notes and to talk about it at our next [CSS] meeting. Some exciting stuff that is happening is that we have really great designers on our team helping us creating some stickers, zines and things to hand out to the students. We’ve been doing a monthly digest in a zine form where we provide information about what Student Senate has worked on throughout the past month and handing it out to the student body.

In what ways does the Student Senate collaborate with other student organizations to foster a sense of community and inclusivity on campus?

Quinton: So some ways that the CSS fosters community and inclusivity here on campus is by hosting various events throughout the semester. We want student engagement. We want their feedback, so we can give that feedback to [Cornish Leadership].

Want to contact the Cornish Student Senate? You can do so by emailing css@arts.cornish.edu. Current students, don’t forget to stop by the CSS table in Nellie’s Cafe three days a week.