“Some of the things you learn in the classroom at O’Neill are theoretical concepts. But it’s so much cooler when you’re able to apply it to actually advance your own personal passions and goals,” said Ky Freeman, former IU student body president. “The O’Neill School equips you with the foundational tools to be active changemakers in your community, whether that’s on a local, state, or federal level.”
Freeman is a first-generation college student who came to Bloomington to study secondary education. Before arriving on campus, he says that college was “something I could only imagine in my dreams.” With the help of mentors and resources like the Groups Scholars Program and the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center, Freeman began to find his voice. He also discovered a passion—and a gift—for advocacy. Inspired by the growing social and racial disparities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Freeman became president of the Black Student Union in 2020. He also served on the IU Police Department Advisory Board and co-founded the nonprofit Enough is Enough.
“I felt that I was equipped with the skills to take my message of being able to disagree in love and make a grander impact on policy change,” said Freeman.
Eventually, Freeman switched his major to Law and Public Policy. He also decided to apply his skills to the IU Student Government.
“Throughout my time as student body president, my coursework–I don’t know how I did this–was directly applicable to what I was going through. My first semester, I took Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. As you can imagine, in student government, we do disagree quite often. So being able to mediate through conflict and learn how to negotiate on policies was helpful. I’m not just negotiating from student-to-student, I’m negotiating with administrators. I’m negotiating with local officials, state officials. It was absolutely amazing.”
Freeman will graduate in December and launch his career with Accenture Federal Services in Washington, D.C. But first, he leaves his fellow Hoosiers with this parting thought: “My charge would be to find ways to radically love each other a lot more, and not to get caught up in the bureaucracy because most of the sweetest moments that you will have at this university are the moments where you just let go.”
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