Change is the only constant in Kaiyi Xie’s life, and he likes it that way.
Xie has never stayed in one place for too long, and he doesn’t intend to after graduation, either. As a Student Government Association cabinet member, he found many areas ripe for reform within the organization: communication, attitudes and procedures.
So after two years in the SGA, it’s only fitting that the junior bioengineering and mathematics major is running for SGA president on the Action Party ticket. He’s ready for a change.
First as a freshman eager to get involved and then as the SGA’s director of student groups, Xie said he saw too much tension between students and the organization that serves them. Now, armed with the perspectives of both sides, he hopes to improve the relationship even further.
“The dedication he shows to help student groups is really amazing,” SGA Chief of Staff Michelle McGrain said. “He’s really good at seeing the different sides of things — he sees things from the student side and really understands why students are unhappy with the organization.”
When helping form the Action Party, Xie said he looked for a mix of SGA veterans and newcomers that would bring both experience andfresh perspectives to the organization. He said shaking things up is crucial to the group’s effectiveness, but it would require a working knowledge of the status quo.
“It’s hard to change something that you haven’t seen in action internally before,” Xie said.
Xie’s confidence in the value of change is deeply rooted in his personal experiences; his life has never followed a predictable path. His parents moved the family across the globe as they finished their master’s degrees. At each new school he attended, Xie found comfort in getting involving with student organizations — it was his way of settling into new places, he said.
Xie joined the debate team at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, an interest that stayed with him into his freshman year. As a member of the Maryland Parliamentary Debate Society, Xie saw his teammates struggle to communicate with the SGA, especially when requesting funding.
His first experience with student government was attending his group’s appeal for more money, and he said he left the meeting with a sour taste for the organization. But Xie saw potential, so he ran for director of student groups and has held that position for the past two years. Working closely with these groups has given him insight into their interactions with the SGA, he said.
Xie said he hopes to continue transforming the SGA’s relationship with student groups, adding that he wants to see groups be more active in the SGA’s policy-making.
“He has the unique SGA experience in the sense that he’s been able to interact with a lot more students than the average SGA member does,” McGrain said.
He envisions a future SGA that is more open to the average student, he said.
Xie said that he chose his running mates based on the unique viewpoints they each bring to the ticket, not on whether they agree with every element of the Action Party platform, and that he encourages healthy debate.
“I told people who ran with me that I want them to feel comfortable enough to call me out,” Xie said. “I like it when people call me out because it really helps me, and I’m never going to get angry at anyone.”
Gary Felton, an agricultural engineering professor and Xie’s adviser in the Gemstone program, said Xie’s clearheadedness and effective communication skills would be assets if he were elected president.
“A lot of discussions have anger involved, and he seems to be able to avoid it and also kind of tone it down when the anger gets too high,” Felton said.
For his Gemstone project, Xie has worked to engineer a plant that could produce a biofuel more efficient than ethanol, he said. Xie also participated in Engineers Without Borders.
Although he is majoring in math and science, Xie said he plans to take the LSAT exam in hopes that a diverse background will open intriguing doors down the line.
“It’s all a learning experience,” Xie said. “If you don’t like it, you have the flexibility to change it, and I think that’s what I’m looking for.”
meehan at umdbk dot com