The newly appointed College Park City Council student liaisons hope to expand existing city-university partnerships and prioritize English as a Second Language programs in the city for the 2024-25 academic year.

Erica Otte, a senior government and politics major, will serve as the student liaison and John Fahmy, a junior philosophy, politics and economics major, will be the deputy student liaison.

The University of Maryland Student Government Association approved Otte in April. She later selected Fahmy, in consultation with Mayor Fazlul Kabir, to act as deputy student liaison.

Otte, who transferred from Harford Community College last year, learned about the student liaison position through Instagram and her connections with SGA members.

The role will strengthen her relationship with students and help her pursue her aspirations to become a child advocacy attorney, she said. As the student liaison, Otte said her main role will be serving as a voice for students.

“I’m hoping to … stay in touch with a lot of students here,” she said. “In those positions, you need to be aware of how the government works and try to make an impact locally.”

Fahmy transferred from Towson University last spring.

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While Fahmy hasn’t served in a political role, he said this opportunity would allow him to gain new experiences. Fahmy said the student liaisons will do “whatever [they] can” to address the student concerns.

“I love College Park,” Fahmy said. “If there’s anything I can do to improve it, to make it better, I’ll take the opportunity to do so.”

This year, Otte and Fahmy hope to make ESL programs in the city more accessible for students in College Park.

Otte’s previous work with ESL programs in College Park and Fahmy’s Egyptian background influenced their focus on underrepresented communities and multilingual city residents, they said.

“The dropout rates for high school are just so much higher than they should be,” Otte said. “A lot of that is because [students] don’t speak English and they just don’t feel like they have a whole lot of opportunity.”

The pair also hopes to continue efforts made by last year’s liaisons, including student housing subsidies, and create a youth advisory committee to uplift the voices of College Park high school students, Otte said.

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A panel made up of Kabir, council members and SGA members recommended Otte for the role.

District 4 council member Maria Mackie, who was on the panel, said Otte’s response to a question about the divide between long-term city residents and students drew her to recommend Otte for the position. Otte proved her leadership and passion to connect university students with College Park with her response, Mackie said.

“She really got that the students are residents of College Park for the four or five or however many years they’re here and that it’s important to be part of the community,” Mackie said.

Mackie acknowledged that it’s difficult for council members to relate to and understand students’ needs because the body isn’t allowed to campaign on campus.

It’s important for the council — with the help of Otte and Fahmy — to ensure students have a positive experience in College Park, Mackie said.

“[Otte and Fahmy] have already started doing a great job,” Mackie said. “They’re going to be great student liaisons and I’m really looking forward to working with them and collaborating with them.”