Desiree Aselbekian
Desiree Aselbekian became an elected Massachusetts official while still in high school. In May, she graduated from Wheaton, was reelected to her town government and is preparing to expand her political sphere. But first: law school.
You serve on two different school committees in your town, and in fact, are one of the youngest elected officials in Massachusetts. How did you get involved with local politics?
As a high school student I was a student representative on the school board. I was active in student government, and already very aware of the issues in my local town government, especially as it related to the school system. Then, in my senior year, a group of individuals wanted to deregionalize our two-town regional high school and build their own in Southborough. I didn't think this was a good idea, so I announced my candidacy and ran on a community education platform. It is a lot of work, but I really enjoy it.
Have you been successful in office?
Yes, my work on the school committee is probably my biggest accomplishment to date. For three years, our plan for a renovated and expanded high school didn't pass. In my third year, I was elected chairperson of the school committee and within four months we passed a $59.2 million high school expansion and renovation project. It's something I'm very proud of.
Who are your political role models, if any?
I'm a registered democrat, but I like looking out a bipartisan window. I think many of our 13 female senators serve as very good role models, especially for young women interested in government. I met Hillary Clinton prior to her senatorial win, I've met Barbara Boxer and I have also met Diane Finestein, it was really rewarding to meet all three of them.
Who have been your mentors here on campus ?
Oh, probably my history professor, Catherine Tomasek. I kept taking her classes because they are so great and I like her so much. We met two years ago when I walked into her office and said, "I don't know you, but I'm Desiree and I'm going to the 150th anniversary of the first women's rights convention in Worcester. I saw that you teach women's studies, and I wondered if you wanted to go with me." We just hit it off right away.
What has been your most meaningful academic accomplishment here?
I really enjoyed the project that I did for my poly sci senior seminar on leadership. My project was on female leadership and the roles of women in the American political system. I did a case study on Eleanor Roosevelt and on a particular group of women in the 1930s, the New Deal women, and how Eleanor was able to get some of their policy making filtered through to FDR. It was a very unique type of network building that I don't necessarily think women have today.
I also enjoyed the work I did in Russian studies, with Professor Powell and Professor Rosset. They both have so much to offer this college. I continue to stop by and see Professor Rosset after taking Russian with her my freshman year.
You've done interesting research on feminism. How did it develop?
In my feminist research class we could choose any topic related to women's issues. I decided to study the gender dynamics of communication on school committees. I looked at five school committee meetings, two being the two school committees that I sit on, and three others being in nearby communities that are close in demographics to my community. Using a stop watch, I calculated how many seconds a man was speaking versus a woman was speaking. I also calculated who interrupted more.
What kind of results did you see?
I found that proportionately on average the men talked four times as much as the women. And this was, for example, on one committee there were 12 women and eight men, but the men talked four times more. I never thought my results would be so consistent.
Did you design this study, or localize a larger study?
There were similar studies done at the state government level in California, Colorado, Arizona and New York. And those independent studies did show that men tended to interrupt during committee meetings more.
And were the committee members aware of the study you were conducting?
No. All of the committee meetings are aired on public access TV, so for consistency, I took this year's March meetings and I watched all five of the committee meetings from March, 2002 on video tape.
So now that you've graduated from Wheaton, what are your plans?
I'm going to law school in Boston, to study family law. I also plan to continue my work with the school committee, and will probably run for Selectman in a few years. I'm fascinated by the government process and would like to advance in local and state government.