Newly elected pupil assemblage president Camalah Saleh meets with module successful the Department of Political Science. (Photo by Geoff Thurner)
When Fresno State inferior Camalah Saleh received the bully quality that her mother, Omalkhair Aikhamry, had received her U.S. citizenship aft surviving successful the Central Valley for 18 years, it brought tears to her eyes.
Saleh, the recently elected Associated Students Inc. president and a finalist for the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship, is the kid of Yemeni immigrants. She has built a resume of civic engagement — from authorities internships astatine the local, authorities and nationalist level, and starring respective pupil organizations.
The Saleh family’s determination to Sanger began successful 1996 erstwhile her father, Sofyan Saleh, immigrated from Ibb, which is located successful the Middle Eastern state of Yemen that borders Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea. The remainder of the household followed successful 2007 erstwhile Camalah, the second-youngest of six sisters and brothers, moved astatine the property of 3 with her mother, who became a U.S. national this past fall.
“I was truthful blessed for her, due to the fact that the migration process is thing that inactive shapes your position decades later,” Saleh said. “I had helped her with the paperwork process, truthful I could spot however overmuch she deserved this.”
The younger Saleh, however, was incapable to beryllium astatine the citizenship designation lawsuit this past autumn due to the fact that she was successful Washington, D.C., moving arsenic an intern for U.S. Congressional subordinate Linda Sanchez, who represents District 38 successful Los Angeles.
Saleh was selected for the presumption done the Panetta Institute Congressional Internship Program. She was Fresno State’s selection, based connected her extended inheritance successful politics, argumentation and nationalist service.
During her 11 weeks there, she worked with the unit to service District 38 constituents’ needs and prepared inheritance reports connected upcoming legislative bills successful the areas of education, nutrient assistance programs, wellness care, lodging and wildfires.
Other responsibilities included researching nationalist issues, and preparing notes from astir 40 planetary embassy meetings with experts and representatives with ties to the Middle East, South America and different planetary organizations.
“It was an acquisition I volition ne'er forget, and I learned truthful much,” Saleh said. “The bureaucratic process is slow, and moving authorities guardant takes clip and overmuch effort. However, Washington, D.C. is afloat of endless opportunities, and I was capable to research assorted vocation fields.”
As a finalist present for the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation program, she hopes to question backmost to the East Coast adjacent summertime to commencement postgraduate schoolhouse and statesman a way to shaping nationalist policy. But archetypal she volition enactment successful the College of Social Sciences commencement ceremonial from 1 to 2:30 p.m. connected Friday, May 16, astatine the Save Mart Center.
Over 700 of the nation’s brightest students, who are funny successful careers successful nationalist work oregon the nonprofit sector, applied for astir 60 slots successful the program.
For Saleh, present 1 of 201 finalists, that situation whitethorn beryllium adjacent steeper since lone a fistful of students from California person been accepted successful caller years arsenic she competes against students from galore of the nation’s astir prestigious universities.
The programme provides students selected up to $30,000 to be postgraduate school. Each Truman Scholar receives further enactment training, vocation counseling and peculiar internship and fellowship opportunities wrong the national government.
She archetypal heard astir the programme arsenic a Fresno State freshman erstwhile she began researching instrumentality schools, and saw that Yale has had 5 Truman Scholars. Although nary records are available, the governmental subject section believes she mightiness beryllium Fresno State’s archetypal finalist.
To assistance her apply, the governmental subject large enlisted assistance from faculty, Dr. Lisa Bryant, Dr. Thomas Holyoke and Dr. Everett Vieira III, who wrote letters of proposal on with Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and Fresno City Council subordinate Tyler Maxwell.
Political subject module gave her further tips for the in-person interrogation and penning essays tied to her acquisition and position connected leadership, assemblage service, inspirational classes, societal issues and her vocation plans aft postgraduate school.
Saleh said she was unsure astir applying until speaking with Vieira. “He reminded maine that I didn’t deliberation I would get the Panetta internship, truthful helium said helium believed successful maine and encouraged maine to bash it.”
For those who cognize Saleh’s background, it’s not astonishing she is simply a finalist aft graduating with a 4.3 GPA astatine Sanger High School. Higher acquisition is not the norm for anterior generations of her family. Her parents did not person their precocious schoolhouse degrees, but they supported her determination to be Fresno State.
As a precocious schoolhouse senior, she had been accepted astatine University of California, Berkeley, but aft seeing its ample enrollment, she alternatively accepted her Fresno State admission. The deciding origin was an invitation to articulation the Smittcamp Family Honors College and its challenging and supportive world program. The program’s Presidential Honors Scholarship, which covers tuition and lodging connected campus, sealed the decision.
“I knew that I wanted to spell to postgraduate school, truthful lowering the fiscal load for myself and my household had evident appeal,” Saleh said. “I felt that the Smittcamp programme would beryllium special. I liked the facet that you could find module present that were talented, yet approachable, and you weren’t conscionable a look successful the crowd.”
Since then, she has taken peculiar classes with her 50-member Smittcamp cohort who are immersed successful peculiar world experiences that see research, internships, mentorships and unpaid and assemblage outreach activities.
“Those students are similar a household connected campus, adjacent though we travel from specified antithetic backgrounds and grade areas,” Saleh said. “Every twelvemonth students from each 4 cohorts adjacent walk a play astatine Huntington Lake getting to make friendships done amusive activities.”
She erstwhile had a accidental to contiguous astir her inheritance to 150 Smittcamp honors students truthful they could larn much astir her inheritance and Yemen from a idiosyncratic perspective.
This semester, she has balanced a 21-unit semester with different challenge, a tally for ASI President, which she won connected April 3.
Her run level rested connected a request for alteration connected campus. Among the initiatives she proposed, she wanted to combat nutrient insecurity with nutrient vouchers, escaped vending machines, little parking costs, improved accessibility and expanded resources and indispensable field upgrades.
“After spending 3 years connected field progressive successful assorted on- and off-campus organizations, I saw firsthand the changes students needed and however ASI could assistance marque that happen,” Saleh said. “I decided to instrumentality a leap of religion and make that alteration myself for our students. I’m highly excited for this presumption — not lone to implicit my initiatives but to service arsenic an unfastened doorway for each students and their concerns.”
She is besides portion of the field code and statement team, Pi Sigma Alpha governmental subject honors society, Lambda Pi Eta nationalist connection honors nine and League of Women Voters field chapter, wherever she serves arsenic its caput and erstwhile president. She additionally serves arsenic the connection manager for the Arab-American Caucus.
She has besides continued to enactment part-time astatine the field Maddy Institute. She uses acquisition from her 2nd grade path, communications, to assistance nutrient its TV show, assistance with the internship programme and program events to promote national information done informed governmental dialog to amended link students, authorities officials and the Central Valley community.
That sensitivity to serving a field afloat of antithetic views was beforehand and halfway successful the autumn of 2024 erstwhile she helped commencement the Students for Palestinian Liberation astatine Fresno State. The pupil enactment promotes an docket grounded successful freedom, solidarity, equality and information and aims to amplify pupil voices and make a dialog astir the Israel-Palestine crisis.
In addition, she planned a talker lawsuit portion she was successful Washington, D.C. past summertime that featured Stanislaus State governmental subject prof Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil, who discussed the origins of the Arab-Israeli war.
“Politics involves balancing antithetic interests and trying to beryllium a bully listener,” Saleh said, “even erstwhile it tin beryllium frustrating erstwhile your idiosyncratic inheritance and beliefs aren’t perchance aligned with the topic. Being a person often forces you to beryllium arsenic non-partisan arsenic you tin connected issues. The key, I’ve learned from others, seems to beryllium staying focused connected connecting with others personally, and trying to find ways to amended their lives.”
She has besides been appointed arsenic a studeint typical to the President’s Muslim Leadership Council. The radical of students, module and assemblage members meets bi-annually to sermon assemblage measures for Muslims connected campus, which precocious included a Ramadan show connected the 2nd level of the library.
With her expected Fresno State graduation successful outpouring 2026, Saleh hopes to prosecute a combined master’s grade successful nationalist argumentation oregon planetary affairs with a instrumentality degree, and perchance tally for nationalist bureau eventually.
After interning past twelvemonth with the Fresno County District Attorney’s bureau and Fresno City Councilmember Maxwell, she present interns with the bureau of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla.
After pursuing those postgraduate degrees, she said, “I americium committed to returning to the Central Valley to signifier migration instrumentality and service our community. The migration strategy is analyzable and evolving. Many communities often deficiency consciousness of oregon entree to indispensable resources, truthful I privation to straight enactment individuals, families and communities and marque a meaningful quality successful their lives.”
