Panel: Remote Online Students

Timothy Highway-Snider is currently a Senior at The State University of New York at Fredonia, and will be graduating in the Fall of 2021. They are an Interdisciplinary Studies (IDNS) Major in Ethnic & Gender Studies with Minors in Psychology & INDS Minor in Social Work. They preferred to be addressed by just Tim Snider, and identify as a Gender Non-Conforming student and use Gender-Neutral Pronouns (They/Them/ Their). They are originally from Niagara Falls, NY, but have been a permanent resident of Fredonia for the last 5 years. Tim serves on several administrative committees as a Student Advisor, including the Diversity Advisory Council to the Chief Diversity Officer, Chosen Name Committee, Strategic Planning Committee & Advisory Council to the President. They are also Chair of Diversity Relations to the Student Association. Tim is very well known for their Students Rights Activism at Fredonia and was recently awarded the Rosa Parks Scholarship for recent work. They plan to attend Graduate School in the Spring of 2022 and to begin a master’s program in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration.

Xavier Valentin Rodriguez is a senior and a Geology major with a minor in Astronomy in his 4th year at Buffalo State College. Xavier turned 23 years old on February 14th. He was born in Manhattan, New York, in a predominantly Hispanic community. He is Dominican and his family came over from the Dominican Republic. He considers himself to be a very laid back person with interests in lots of things. While he is a huge gamer, he is also learning how to play the guitar for fun. He is always looking to have a good time, but with COVID that has been difficult. At Buffalo State, Xavier is a Resident Assistant for Residence Life and very active in Chemistry Club and Geology Club, in addition to his many research projects. He recently worked on research that involved creating a thin section which is cutting down a rock to a slide. He is also studying a nearby star in our galaxy. He has shared “I am really excited to be a future astronomer. Maybe one day I will be one of the first people to set foot on Mars.”