Meghna Kauffman Das ’21 began her role as the student activities coordinator last week. A former international student from Mussoorie, India, Kauffman Das says she looks forward to connecting with students through clubs, organizations and affinity groups.

The position involves overseeing and supervising the Campus Activities Council, working closely with Student Senate, clubs and organizations, and supporting affinity groups. 

Chandler Buchfeller, the associate dean of students, said, “She leads a biweekly meeting of the affinity group presidents and helps to coordinate support for that group and helps to ensure that they’re meeting their individual missions as well as collaborating well on shared programming and events.”

The job also involves responding to crisis management and mental health crises. “This role is part of our on-call RD rotation,” Buchfeller said. 

He said that Kauffman Das’ background in secondary education and administrative roles were clear strengths shown during the hiring process. Buchfeller said, “What came through was her clear passion for students and seeing students supported challenged in all the ways that you all need to be.”

“Meghna, while she’s not been in this type of work formally, has a lot of experience from her time as a student at GC, leading different clubs and organizations and doing programming on that side of things,” he said.

While at GC, Kauffman Das was a part of International Student Club and Asian Student Association, as well as music ensembles. “I think [those experiences] gave me a lot of insight to the methods of things from a student’s perspective, so I know a little bit more of what to expect as a staff member and some of the struggles that they went through that I automatically understand,” she said. 

Kauffman Das went through all her schooling at Woodstock School, an international school in Mussoorie, where she connected with Dan Koop Liechty ’88 and his wife, Jill Koop Liechty ’89. Kauffman Das said, “He was the one who created that link between Goshen College and Woodstock.”

She came to GC in 2017 and graduated with a major in secondary education and visual arts. In 2022, Kauffman Das worked at Goshen High School as an art teacher. “I loved my time there, a lot of the students I see on campus now are students I had when they were in 9th grade or 11th grade,” she said. “I stopped working there because my visa expired.” 

In 2023, Kauffman Das moved back to India and worked as a fundraising coordinator for Project Arunima, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering neurodiverse adults and individuals with developmental disabilities. 

“Then I moved back last year to get married,” she said.

On Nov. 5, she had her first meeting with CAC. Javier Reyes, a senior nursing major and a previous student of Kauffman Das from Goshen High School, said, “She had a lot of event ideas from her time in GC that she’s brought to our attention. … We’re hoping to implement some of those during our spring semester and hopefully next year as well.” 

“She brings a lot of energy to the team and a lot of excitement that we were hoping to get out of an adviser,” he said.

One event Kauffman Das is especially excited about is the International Student Coffeehouse. “That was always my favorite event on campus, so I’m looking forward to hopefully being able to work with ISC and making this one of the best ones we’ve had in many years,” she said. 

Kauffman Das reflected on how campus has changed in the past five years. “It’s weird, but the students look so much younger. A lot of them look like they could still be in high school which is a wild experience for me because everybody looked so much older than me when I was younger,” she said. “It’s cool to see things that are also the same. Some of the same groups will sit in the same places in Westlawn that they used to when I was there”

As she settles into her new role, Kauffman Das hopes to bring events that everyone feels included. She said, “I hope students learn over time that, if they ever need a trustworthy or dependable adult, I’m always there for them, my door is always open.”