The Rose Institute proudly presents the new additions to our roster of research assistants. This year, we hired seven first-year students and four sophomores, including one from Scripps and one from Pitzer. The group will be managed by this year’s new hire manager, Joseph Zhong’25.
Deborah N. Aguirre ’28
Deborah is from Upland, CA, pursuing a dual major in public policy and data science. She is passionate about policy research and hopes to pursue a career in the field. She first became interested in policy when doing an environmental economics research project at Scripps and exploring welfare policy in high school. She is most interested in welfare and economic policy, seeking to discover how different policies affect underrepresented groups. Outside of the Rose, she enjoys listening to The Strokes, reading, watching movies, and biking.
Kevin M. Bender ’27
Kevin is from Temecula, California, and is majoring in Economics. His interest in state and local government started during his internship working in the Economic Development Department with his hometown city government. In his free time, he loves to do anything active including going to the gym, playing spikeball, and golfing. Kevin will spend the spring semester of 2025 in Cork, Ireland. He is currently working on his new hire project where he hopes to research housing in CA or CA business regulations that impact national industries.
Andrew J. Cheung ’28
Olivia R. Frakt SC’27
Olivia is from Melrose, Massachusetts and is a student at Scripps college majoring off campus at CMC in Public Policy. She became interested in the policy field after spending a summer studying educational equity at Brown University led her to conducting education policy research and working with the Melrose Health and Human Services Department and School Committee in her senior year of high school. In addition to this, Olivia is looking forward to expanding her knowledge on California education policy, as well as healthcare policy, through work at the Rose. She is also a Scripps Advocate, one of the community engagement chairs for Claremont Students for Public Health and a captain of the Claremont Climbing Team, and is looking to pursue a fine arts minor if she has the time.
Arushi Goyal ’28
Arushi is from San Jose, California, and is double majoring in Economics and History with a sequence in Financial Economics at Claremont McKenna College. She developed an interest in state and local government through her work on a mayoral campaign and in Bay Area housing and homelessness policy. At the Rose, she’s excited to research campaign finance and contribute to civic engagement initiatives. On campus, Arushi is an analyst for the Financials and REITs industry group in the Student Investment Fund and a political discussion facilitator for the the Kravis Lab for Civic Leadership and The Open Academy’s “Cookies and Conversation” series. In her free time, she loves singing jazz, talking about art history, and watching Psych, Suits, and Community.
Keith Maben ’28
Keith is from Santa Clara, CA and is planning on majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He became interested in government through extensive election involvement beginning in the 2020 Presidential election, including as the Bay Area Regional Director of the CA High School Democrats and a Delegate at the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. He has conducted policy research with the Bipartisan Policy Center and worked with nonpartisan groups like FairVote and the Public Mapping Projects on issues of redistricting and ranked-choice voting. He’s very interested in political statistics, polling, and modeling, and hopes to work extensively on the Rose survey projects. Outside the rose campus, Keith is a Research Fellow at the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights studying immigration, an Associate Consultant at the Graphite Group, and a member of the CMC Model UN team.
Jathan K.J. Pai ’28
Jathan, from Indiana, is planning to study Economics and Engineering. His interest in state and local politics developed after serving on his local mayor’s youth council, participating in his high school’s political discussion club and writing a paper on wealth inequality. He is excited to learn more about and do research on local economic development, elections, transportation/zoning policy, and relationships between municipalities. In his free time, he enjoys trying new foods, playing ping pong, and soccer, and coding.
Anuj T. Patel ’27
Anuj is from Chino Hills, California. At CMC, he is pursuing a double major in Biology & Public Policy. His interest in state and local government stemmed from his previous work in California legislation regarding topics of elections, health, and education. At the Rose, Anuj is excited to develop quantitative skills in policy evaluation to aid in the research of housing and healthcare policy. He has completed research on policies affecting oral health in indigenous communities of North America and is currently interning in the office of Congresswoman Judy Chu. In his free time, Anuj enjoys running, listening to music, and playing NYT games.
Thomas Rose ’27
Thomas is from Brooklyn, New York, majoring in Government and Music at Claremont McKenna College. His interest in state and local government emerged through working with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the oversight agency of the New York City Police Department. At the Rose, Thomas is excited to expand his knowledge in research methods and data analysis and to learn more about criminal justice reforms, housing policies, and poverty alleviation programs. Outside of the Rose Institute, Thomas is a campus tour guide, and Romero Success Coach, he works for SOURCE Nonprofit Consulting as a Client Team Lead, and he also sings in the Joint Music Program’s Concert Choir. He enjoys listening to, and playing music (singing and guitar), watching baseball (go Yankees!), and exploring new neighborhoods.
Rhiannon J. Worline ’28
Rhiannon is from Elko, Nevada, and is majoring in Government at Claremont Mckenna College. Rhiannon’s interest in government stems from several courses she took on government and politics as well as her intern experience with Ray Shaw’s Montana State Senate Campaign. Her other work experience includes a position as a research assistant with an Organizational Psychology company, EnlienWork. At the Rose, Rhiannon is interested in polling research and housing policy. She enjoys surfing, skateboarding, playing soccer, and attending concerts.
Stephanie Li PZ’28
Stephanie is from Arcadia, California, and is planning on majoring in Government and Public Policy at Claremont McKenna College. Through her city’s civic youth council, she became interested in politics, advocating for sexual abuse survivors and housing rights for people experiencing homelessness at the local level. From there, she interned for Supervisor Hilda Solis, PCC trustee Alton Wang, Assemblymember Mike Fong, and Congresswoman Judy Chu. Eventually, she became the National Vice Chairwoman of The High School Democrats of America. Through Pioneer Academics, she conducted sociological research on the political identities of Asian Americans with Dr. Gerardo Martí. At the Rose, Stephanie is excited to research homelessness policy and work on the Video Voter Guide. Outside of the Rose, she enjoys cooking and baking cuisine from all around the world.”
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