Candidate Profile

Kayvon Tahmassebi

(He/Him)

Since my early years in high school, I’ve taken advantage of the many opportunities provided by my school and city government. As a school leader, I took on the initiatives of creating a more secure campus. In light of recent school shootings back in 2019 across America, a group of my peers and I worked on a project that involved placing sensors around campus that would connect to sensors in bathroom passes. This would allow faculty to track students in real time in case of emergencies. Further, I was involved in a campus clean-up club that organized trash into particular bins (recycling, waste, etc) to promote environmental preservation. Separate from my advocacy for a safer campus, I founded and ran the American Red Cross Club, hosting blood drives, helping students get certified in CPR and First Aid, and creating kits for victims of wildfires in California. Outside of school, I took on two campaigns: our mayor’s re-election and another for a city commissioner who was running for city council. I chose to join these campaigns for their emphasis on using technology to reduce PFAS in the water that flows into local homes. Further, the city commissioner I worked under proposed a plan called the Climate Action Plan 2.0. This plan would commit my city to energy efficiency, recycling, waste diversion, and water conservation. The commitment to urgently tackle our environmental dilemmas was something I was inspired by and looked forward to. As a volunteer with the police department, I took on initiatives such as strengthening community ties with the police, effectively responding to emergencies, and promoting de-escalation tactics training to handle emergencies that involved distressed community members. With the experience I carry across multiple fields including school government, city government, and local law enforcement, I am capable of tackling the problems we have here on campus. Being new to this school and to Illinois itself, I bring an unbiased and fresh perspective. I look forward to working with faculty and fellow students to honor our university’s core values of diversity, excellence, and innovation.