Photo provided by MVCC Marketing
By Jonah Marshall, Staff Writer
On Tuesday, April 21, student Karolina Granda, 20, studying communication on a pre-law path, switched roles with Dr. Haney and became President for a day.
Haney took over Granda’s role and followed her school, extracurricular, work, and even her mandatory Dunkin’ schedule!
Student’s perspective
Granda attended a Board of Trustees meeting, providing input as Dr. Haney would. The meeting discussed Moraine’s evolution of theater and STEM programs. In particular, Moraine’s Dean of Science, Michael Bates, discussed how engineering majors will no longer have COM-103 as a required course. After the board meeting, Granda met with the MV Scholarship Foundation to discuss providing organization-based scholarships and expanding on volunteer scholarships. Granda also met with Dr. Cynthia Anderson, the dean of liberal arts, to discus promoting in-class showcases for the speech team and The Glacier, especially as a useful substitute to COM-103 for engineering majors. Lastly, Granda expressed her passion for volunteering through her meeting with Student Life. She recommended to Isaiah Perez, Director of Student Life and Kent Marshall, Dean of Students and Compliance Officer, that they institute mandatory service hours, similar to the requirements of many area high schools. Student Life is considering building this suggestion into their College 101 courses.
Granda felt inspired to run for president after attending Moraine’s annual Women in Government panel, recognizing a lack of female representation in high government positions. In addition, Dr. Haney’s role as our college’s president served as empowerment itself for Granda.
Photos provided by MVCC Marketing
“I was inspired by this Women in Government panel that we had, just seeing the impact that women have on government and also their lack of representation in government positions.”
Granda currently works at the FitRec as a fitness floor supervisor, doing so since her sophomore year of high school, is the editor-in chief for The Glacier, is a speech team competitor, and a contributor to the volunteer committee, FLC.
Granda wants other students to do this project because it is a way to get your voice out to your community.
“Whether or not you get this position, it is a good way to get your voice out…it’s a small step towards believing in yourself and believing in the importance and impact of your voice.”
Granda mentioned that the 50 students who submitted written applications, and the 10 students who had in-person interviews still played an important role in student involvement despite their final outcomes.
President’s perspective
Haney took over the role of Granda as a student and got to work at the FitRec where her son trained her. Haney believes that this is a good project that Moraine has with a good goal of helping students become leaders.
“It’s designed to give students a first-hand look at college leadership,” Haney said. “The goal is to empower students to see themselves as leaders. It provides the President with a valuable opportunity to see the college through a student’s lens,” she said.
Haney’s favorite part of this project is it allows her to truly be able to listen to students. “Hearing different students’ perspectives throughout the day, it allows for dialogue with students on a level that I normally would not get on a day-to-day basis,” Haney said.
Photos provided by MVCC Marketing
Haney believes this is a good opportunity for students to see what goes on behind the scenes at Moraine. “It’s an opportunity to see what it’s like to work with the leadership team and just be engaged with some of the things that actually occur on a day-to-day basis.”
How students can apply for President-for-a-day
This is the second student who has been President-for-a-day as this opportunity first presented itself in Spring of 2025. The first student to take on this role was Caroline Song.
This opportunity is now an annual Spring semester event, although Haney said she is open to doing it in the Fall as well.
The application e-mail is sent through The Buzz (the weekly student newsletter) in March. Students are encouraged to fill out an application, and then a committee of various faculty members at Moraine review the application to see which students can be moved to the next round of qualification – an in-person interview. Finally, the committee decides which student will switch places with Dr. Haney and a day is selected based on the schedules of both the college President and the selected student.
