Nishtha Patel |
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Running for:
VP External, VP Student Affairs
About me:
Some of my most formative experiences have happened in spaces where no two people, or situations, looked quite the same.Through first response, sports, cadets, and student leadership, I’ve learned how to read a room, adapt quickly, take initiative when it matters, and support a team while making space for all voices. Although I take my commitments seriously, I never want the people around me to forget to enjoy the process too.
Outside of academics, I’m definitely someone who likes to keep busy. Growing up, I did volleyball, biathlon, gymnastics, and dance, and strive to actively push myself outside of my comfort zone each day. I look forward to my morning triple espresso, spending time with friends, hiking, and finding small ways to make chaotic weeks more memorable. I’m naturally social, curious, and always happiest when I’m part of a community where people genuinely enjoy being around each other.
My platform:
My platform is centred on making external advocacy more grounded in the communities we serve and more accessible to the students we represent. I want to create a “Community as Evidence” initiative, where MMSC identifies local healthcare challenges such as primary care access, newcomer health, housing insecurity, or substance-use care and works with students, community partners, and faculty to bring these perspectives into provincial and national advocacy through OMSA and CFMS.
At the same time, I want to broaden who gets to participate in that advocacy. External opportunities can often feel limited to students already involved in leadership or able to attend major events. I would create lower-barrier ways for students to contribute through consultations, policy briefs, stakeholder projects, and issue-specific working groups. My goal is for McMaster’s external voice to reflect both the realities of Hamilton and our regional campuses, and the diversity of students who learn here.
How do you plan to ensure that EDI is integrated in your role(s)?
Growing up in a diverse community, I was surrounded by different cultures, languages, religions, and lived experiences from a young age. That environment taught me that inclusion is not simply having diverse people in the room, but creating spaces where different perspectives can meaningfully shape decisions.
In practice, I would build EDI into how MMSC initiatives are designed and evaluated. In MMSC, I would treat EDI as a design principle rather than a final checklist. That means asking early whether cost, timing, location, accessibility, caregiving responsibilities, or campus geography could unintentionally exclude students, and then building around those barriers through subsidies, hybrid options, rotating locations, and direct consultation with affected groups.
Most importantly, I want EDI to be embedded early in planning. Before launching an initiative, I would ask whose perspectives are missing, who may be unintentionally excluded, and how the project can be designed more equitably from the outset.
VP External, VP Student Affairs
About me:
Some of my most formative experiences have happened in spaces where no two people, or situations, looked quite the same.Through first response, sports, cadets, and student leadership, I’ve learned how to read a room, adapt quickly, take initiative when it matters, and support a team while making space for all voices. Although I take my commitments seriously, I never want the people around me to forget to enjoy the process too.
Outside of academics, I’m definitely someone who likes to keep busy. Growing up, I did volleyball, biathlon, gymnastics, and dance, and strive to actively push myself outside of my comfort zone each day. I look forward to my morning triple espresso, spending time with friends, hiking, and finding small ways to make chaotic weeks more memorable. I’m naturally social, curious, and always happiest when I’m part of a community where people genuinely enjoy being around each other.
My platform:
My platform is centred on making external advocacy more grounded in the communities we serve and more accessible to the students we represent. I want to create a “Community as Evidence” initiative, where MMSC identifies local healthcare challenges such as primary care access, newcomer health, housing insecurity, or substance-use care and works with students, community partners, and faculty to bring these perspectives into provincial and national advocacy through OMSA and CFMS.
At the same time, I want to broaden who gets to participate in that advocacy. External opportunities can often feel limited to students already involved in leadership or able to attend major events. I would create lower-barrier ways for students to contribute through consultations, policy briefs, stakeholder projects, and issue-specific working groups. My goal is for McMaster’s external voice to reflect both the realities of Hamilton and our regional campuses, and the diversity of students who learn here.
How do you plan to ensure that EDI is integrated in your role(s)?
Growing up in a diverse community, I was surrounded by different cultures, languages, religions, and lived experiences from a young age. That environment taught me that inclusion is not simply having diverse people in the room, but creating spaces where different perspectives can meaningfully shape decisions.
In practice, I would build EDI into how MMSC initiatives are designed and evaluated. In MMSC, I would treat EDI as a design principle rather than a final checklist. That means asking early whether cost, timing, location, accessibility, caregiving responsibilities, or campus geography could unintentionally exclude students, and then building around those barriers through subsidies, hybrid options, rotating locations, and direct consultation with affected groups.
Most importantly, I want EDI to be embedded early in planning. Before launching an initiative, I would ask whose perspectives are missing, who may be unintentionally excluded, and how the project can be designed more equitably from the outset.