Students at the University of Rhode Island have a wide variety of on-campus events to attend and participate in, but some may be unaware of who is behind the scenes making these experiences possible.
The Office of Student Involvement serves over 200 student organizations and coordinates events on campus such as Rhody Fest, Stuff-A-Ram and Beats & Eats. One of the masterminds behind student involvement is sixth-year graduate assistant Julia “Juju” Al-Amir.
Al-Amir, a Pawtucket, Rhode Island native has been the graduate assistant for student involvement since 2023. Her time at URI has also come with several noteworthy “side-quests” according to Al-Amir. She acts as a staff advisor for the Middle-Eastern Student Association, co-adviser for the Student Entertainment Committee and is on a plethora of different committees for the Division of Student Affairs.
“I wanna do this for the rest of my life,” Al-Amir said. “I love working in student involvement, leadership, orientation programs or anything multicultural and [diversity, equity and inclusion] related.”
As a part of her program, Al-Amir must complete an internship every semester. This semester, she is interning at Brown University with their orientation program to get experience at an unfamiliar institution.
While Al-Amir’s current involvements on campus are plentiful, she didn’t become “Juju from student involvement” overnight.
“My first year here I changed my major four times,” Al-Amir said. “When I tell people that now they’re shocked because it looks like I have my stuff together, but I really didn’t [my first year].”
Al-Amir came into URI in 2020 as a criminal justice major. After a slough of changes during year one, she eventually landed on a double major of human development and family sciences and Arabic studies, along with a minor in leadership studies. Now in her final semester, Al-Amir has dipped her toes into just about everything.
“I just love getting a bunch of on-campus experiences,” Al-Amir said. “Whether it’s working for the leadership department, being a leadership minor peer leader, a URI 101 mentor, an orientation leader, a resident assistant, [I love] all those things.”
Another big takeaway from her work has been the people that Al-Amir has been able to meet and connect with in her many different positions on campus.
“I would be remiss if I don’t mention my former supervisor Maureen McDermott,” Al-Amir said. “I truly wouldn’t be here without her. She’s the one who interviewed me for this position [as graduate assistant].”
McDermott, who passed away in November 2024, was the director of student involvement when Al-Amir was hired, and had worked at URI for over 40 years. The two worked extensively together for a year and half.
Al-Amir also listed Ellen Reynolds, the vice president of student affairs, as a person of influence in her life.
“I served as an intern my last semester of undergrad and I learned so much from [Reynolds],” Al-Amir said. “She was there for me, helping me through the grad school process and helping me meet so many different people.”
With only a few months left in her college career, Al-Amir plans on going out with a bang.
“One of my goals, especially this year, is to collaborate with as many different campus partners and student organizations as possible,” Al-Amir said.
One such crossover event includes this month’s “Beats & Eats” which will include Black-owned food truck JA PATTY and Valentine’s Day themed stress relievers, according to Al-Amir.
For more information regarding Student Involvement, visit @uri.officeofsi on Instagram.
