OCEANSIDE — MiraCosta College second-year student Kenneth Pilco has been elected to serve as the college’s 2023-2024 student trustee.
An active leader on campus and in the community, Pilco is currently studying law, public policy and society while also serving as the PUENTE club president.
“I’m thrilled to serve as the new student trustee and to uphold all the perspectives we have here on campus,” Pilco said. “We have such a diverse population here at MiraCosta College and it’s important that someone takes the time to understand the unique needs of our student body and advocate for them with the Board of Trustees.”
A 2022 Carlsbad High School graduate, Pilco has long been involved in community advocacy and development, making the role of student trustee a natural fit that combines his experience with his passion for helping others. Before enrolling at MiraCosta College, Pilco volunteered as a member of the Carlsbad Cleanup Club where he led beach cleanup events while also engaging with local councilmembers about how policy decisions could help improve the local issue.
Once enrolled at MiraCosta, Pilco continued his impact by leading his own service-learning projects through the MiraCosta College PUENTE Project. This academic learning community provides counseling and support services, so students are better prepared to transfer to four-year colleges and universities and return to the community as leaders.
“MiraCosta College is thrilled to welcome Kenneth Pilco as our new student trustee for the 2023-2024 term,” said MiraCosta Superintendent and President Sunita “Sunny” Cooke. “Kenneth’s passion for community advocacy and his dedication to supporting his peers make him a natural choice representing the student voice on our Board of Trustees.”
In his first semester on campus, through PUENTE, Pilco helped coordinate a “Get Out the Vote” campaign with 30 volunteers during the November 2022 election week.
Additionally this past semester, Pilco led an initiative that strengthened the community engagement between existing students, local fourth graders and their parents. Pilco organized in-person campus tours and speaking engagements so that fourth graders from Foothill Oak Elementary School in Vista could learn about the college experience directly from MiraCosta students. He also connected the parents of each fourth grader with current students and the parents of current students so that they could better understand what it means to be a parent of a student aspiring to go to college.
“I love helping and advocating for people, whether it is my peers on campus or the next generation of MiraCosta College students,” Pilco shared. “MiraCosta College and PUENTE have shown me how I can use my strengths to make a positive impact and I’m proud to continue doing so as this year’s student trustee.”
Pilco has also served as the legislative affairs director for the college’s student government, which provided him the opportunity to represent the college as an official delegate during the general assembly for the student senate for California Community College.
The MiraCosta College student trustee is elected annually by their peers to serve as a student representative and member of the college’s Board of Trustees. Pilco joins the seven other elected trustees who each represent and reside in a specific area of the college district, which includes the communities of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Olivenhain, Leucadia, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar and parts of Carmel Valley.
