Championing Climate Justice and Immigrant Rights

Political science junior on her aspirations as newest student regent and beyond

By Becca Brado
Albiona Selimi is a junior at UAA, pursuing her bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in women’s and gender studies and justice. A first-generation college student who was born and raised in Alaska, Selimi’s parents immigrated from North Macedonia to Alaska when they were teenagers. She now attends classes while working for her family’s business in Wasilla.

Selimi is a current member of the Honors College Leadership Track, and formerly the chief activities officer for the Union of Students at the University of Alaska Anchorage (USUAA) and a participant in Model United Nations. “I am a chronic overachiever and am always interested in participating in school programs, both for social interaction and intellectual stimulation,” she said. She joined the Honors College because she enjoys being academically challenged and chose to join USUAA because she was briefly involved in student government in high school and wanted to have a deeper experience with it.

In June 2023, Selimi was appointed to be University of Alaska student regent by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and will serve until 2025. “I want to be an advocate for issues that matter to my community and my fellow students,” she said. When she learned of the vacancy, she knew she could rise to the occasion and fulfill its roles and responsibilities. Selimi received a tremendous amount of support from her fellow USUAA members, specifically president Katie Scoggin and advisor Zac Clark. “I really enjoy the idea of being involved in the affairs and decisions of my university, and actually having a student voice that will be heard,” she said.

As a community of scholars and educators, our impact goes beyond knowledge sharing. Donors to scholarship funds that benefit extraordinary students like Selimi embody a spirit of service and kindness and make our university a place where all are welcome. Donations are a testament of commitment to our shared mission and we will continue to ensure investments are used to their fullest potential. If you support the Excellence in Women’s Studies fund, take pride knowing you are transforming the future of our university and students. Scholarship awards received by Albiona from UAA, UA and the State of Alaska include:

College of Arts and Sciences Excellence Award in Women’s and Gender Studies
21/22 UAA Seawolf Start Scholarship
21/22 UAA Honors College Administration Scholarship
22/23 and 23/24 Seawolf Persist #60179
23/24 Excellence in Women’s Studies #20742
23/24 Excellence in Arts and Sciences #20056
Four Chancellor’s Success Scholarships beginning in 21/22 (4.0 GPA — Chancellor’s List)
Alaska Performance Scholarship — multi-year award beginning in 21/22
UA Scholar — multi-year award beginning in 21/22
USUAA Service Awards — multi-year award beginning in 21/22

Selimi was inspired to major in political science when she took Advanced Placement student government during her senior year of high school. This was a tumultuous year that included a highly polarized election, a worldwide pandemic and a great deal of social unrest. She also took the class with her favorite teacher and a handful of her closest friends. They spent the year going deep into current events and important U.S. Supreme Court cases, among other things. Selimi decided to enroll in UAA’s political science program because she could not find that degree at other Alaska universities and she did not want to attend college out of state. Since enrolling at UAA, she has been delighted to find similar environments and conversations that she enjoyed in high school, but on the collegiate level.

Passionate about climate justice and immigrant rights, Selimi aspires to be a civil rights attorney to help those who need it the most. “Right now, I think I would like to end up working as a lawyer for a civil rights organization, such as the ALCU. I do have a particular interest in voting rights and women’s rights, so advocating for those within a larger advocacy group would be a perfect fit,” she said. As Alaskans, she thinks we all have a duty to be informed on climate injustices because they impact us directly, especially within the Arctic. There is a lot of scientific complexity and nuance surrounding climate change, but she believes it is a real and present threat that is already impacting us. And as a daughter of immigrants, Selimi also believes in immigration and immigrant rights. “We’ve seen too many instances where immigrants are treated as lesser-than just based on their citizenship status or country of origin,” she said.

UAA offers several programs that have allowed Selimi to pursue her passions. Because her interests often intersect, she appreciates when her classes end up relating to each other such as when she can bring knowledge from her women’s studies course into her political science course. At the moment, Selimi is most passionate about her constitutional law class. “I am a complete nerd about Supreme Court cases; I just love reading them. In this class we get to read, understand and discuss them. It provides a real foundational basis that any aspiring law student should experience,” she said.

Selimi feels that her greatest accomplishment since attending UAA was being named student regent. That aside, her time serving in USUAA has been her most rewarding work. Not only was it personally fulfilling, it was also community-fulfilling. She said, “Being able to understand the workings of UAA and the student concerns has given me great insight into the student experience at UAA, which I can hopefully bring into my term as student regent,” she said.

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