Jones headed to NYU for master’s program

May 14, 2024

Senior Donivan Jones will take his passion for improving students’ lives with him as they attend New York University to get a master’s degree in student affairs and higher education.

Donivan sits at a table in Cornell campus cafe holding a cup of coffee. — Jones said he’ll miss Zamora’s staff knowing their coffee order without saying anything.

This graduate enjoyed serving Cornellians as the Student Senate student body president during his senior year and wants to continue to create change. The sociology major will move to New York following graduation to prepare for their master’s program to begin in the fall of 2024.

“I am looking forward to continuing to redefine what higher education means and improving it for the student population,” Jones said. “My leadership at Cornell has taught me that while higher education has its difficulties, it is possible to work to fix them and help students become amazing members of society and express themselves within it.”

Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Madison Dockter oversees the Student Senate and says Jones is a strong leader. She’s excited to see what he’ll accomplish in the future.

“They’re communicative, personable, and remain focused on bettering the student experience at Cornell. He supported the Senate through realizing their goals, including bringing (mini) horses to campus! Donivan’s unwavering commitment as student body president reflects the care they have for the Cornell community. I know he’ll have a positive influence on his peers at New York University.”

For this senior profile, we asked Jones a few questions before they graduated to learn more about his time at Cornell and his future. Here’s what they said:

Donivan sits on the edge of the Orange Carpet, a campus gathering place, looking at the camera. — Jones spent a lot of time in the Thomas Commons because of their involvement in Student Senate.

What was your major and what did you like about it?

Sociology. I love getting to explore new and different things from the sociological perspective and thinking of things holistically rather than individually. Sociology has taught me that there is always context to situations and I love exploring those.

How did Cornell help prepare you for the future?

Having so many opportunities for campus leadership, expression, and change has been amazing and shaped me into who I am today. Being able to help other students do things for themselves has taught me what it means to be a leader. Having the ability to express myself as who I truly am and discover new pieces of my identity at Cornell has also changed my self-perspective. Opportunities for change on campus have been super important to me because so often we are told change is difficult and almost impossible to institute, but Cornell has taught me that you can make small changes and still have big impacts on the people you serve.

What was your biggest achievement while at Cornell? And what does it mean to you?

By far my biggest achievement was being given the honor to serve my fellow students as student body president. It’s something I never thought was a possibility entering college but as I learned who I was I really found myself in leadership and as a representative of my peers. I know that I made positive changes at Cornell for many students and hope they know that everything I did was in their best interest and for them completely and entirely. Seeing the change I could make on campus and beyond really made me who I am. It made me more outgoing, get involved, go out with friends more, and appreciate the things everyone does for me.

What will you miss the most about Cornell?

The friends and mentors I have made here <3. It’s going to be so hard going into the future without them as a support system but I know they have prepared me well for the next chapter in my life and will be forever grateful to them for that. Plus I’ll miss Zamora’s knowing my coffee order without me saying it.

Were you involved in any activities or student orgs that had an important impact on your journey through college life?