Senior Spotlight: SGA President Ava Caudle ‘25 On Academics, Personal Development, Goals for Term and Beyond

Nick Cimillo ’26

Features Editor

When tracing the roots of Ava Caudle’s ’25 fascination with government and public policy, it may seem hard to believe that such interests stemmed from a love of writing fiction. “When I was in elementary and middle school,” she recounted in an interview with the Tripod, “I wanted to be the next J.R.R. Tolkien. I wanted to be a fiction writer and also the editor of The New Yorker.” Emboldened by these aspirations, Caudle decided to go right to the source: “I emailed, at age 13, the editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, and I basically asked him: ‘How do I get your job?’ And from there he was very courteous, a little surprised that a 13 year old was basically sending him fanmail.”

The advice she received from the editor was fairly straightforward: to read anything and everything that she could. It’s a simple tip on paper, but following through with it had a profound impact on Caudle’s intellectual interests. “I was a little hesitant to read anything besides fiction at that point. So I decided to start small, and that was with reading the news. As I read the news, I realized that there’s a lot more overlap between fiction and reality than I thought there was before, and that fiction can also reflect reality. So I became invested in both.” Eventually, she jumped from reading the news to biographies and political narratives. Her love of writing lent itself well to an interest in written advocacy. “I became so passionate about the issues that [nonfiction authors] were writing about, and I wanted to write about or advocate for those causes as well.” All of this, combined with an interest in public speaking, created a kind of perfect storm for Caudle: “That all just kind of merged perfectly into the prospect of a law career,” she said. “I’m really grateful to have found something that merges all my interests in that way.”

Coming to Trinity from Tampa, Fla., Caudle has since channeled those interests into a Public Policy & Law and Human Rights double major and Community Action minor. Alongside cultivating her existing legal aspirations, her time at Trinity has given her ample opportunity to branch out towards different realms of law she hadn’t previously considered. “A good example of that is incarceration,” she noted. “Before college, I had no clue that I’d be interested in the jail system or criminal justice reform at all. But after taking a single class as a freshman, I became so invested [in it], and that just kind of snowballed into internships with grassroots organizations.” Caudle is currently interning at the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, an independent justice reform organization, and plans to continue with research on the prison system after graduating.

In addition to fostering an ever-growing intellectual curiosity, Caudle emphasized key personal developments she has undergone, particularly during her semester abroad in Vienna, Austria. “I think you learn a lot about yourself when you’re going [overseas] for the first time. I think I learned a lot about just how resourceful I can be under circumstances that I hadn’t previously faced… I did a lot of solo travel to places that I was very unfamiliar with, and being in situations where you have to think on your feet, [like having] no service in Slovenia, and nobody speaks English and you can’t access your phone’s map.” In addition to learning how to reinterpret such daunting scenarios as “opportunities for growth and learning,” Caudle expressed deep appreciation for the cultural immersion and new knowledge of different legal systems afforded to her by her time abroad. 

Academic and personal developments such as these, Caudle believes, have left her better equipped to handle the numerous extracurricular activities and leadership positions now facing her during her senior year. For just a few examples, Caudle serves as a member of the student office staff of the Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement, the first year seminar mentor for FYSM 123 (Human Rights in Photography, Film, and Pop Culture) and the vice president of the Cleo of Alpha Chi literary society. Perhaps most notably, though, she is this year’s president of the Student Government Association (SGA), a position meant to bridge the gap between the student body and Trinity’s administrative personnel.

Fulfilling the role of SGA president is a responsibility Caudle takes “with a lot of gravity,” and, simultaneously, one she hopes to “add her own twist to.” She went on to share some of her primary goals for her term: “As someone who had the privilege of watching our previous president really rebuild the infrastructure of SGA, I really view Jake (McPhail ’24, Caudle’s predecessor) as an example for how I could continue on with that this year and, in addition, integrate my own values and leadership style.” In addition to continued internal changes, Caudle hopes for SGA to hone in on its connections with “student organizations, wellness and administrative initiatives for inclusion.” She also advocates for what she calls the “popping of the Trinity bubble.” “Get off campus!” she emphasized. “I think getting off campus is one of the best ways to really become…the best Bantams we can be. I think part of… earning a degree is applying it in a way that applies to the community around you — partaking in community service, even eating at a local restaurant, I think are excellent ways to get involved.”

After graduating from Trinity, Caudle aims to delve into legal work with the private sector for some time before attending law school. “I believe that I would be remiss if I didn’t get some kind of real world experience before learning about law in the abstract,” she explained. “I think law is meant to be applied. So what’s important to me is getting a full scale perspective of different ways that the world works, different ways that policy works, so that I can apply the law in the best way possible and be the best advocate that I can be.”