CWU introduces student trustee for 2026-27

The Central Washington University Board of Trustees oversees the operations of the entire university, and as such, requires a student voice among the ranks to ensure its work accomplishes its ultimate goal of serving the student body.

Every year, a Student Trustee is selected by the Washington Governor’s Office to become a voting member of the board. This year’s selection, announced earlier this summer by Governor Bob Ferguson, is Aylin Parrazal-Bravo, a third-year law and justice and political science major with a talent for community service and advocacy.

“I’m really passionate about civic work and serving the people in my community,” Parrazal-Bravo said. “I have the student perspective, I have the student government perspective, and through this position, I hope to broaden my understanding even further at the institutional level.”

Originally from Lake Tahoe, California, Parrazal-Bravo’s family moved to Central Washington when she was in seventh grade. After starting out in Roslyn, they ended up settling in Yakima, where she graduated from Eisenhower High School. When she decided to attend college at CWU, she became the first in her family to do so.

“I like small towns, and I like getting out in nature, so Central was a good fit for me that also didn’t require me to go too far from my family,” Parrazal-Bravo said. “That and the diversity on campus have really made me feel at home.”

Initially looking for a place to study animation, Parrazal-Bravo pivoted to her current field as a means of giving back to her community and helping protect the resources that marginalized groups depend on for survival.

Her path became clear to her during an internship with APOYO, a nonprofit food bank on the Ellensburg campus that has been faced with budget cuts in recent years.

“When I saw APOYO’s budget getting cut at the federal level, and their services limited as a result, I realized what I was meant to do,” she said. “It hurt to see, and I knew I wanted to help fight for those services everywhere, for everyone. I want the power to fight back against that kind of injustice.”

Parrazal-Bravo’s passion for justice has given her a broad appetite within the field, one she hopes to leverage on her way to her ultimate career goal.

“I’m interested in so many things within law,” she said. “I want to study constitutional law, civic, criminal, all of it, working my way up from an attorney to eventually become a judge, helping people as much as I can along the way.”

During her time at CWU, Parrazal-Bravo has served as vice president of the Law and Justice Club, as well as Senate Speaker for ASCWU student government, positions that she says have prepared her well for her new role.

“My experience in student government helped me develop my backbone and expand my boundaries,” she said. “It was a tough position with a lot of pressure, but it prepared me for the kind of work that I’ll be doing as Student Trustee in terms of communication and compromise.”

Outside of school, Parrazal-Bravo works as a street outreach specialist for Rod’s House, a Yakima-based nonprofit working to end youth homelessness through a variety of services.

“We do homeless prevention and assistance for Yakima youth, helping them find a place to sleep, wash their clothes, get a good meal, and a bunch of other stuff,” she said. “We also teach classes on cooking, cleaning, CPR, and other essential life skills that might not be available to everyone. We try to provide a stepping stone for people to get their life going on the right track.”

With a new school year fast approaching, Parrazal-Bravo finds herself looking forward to seeing her professors, meeting new friends, and making an impact in the community she has grown to love.

“In a position like this, you’re not just serving an institution, you’re serving the people inside it,” she said. “I’m really excited to get started.”