CT State Northwestern Student Dakota Lawson to Serve on the CT Board of Regents

Winsted – Connecticut State Community College (CT State) Northwestern is proud to announce Northwestern student Dakota Lawson has been named to serve as elected chair of the Connecticut Board of Regents (BOR) Student Advisory Council, representing all of the more than 65,000 community college students in the state.  

The BOR is the governing body for the Connecticut State College and University (CSCU) system, which includes CT State Community College, the largest community college in the Northeast, as well as Central, Eastern, Western, and Southern CT State Universities, and Charter Oak State College. BOR members are appointed by the governor and include representation from across the state. The chairs of the BOR Student Advisory Committees are elected by their student peers and serve as voting members of the BOR.

“We are all very proud to have Dakota Lawson as the CT State student representative on the Board of Regents,” said Northwestern’s campus president, Michael Rooke, Ph.D. “Dakota is an exceptional student and very much engaged with students, professors, and the campus overall. I’m sure he will be an excellent voice for all CT State Community College students as a voting member of our governing body.”

A current resident of Torrington, Lawson was born in Indio, California where his father was a tribal council member of the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla. When he was just a toddler, he was brought to Canton, CT to live with his grandfather. He graduated from Canton High School in 2015 but said he wasn’t always the successful student he is now.

“I was a D student­­—I failed ceramics and swore I would never go to college,” he said. “After high school I began to emotionally hide-out by working an overnight job. I was later promoted to night supervisor. That lasted four years and then there was COVID.”

Like so many young adults, the shutdown changed Lawson’s living circumstances. “During the shutdown, I lost my job and backed out of an apartment I had planned on renting. So, then I went and lived with my partner and her family.”

It was his partner who urged him to take the college placement tests, which led to enrolling part-time in 2019, then full-time in 2023 when he also began being involved in campus activities. “I started with the pumpkin carving competition,” he said with a chuckle. “Then gingerbread making—but PTK pushed me way out of my comfort zone.”

As well as a member of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society, Lawson serves as treasurer of the Student Government Association, is editor-in-chief of Northwestern’s “Moosecast” podcast, was featured on The College Tour, an award-winning TV series that shares real stories of student from across the country, and serves as a student mentor helping first year students navigate college. “I remember what it was like when I first started taking classes,” he said. “I like working with new students and find satisfaction in helping students, pointing them in a direction they may not have been aware of.”

As well as being a full-time student, Lawson works as a laser tag party host and seasonal scare actor, two jobs he is proud of. “Having a job that I enjoy has been a core objective of mine since I was young and it feels empowering to allow myself to go out and find those fulfilling jobs,” he said.

Lawson plans to graduate in May 2026 with an associate degree in liberal arts. He is looking forward to continuing his education at a four-year institution, studying filmmaking, which has been a passion of his since he was young.

“Leaving my life on campus will be bittersweet. I will always be appreciative of the opportunities I found at Northwestern,” he said. "Being a Northwestern student helped me realize my potential to grow into someone I never saw myself becoming. It's been an adventure in the truest sense of the word. It's sad to leave, especially after just starting to get so involved on campus. But I am excited to transfer with a revitalized outlook on life, and I will always have my time at Northwestern to thank for it."

Lawson said he looks forward to spending his last semester on campus serving on the BOR and believes the rewards are two-fold. “I see it as a way to continue my personal growth and as a great opportunity to give back to a community who have made me what I am today,” He is hoping his work on the BOR will include bringing several initiatives to completion and driving a new initiative concerning student mental health needs.

“The Northwestern campus is proud to have had several of our students elected to the Student Advisory Council in recent years including Luis Sanchez and Carla Galaise,” said Rooke. “I am confident the board will be well served by Dakota’s contributions, and I look forward to learning of his continued success.”