Class of 2027

During the 2023-2024 academic year, Makai became an Assistant Video Editor for The Ithacan and helped to reach a number of milestones for the video section of the paper. These included reaching 1,000 subscribers, creating over 100 videos, and working with a large staff to win The Ithacan's Section of the Year. In addition to his work as a video editor, Makai picked up several news stories throughout the year, following some of the protests on campus and becoming the Student Governance Council beat reporter. Makai has returned to The Ithacan for Fall 2024 as a Video Co-Editor for the paper. During Fall 2024, Makai is serving as the teaching assistant for Professor John Scott’s (Director of the Doc Studies Program) senior thesis class, Documentary Workshop. In 2023-24, Makai and a small group of Park Scholars volunteered with Finger Lakes ReUse at their Ithaca ReUse Center. The group helped organize and clean used materials and worked with the marketing and social media manager to create advertisements and videos for funding. The group is continuing to work with ReUse in Fall 2024, helping to create training videos for the ReUse Center that will more easily onboard volunteers and staff. During Spring 2024, Makai also volunteered with Bike Walk Tompkins. He helped to program a film festival for Bike Walk Tompkins and reached out to filmmakers to have their films shown. In the current year, Makai is working with Ithaca Welcomes Refugees. On campus, Makai is currently the Treasurer for two organizations, IC Mixed and the Ithaca College Outing Club, and is a member of the Running Club.