Leila Ullmann is a member of the Class of 2021 and was born and raised in San Jose, California. She is honored to be a concentrator in African American Studies and is deeply inspired by the professors, students, and activists that she is surrounded by in the department, as well as by those who have come before her, in the creation of this critical study. She entered Princeton intending to study History or Politics, though eventually chose AAS because of its interdisciplinary nature that holds questions of race, class, and power in the center of all of its questions, recognizing that these questions are integral for studying anything else. She is interested in studying the ways that grassroots and community-based movements and approaches seek to address and solve new and pre-existing oppressive systems based on racism, classism, misogyny, homophobia, and other ideations of fear and power. In addition to African American Studies, Leila is pursuing certificates in Latin American Studies and Dance.

On campus, she is a leader in Students for Prison Education and Reform, a tutor for Petey Greene, and a member of Expressions Dance Company. Over the summers, she has worked with UnCommon Law as a Bogle Fellow, a legal organization in Oakland that represents lifers in their parole hearings, as well as with the Detroit Justice Center as a Liman Fellow, a movement lawyering organization in Detroit. While she has yet to determine what will be of her post-Princeton future, Leila is determined to use her education to contribute to the fight for justice. She is interested in the ways that law can be used as a tool for supporting that fight, and is considering attending law school post-graduation.