Newly elected student body president Camalah Saleh meets with faculty in the Department of Political Science. (Photo by Geoff Thurner)
When Fresno State junior Camalah Saleh received the good news that her mother, Omalkhair Aikhamry, had received her U.S. citizenship after living in the Central Valley for 18 years, it brought tears to her eyes.
Saleh, the newly elected Associated Students Inc. president and a finalist for the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship, is the child of Yemeni immigrants. She has built a resume of civic engagement — from government internships at the local, state and national level, and leading several student organizations.
The Saleh family’s move to Sanger began in 1996 when her father, Sofyan Saleh, immigrated from Ibb, which is located in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen that borders Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea. The rest of the family followed in 2007 when Camalah, the second-youngest of six sisters and brothers, moved at the age of 3 with her mother, who became a U.S. citizen this past fall.
“I was so happy for her, because the immigration process is something that still shapes your perspective decades later,” Saleh said. “I had helped her with the paperwork process, so I could see how much she deserved this.”
The younger Saleh, however, was unable to be at the citizenship recognition event this past fall because she was in Washington, D.C., working as an intern for U.S. Congressional member Linda Sanchez, who represents District 38 in Los Angeles.
Saleh was selected for the position through the Panetta Institute Congressional Internship Program. She was Fresno State’s selection, based on her extensive background in politics, policy and public service.
During her 11 weeks there, she worked with the staff to serve District 38 constituents’ needs and prepared background reports on upcoming legislative bills in the areas of education, food assistance programs, health care, housing and wildfires.
Other responsibilities included researching national issues, and preparing notes from nearly 40 international embassy meetings with experts and representatives with ties to the Middle East, South America and other international organizations.
“It was an experience I will never forget, and I learned so much,” Saleh said. “The bureaucratic process is slow, and moving legislation forward takes time and much effort. However, Washington, D.C. is full of endless opportunities, and I was able to explore various career fields.”
As a finalist now for the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation program, she hopes to travel back to the East Coast next summer to start graduate school and begin a path to shaping public policy. But first she will participate in the College of Social Sciences commencement ceremony from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16, at the Save Mart Center.
Over 700 of the nation’s brightest students, who are interested in careers in public service or the nonprofit sector, applied for about 60 slots in the program.
For Saleh, now one of 201 finalists, that challenge may be even steeper since only a handful of students from California have been accepted in recent years as she competes against students from many of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
The program provides students selected up to $30,000 to attend graduate school. Each Truman Scholar receives additional leadership training, career counseling and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.
She first heard about the program as a Fresno State freshman when she began researching law schools, and saw that Yale has had five Truman Scholars. Although no records are available, the political science department believes she might be Fresno State’s first finalist.
To help her apply, the political science major enlisted help from faculty, Dr. Lisa Bryant, Dr. Thomas Holyoke and Dr. Everett Vieira III, who wrote letters of recommendation along with Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and Fresno City Council member Tyler Maxwell.
Political science faculty gave her additional tips for the in-person interview and writing essays tied to her experience and perspective on leadership, community service, inspirational classes, societal issues and her career plans after graduate school.
Saleh said she was unsure about applying until speaking with Vieira. “He reminded me that I didn’t think I would get the Panetta internship, so he said he believed in me and encouraged me to do it.”
For those who know Saleh’s background, it’s not surprising she is a finalist after graduating with a 4.3 GPA at Sanger High School. Higher education is not the norm for prior generations of her family. Her parents did not receive their high school degrees, but they supported her decision to attend Fresno State.
As a high school senior, she had been accepted at University of California, Berkeley, but after seeing its large enrollment, she instead accepted her Fresno State admission. The deciding factor was an invitation to join the Smittcamp Family Honors College and its challenging and supportive academic program. The program’s Presidential Honors Scholarship, which covers tuition and housing on campus, sealed the decision.
“I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school, so lowering the financial burden for myself and my family had obvious appeal,” Saleh said. “I felt that the Smittcamp program would be special. I liked the aspect that you could find faculty here that were talented, yet approachable, and you weren’t just a face in the crowd.”
Since then, she has taken special classes with her 50-member Smittcamp cohort who are immersed in special academic experiences that include research, internships, mentorships and volunteer and community outreach activities.
“Those students are like a family on campus, even though we come from such different backgrounds and degree areas,” Saleh said. “Every year students from all four cohorts even spend a weekend at Huntington Lake getting to develop friendships through fun activities.”
She once had a chance to present about her background to 150 Smittcamp honors students so they could learn more about her background and Yemen from a personal perspective.
This semester, she has balanced a 21-unit semester with another challenge, a run for ASI President, which she won on April 3.
Her campaign platform rested on a need for change on campus. Among the initiatives she proposed, she wanted to fight food insecurity with food vouchers, free vending machines, lower parking costs, improved accessibility and expanded resources and essential campus upgrades.
“After spending three years on campus involved in various on- and off-campus organizations, I saw firsthand the changes students needed and how ASI could help make that happen,” Saleh said. “I decided to take a leap of faith and create that change myself for our students. I’m extremely excited for this position — not only to complete my initiatives but to serve as an open door for all students and their concerns.”
She is also part of the campus speech and debate team, Pi Sigma Alpha political science honors society, Lambda Pi Eta national communication honors society and League of Women Voters campus chapter, where she serves as its secretary and former president. She additionally serves as the communication director for the Arab-American Caucus.
She has also continued to work part-time at the campus Maddy Institute. She uses experience from her second degree path, communications, to help produce its TV show, assist with the internship program and plan events to encourage citizen participation through informed political dialogue to better connect students, government officials and the Central Valley community.
That sensitivity to serving a campus full of different views was front and center in the fall of 2024 when she helped start the Students for Palestinian Liberation at Fresno State. The student organization promotes an agenda grounded in freedom, solidarity, equality and safety and aims to amplify student voices and create a dialogue about the Israel-Palestine crisis.
In addition, she planned a speaker event while she was in Washington, D.C. last summer that featured Stanislaus State political science professor Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil, who discussed the origins of the Arab-Israeli war.
“Politics involves balancing different interests and trying to be a good listener,” Saleh said, “even when it can be frustrating when your personal background and beliefs aren’t possibly aligned with the topic. Being a leader often forces you to be as non-partisan as you can on issues. The key, I’ve learned from others, seems to be staying focused on connecting with others personally, and trying to find ways to improve their lives.”
She has also been appointed as a studeint representative to the President’s Muslim Leadership Council. The group of students, faculty and community members meets bi-annually to discuss university measures for Muslims on campus, which recently included a Ramadan display on the second floor of the library.
With her expected Fresno State graduation in spring 2026, Saleh hopes to pursue a combined master’s degree in public policy or international affairs with a law degree, and potentially run for public office eventually.
After interning last year with the Fresno County District Attorney’s office and Fresno City Councilmember Maxwell, she now interns with the office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla.
After pursuing those graduate degrees, she said, “I am committed to returning to the Central Valley to practice immigration law and serve our community. The immigration system is complex and evolving. Many communities often lack awareness of or access to necessary resources, so I want to directly support individuals, families and communities and make a meaningful difference in their lives.”
