By Gail Waterhouse

Sushruta Kunnenkeri can be called many things. He is a senior, a biology major and philosophy minor and the president of two student organizations. Most people, however, just call him “Sush.”

As the president of NUSTAND, Northeastern’s student organization against the genocide in Darfur, and co-president of Utsav, the campus’ South Asian student organization, Kunnenkeri said his passion comes from simply wanting to help in any way he can.

“What I’ve learned over the past five years is that there are so many people out there afflicted with so many different problems,” he said. “There are millions of problems, but also millions of people. There’s always a way to help.”

A Boston native, Kunnenkeri graduated from Boston Latin Academy and became active with the Massachusetts Pre-Engineering Program (MassPEP), where he was part of a team that built catapults for competitions. He was also involved with the Drama Club, and acted as a set designer and set manager.

“I did [MassPEP and Drama Club] mostly because I love building stuff,” Kunnenkeri said. “I love coming up with crazy ideas and getting them to work.”

Kunnenkeri brought his enthusiasm for student activism with him to Northeastern, where he worked in the Curry Student Center his freshman year.

“I was the building manager for four years, and in that time I really got to know the student groups on campus and all of the different aspects of student life,” he said.

As a commuter his first two years at Northeastern, Kunnenkeri said he also felt that working in the student center gave him “an excuse to be on campus.”

Kunnenkeri said the relationships he developed while working in the student center also influenced him.

He joined Utsav his freshman year and said Utsav, which means “celebration” or “festival” in Sanskrit, spoke to his cultural side.

“I came to Northeastern not knowing how many different groups of people there were in India,” he said. “Hindi or Sikh, Muslim, Christian and the list goes on. I wanted to educate myself on the different cultures, because there’s way too much ignorance in the world.”

After ruling out his initial plans to become a doctor, Kunnenkeri said he thought he might like to major in biology and education.

“My father was a teacher, and I’d like to be a teacher at some point in my career before I retire,” he said.

But since joining NUSTAND, Kunnenkeri said he’s thinking about law school.

“I’ve been thinking about doing something with human rights or health law,” he said. “Medicine is great but there’s a whole group of people who can’t even access the system, and we need to find a way to fix that.”

Kunnenkeri said his desire for social justice and equality is also apparent in his work with NUSTAND against the genocide in Sudan.

“I really didn’t know very much about the situation in Sudan until I helped out my friend Sunish [Oturkar, NUSTAND founder] make calls to legislators and posters to put up around campus,” he said. “From the beginning it was just passionate people gaining passion through others, and I wanted to help.”

The people Kunnenkeri works with said they noticed his passion, and were eager to praise his leadership qualities.

Shivani Rametra, a fifth year pharmacy student, said that in the four and a half years she’s known Kunnenkeri, he’s always been passionate about changing communities.

“I’ve known him since freshman year, and he’s always been involved with something and always wanted to speak up for someone,” Rametra said. “I’m amazed that with the amount of work he has, whether at NUSTAND or Utsav, he always gets everything done.”

Delaney Bannister, a sophomore international affairs and communication studies dual major, said Kunnenkeri’s motivation and drive makes him a good leader.

“He’s passionate about everything, he can do anything,” Bannister said. “He just puts his mind to whatever needs to get done and does it. He’s amazing.”

Kunnenkeri said education has been the central theme behind activities he has participated in at Northeastern.

“The foundation of everything is education,” he said. “Education doesn’t necessarily mean paying tuition and taking classes. Educate yourself and then go out and educate others.”