Meet Christina Demetropoulos, UNC Asheville’s incoming student body vice-president

The university’s incoming student body vice-president, a current sophomore at UNC Asheville, Demetropoulos, is preparing to step into a larger leadership role after serving as sophomore senator, parliamentarian and chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee.

“Exciting. I still can’t believe it,” she said.

Her path to UNC Asheville was almost accidental. During a free application week, her mother encouraged her to apply. At the time, she had been set on UNC Greensboro for years.

But something shifted when she visited.

“When we toured here — that’s when I fell in love,” she said. “Asheville and the campus itself were so beautiful.”

What stood out just as much was the campus culture. She remembers seeing protest writing on sidewalks — a sign, she said, of a student body unafraid to engage with the world around it.

Coming from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where she spent all four years of high school, UNC Asheville felt familiar in the best way possible, she said.

“It feels like a second home,” she said. “I have so much faith in this place and what it can be that I can never see myself anywhere else.”

That sense of belonging was quickly complicated.

“I had declared I was coming here and I was ready to go and I was excited and then I found out about the majors getting cut,” she said.

At the time, she was planning a minor in legal studies, closely tied to the philosophy department — one of several programs affected by cuts. Watching those changes unfold created a sense of urgency.

“Just seeing that big of a change at this university and the level of uncertainty that came with it immediately had me wanting to get engaged in some way to fight for these departments,” she said.

Even before officially joining student government, she showed up.

“I was not a senator my freshman year, but I still went to every meeting,” she said.

By her sophomore year, she had stepped fully into the work, taking on multiple roles within the Student Government Association. Her focus now is on preserving the departments that remain while pushing for improvements across campus — from housing and dining to addressing ableism and transphobia.

“It just made me realize that this is something I can do in college and continue to work to elevate student voices,” she said.

Demetropoulos describes her approach to leadership in simple terms: listen first.

“You can’t be a good member of SGA if you’re not willing to listen to the student body,” she said. “I want to be known as someone who listened to everyone’s concerns, who did everything possible to repair everything that needed to be fixed.”

She’s also drawn to understanding how things work, leading her to double major in sociology and women, gender and sexuality studies.

“I’m the kind of person where I really like knowing how a thing works or why it does what it does,” she said. “Sociology is literally just that.”

Despite the uncertainty surrounding program cuts, Demetropoulos remains grounded in what she values most about UNC Asheville: its people.

“I really do love a lot of the people,” she said. “I think I’ve made some incredible friends here and I’ve worked with some incredible faculty members.”

Outside of student government, much of her life still revolves around the arts.

She has been playing violin since she was six years old and now performs as an electric violinist in the pep band and with the Blue Ridge Orchestra.

“Doing pep band has been one of my favorite things,” she said. “The music department is incredible.”

Outside of performing, she spends much of her time listening to music as well. She gravitates toward indie artists and said she’s the kind of person who will “listen to everything once,” always looking for something new.

Demetropoulos also enjoys seeing music live, often going to concerts in Asheville when she can.

She competes on two of the university’s esports teams — Marvel Rivals and a Splatoon 3 team in which she serves as captain — and follows sports closely. In quieter moments, she writes poetry and fiction, often returning to older books she loved.

“I’m a nostalgic reader,” she said.