Hun School, Princeton Graduate Leaves Job At Google For Activism

PRINCETON, NJ — A graduate of the Hun School in Princeton, gave up a lucrative job at Google to become a full-time activist.

Saraya Hamidi, a 2016 graduate of Hun School spoke about becoming a full-time activist at the Hun School’s annual MLK Leadership Summit held this week.

The MLK Leadership Summit is a three-day workshop that takes place over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend each year.

Hamidi was working as an account strategist at Google, when over the summer she learned about the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man from Aurora Colorado.

McClain died days after he was detained by the Aurora Police Department in August 2019, as he was walking back home from the convenience store.

She created an Instagram page @justiceforElijahMcClain, in hopes of bringing justice to McClain and his family. She also launched an online petition calling for the officers involved in McClain’s death to be held accountable. The petition has over 5.6 million signatures.

During that time, she worked at her corporate job during the day, and at night spent time raising awareness about the case.

“I was working so hard all day for my job and then working so hard all night on something that I’m really passionate about.” she said at the online forum.

Hamidi has worked with celebrities like Ben Platt, Virgil Abloh, Jonathan Van Ness, Busy Philipps, and others to create a viral video, putting sustained pressure on city officials to arrest the police officers involved in Elijah’s death.

But juggling a full-time job and activism was tough. So Hamidi decided to quit her job at Google.

“I realized that I want to be working in a space that leaves the greatest impact and that fulfills me. Eventually, I knew that I could be making a much bigger impact if I dedicate all of my time and energy to this,” she said.

During her time as a student at Hun, Hamidi was an active member of the Diversity Club and the Middle Eastern Club.

“The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department taught me everything I needed to know,” Ms. Hamidi said. “It’s where I really found my home and I wouldn’t be doing any of this work if it wasn’t for everything that this department taught me.”

Since dedicating her time and energy to the Justice for Elijah McClain project, Hamidi has worked with the city council in Colorado.

Recently, ketamine, the drug that was used to kill Elijah was made illegal for law enforcement to use and his case has just been moved to the grand jury.