Nigerian-born Chimezie Ebiriekwe has emerged the new President of the Associated Students of San Diego University, California, USA.
The results were announced following a peaceful election that featured four candidates. However, Ebiriekwe won the poll with 3,454 votes. While his closest opponent, Ben Delbick got 1,189, Chloe Sension got 1,014 and Kaitlyn Hart got 94.
Addressing the media after the results were announced; Ebiriekwe, who hails from Imo state, spoke on how he got involved with students’ union politics in the United States.
He said: “Originally, coming on campus, I was not involved with Associated Students.
“I was chief financial officer of the African Student Union and from there I saw the impact I made within that organization and then I sought out to be the chief financial officer of the Student African-American Brotherhood during my second year.
“I just continuously saw the impact I was making within the university and I saw the issues our community was facing so I decided to seek out Associated Students and be involved in decision-making processes.
“I was a part of making sure our voice was heard, whether it’s in student life or academics or university affairs, I just wanted to make sure that I was representing the community.
“I got on the University Affairs Board, and from there I became knowledgeable about the position of Vice President of University Affairs.
“I learnt that students’ were not able to get firsthand information about what’s going on in the university. Usually, knowledge about what’s happening on campus is just like reading a newsletter that is posted to the 2018 freshman page.
“That’s howwe find out what went on, what the repercussion from that was, and who made the decision,
“I felt like students needed to know the issues rightly when they arrive and be able to give feedback to the faculty and staff. To be able to reach out to the students and get insight on what they think should be done.”
Associated Students is akin to the Students’ Union Government (SUG) in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
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