Amma Agyei, a pre-med student studying biomedical engineering at Tufts University, was recently elected president of the student senate. She will be the first Black woman to occupy this role in the university’s 169-year history.
Runner-up in the election, Tim Leong, will become senate vice president.
Agyei lives in Marlborough, Massachusetts, but is originally from Ghana, moving to the United States during her junior year of high school.
She said that as the first Black woman to take on the role, she will be “paving the way for other black women to take on this role.”
“It means demonstrating that we are qualified enough to take on such roles. It means making significant changes that will be remembered,” she explained.
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The full Senate, also known as the Tufts Community Union (TCU), has an executive board of six members, seven senators from each class, eight community senators, and three trustee representatives.
Representing the student body, class senators will collaborate with the Tufts administration on issues that are important to the university. They will also be in charge of managing and distributing the student activities fee to student organizations.
A Proven Track Record in Politics
The Tufts Daily reported that Agyei is also the president of the Black Student Union, secretary of the Roti and Rum Dance Team, Africana Center Peer Leader, and formerly the Africana Community Senator in the TCU Senate.
In addition, her campaign Instagram account includes endorsements from a number of student organizations on campus, such as the Tufts Labor Coalition, Tufts African Students Organization, and the Black Student Union.
Agyei told The Tufts Daily that she is committed to making Tufts a more welcoming environment for prospective Black students and initiating reform in the university’s police department, particularly by disarming officers and improving the relationship officers have with students on campus.
She will also be working on improving conditions at the university for low-income students.