On April 24, Amma Agyei won the Tufts Community Union Senate presidential election by the Tufts Elections Commission (ECOM). She will serve as a student leader in the 2021-22 academic year, becoming their first Black woman student body president in history after 169 years.
The bio-medical engineering major said she never could’ve imagined being in politics, according to WBZ News Radio.
“I told myself ‘no, this is not for me,'” Agyei said. “[But later I said] this is a part of me, I am always interested in making changes and helping to represent their needs, so I have to.”
After being encouraged by her peers, Agyei began to campaign using the pillars of togetherness and unity as a focal point.
“I consider myself a unifier, and [at first] I didn’t think that — I didn’t think my interests aligned with so many different groups on this campus,” she said. “But then I realized we actually see eye-to-eye on many issues, and [I said] ‘okay, we’re all trying to achieve one goal. Why are we divided? why don’t we come together?'”
However, the aspiring politico never imagined she’d become the first Black woman to be student body president.
“I want other black women to know they’re qualified enough to hold such a position of leadership,” Agyei said. “It just meant so much to me, so start something.”
The ambitious student served as Black Student Union president before being elected as student body president. She relished being compared to famous Black women leaders of the world.
“People drew comparisons to me and [Vice President] Kamala Harris, and I would just laugh, like okay, you know, I guess,” she said.
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Agyei, who was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. during her junior year of high school, mentioned in an interview with The Tufts Daily that one of her goals during her presidency is to make Tufts University a positive and welcoming environment for prospective Black students.
Full of gratitude, young Agyei took to Instagram and gave thanks to her supporters.
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She said, “Thank you all for your support. I couldn’t have done this without you. We made history in this campaign, and I’m so excited to continue working with all of you as your next President!”
