Making History: Tufts Elects First Black Female Student Body President

MEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — History has been made at Tufts University -- where a Black woman has been elected student body president for the first time in the institutions 169 years.

Amma Agyei of Marlborough is a pre-med junior studying biomedical engineering. She said that when she first arrived on campus as a freshman, she never saw herself interested in politics.

"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 approached by many of her peers asking her to run for president, she began a campaign based on values of unity and togetherness.

"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?'"

When she began her campaign Agyei was not aware that she would be the first Black woman to hold the title.

"I want other black women to know they're qualified enough to hold such a position of leadership," she said. "It just meant so much to me so start something."

She added that students on campus even compared her to other famous women of color in the world of American politics.

"People drew comparisons to me and [Vice President] Kamala Harris, and I would just laugh, like okay, you know, I guess," she said.

Before becoming President-Elect for the 2021-22 year, Agyei served as President of the university's Black Student Union.

WBZ NewsRadio's Chris Fama (@CFamaWBZ) reports.

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Written by Rachel Armany

(Photo: Courtesy of Amma Agyei)


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