African Leadership Academy alumnae, Abii-Tah Bih ‘14, from Cameroon, was elected by The 57th General Assembly of the Associated Students of Michigan State University (MSU) to be the new Undergraduate Student Body President for the 2020-21 academic year.
“Even before I ever stepped foot at MSU, I really knew that I wanted to find purpose in empowering everybody, empowering my peers through ASMSU. And so even before I even Googled where the map of Michigan was, I already Googled what the student government at MSU looks like,” said Abii-Tah
Abii-Tah most recently served as a representative in the General Assembly, for the James Madison College, and has served as chair of the cultural exchange committee and an ASMSU representative in the University Council.
She believes that “Everybody is able to partake and share this history that we are creating by running this election, and I really want every single person to understand that the position of president at ASMSU is a position that we can all run for. It’s a democratized position, and nobody should ever have to feel intimidated running for that position as long as they know who they want to serve, how they want to serve and who they want to empower through the process.”
Currently a student at Michigan State University, under a MasterCard Foundation Scholarship, Abii-Tah is particularly interested in projects that governments, international organizations, and civil societies undertake to amplify the voices of their people. She is also very interested in diversity within government and ensuring the adequate representation of marginalized groups. Abii-Tah enjoys working at the grassroots, governmental, and international levels to empower everyone – women and young people.
She has fought against social issues like sexual violence on platforms such as the Student Leaders Summit at the Hague, Netherlands – organized by Education First Education Abroad. She spoke to an audience of over 2000 about the importance of pushing back when one’s human rights are stepped upon. Since then, Abii-Tah has gone ahead to participate in other conferences like the National Students Leadership Forum, Washington DC, the National Prayer Breakfast, Washington DC, the Baobab Summit, Kigali, Rwanda.
Congratulations, Abii-Tah on this very prestigious accomplishment!
If you know of any young leader in your community, who has leadership potential like Abii-Tah, nominate them to study at ALA.
