Bettylenah Njaramba, a fourth year at North Carolina Central University studying Elementary Education, is the newly elected president of the UNC Association of Student Governments (ASG). In an interview with Technician, Njaramba discussed her experience in ASG, being the first African American president of ASG, and her goals for the upcoming term.
How did you get involved in ASG?
My sophomore year after I was freshman class president, I served as campus liaison for my campus after I had attended ASG as one of the delegates for NCCU and I just fell in love with ASG. So, when that following year came up I wanted to be more involved in ASG so I served as campus liaison for two years. It was kind of my experience and background being in ASG for three years and knowing how it operated I wanted to get more involved. Then, I ran for president this past March and now I’ll be going into my senior year serving in that position so student government for me, with my personality, it felt like that was my niche. Anything to do with people, and students and talking about issues and advocating for different things on campus was my passion.
What are your goals for this position?
I’m excited to be in the position, being the person I am coming from NCCU, being a black woman, being the first, of course, is very exciting. Being able to open that door for anyone that might have felt like they couldn’t have done it just because of the history of the position, I am definitely empowered by that as well. I’m just excited about the change that I’m going to be able to bring to ASG and getting people engaged in things going on in our system. I think another really important thing about ASG is that it really just reminds us of the power that we have as students. I think a lot of the time, as a student and being young, and having our whole lives ahead of us, a lot of the time it can be intimidating to speak up and know we have power behind our voices, so being able to champion that is well is something that I am really excited about.
You are the first African American woman that has been elected to this position, how do you think this will impact your time in office?
It definitely had an impact for me being in this position, I think that’s been a huge part. Definitely utilizing the platform that I’ve been given to further the mission of ASG. But being black and being a woman … I was born that way, it’s what I’ve always been. I don’t at all find it something that I have in mind when I am passing these issues because its affects me, it’s who I am, So I wouldn’t necessarily say it is something that I have in mind when I am in this position but it is something that is very much so, a part and parcel of me and I can’t separate that from me. But, I definitely can say it does have an influence on the issues that I find important.
What are some misconceptions people have about ASG and how do you as president, intend on tackling those misconceptions?
I think that the awareness of ASG isn’t even there, so a lot of people don’t even know about it and that can lead to a lot of misconceptions. Probably the biggest misconception is that we operate completely off of student dollars. When it comes to anything students are paying for, there can be a lot of questions being that not every student can attend ASG, so I think the biggest misconception would be the appropriation of funds which is definitely a valid concern being that a small minority of students attend ASG, but it’s funded by the entire system. Our records are very public when it comes to anything that has to do with our budget, our money, so I would definitely want to air out any of those concerns. I think a big thing is transparency itself, for those people that do attend ASG, one thing that I definitely want to tackle is voicing things … that a lot of students may not be aware of, sharing those things and being transparent about things and being an advocate of issues that are happening on our campuses.
You’re an Education major, how do you see your experience in ASG panning out in your career?
Education is something that I’ve always been very passionate about. I’ve always had a passion for kids and just about education in general because I’m also an immigrant. So education is really the sole reason why I’m here, my parents were seeking further education. So education has always been very important to me and teaching is a part and parcel of that. So I’ve always wanted to go into the field of education and I know typically a lot of people in student government aren’t education majors. But, I think that utilizing the platform of being a teacher is a way to cultivate future leaders as well. I definitely plan on using my SGA experience in my classroom. In the future, letting students know that they have the power to speak up on different issues because, especially being a student, you have so many different authorities over you and that can definitely be intimidating and a lot of students may silence their voices because of that but I definitely think being young and being in college we have so many resources and so many platforms available to speak on things that affect us every day and that if we don’t speak on those issues those decisions are going to be made for us regardless.
