A North Carolina Central University (NCCU) student has been elected president of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Association of Student Governments (ASG), the first African American woman to hold the position.
Bettylenah Njaramba, a junior majoring in elementary education, will represent the interests of students in the deliberations of the UNC Board of Governors for the 2018-2019 academic year. She will serve as chief executive officer of the organization and act as the official representative and spokesperson. She will also serve as an ex officio member of the UNC Board of Governors and the Council of Student Body Presidents.
Njaramba, a Raleigh native of Kenyan ancestry, also serves as president of NCCU’s Association of Students for a Better Africa and is a member of the university’s student government association.
She credits her African culture as a significant influence on her life and success.
“My culture is very important to who I am as a student-leader, she said in a statement released by the university. “In order to be a great servant leader you must be true to yourself.”
Njaramba said she became interested in student government through her mentor, former senior class president Brianne Gill.
In 2015, Njaramba served as freshman class president. Also during her freshman year, she served as a delegate for NCCU at ASG’s formal meeting. She has served in this role for subsequent years in addition to serving as speaker pro-temp for the 2017-2018 academic year.
After graduation she plans to join the Peace Corps with a longer-term goal of pursuing a doctoral degree to teach.
