11/16/2020
ASA President's outgoing message
It is with great pleasure and much humility that I write today as the outgoing President of the African Students’ Association (ASA). I have been so incredibly honored to serve and organize alongside some of the most amazing and outstanding individuals. The ASA has made such a huge impact within the African community at SFU and beyond. It has been two years of amazing success, challenges, and above all significant learning and growth. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the amazing ASA team members whom I have worked with over the past two years who have continued to tirelessly advocate and organize on behalf of the ASA. This Association would not be where it is today without their time, motivation, and efforts.
All that the ASA has achieved to date calls for much appreciation and celebration. Since its inception in 2012, the mission of the Association was, and still is to serve as a voice for all African students on campus and to establish a sense of identity, community, and pride. During my tenure, with support from the community, we were able to record some successful events and collaborations. Over the past two years, my team and I have been committed to making significant contributions to encourage and amplify African students’ voices and interests at SFU. We engaged SFU students, faculty, and the community at large in constructive dialogues, and also created spaces for self-identified Black women, and Black Youth to represent themselves and their interests at SFU. We have been one of the most active student groups on campus in terms of the important events we organized, and the opportunities we provided for students to engage with one another. Most of the goals we set out to achieve as a team were actualized, and this is something we are very proud of.
I am truly grateful for the support we received from the community at large, the community at SFU, as well as student groups on campus such as the Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry. Most importantly, I would like to extend my gratitude to all the students that supported and attended our events and made running the ASA a memorable experience overall. It has been a pleasure serving you all. Lastly, I cannot talk about the success of the ASA without acknowledging those that have come before us. Thank you for laying the foundation and for starting this important work.
From an insider perspective, there is so much more that can be achieved with a united and cohesive team. Our plan as the outgoing executive committee is to fully support the incoming executives to ensure they maximize the available potentials to take the ASA to greater heights.
A detailed report of the work we accomplished over the past two years is linked below: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ckZ9wyLr3DI22XYE3BjHJXtsfH_CXWCn/view?usp=sharing
Serving as president was a most rewarding and humbling experience, and this is something I will always treasure in my heart. Organizing with the ASA brought me a sense of joy and shared accomplishment I will never forget. My deepest thanks for the opportunity to serve this association.
Yours truly,
Natasha Mhuriro
President (2018-2020)
