The International Student Union elected its new president and spearheaded its plans for International Week.
The International Student Union held elections for the 2015-2016 executive board Monday that including the ballot for a new president.
Hashim Pashtun, a graduate student working on his Ph.D. in environmental engineering, beat out three other candidates for the ISU presidency with a simple majority of 13 out of 20 potential votes. He will be in office for the remainder of the semester and into the next school year.
Pashtun is an international student from Afghanistan and is currently the vice president of Graduate Student Senate as well as a member of several university committees.
“This year, I felt the need (to run) due to the recent controversies in ISU,” Pashtun said. “ISU needs to redraw their image especially outside ISU. I still feel there’s a gap between member organizations and executives. That trust should be built back.”
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Pashtun said he wants international students to be better represented in university committees, to close the communication gap between ISU executives and its members and to attract more organizations interested in the international community.
“We are 4,000 students and we are a large body. (University) policies should be given to our benefit as well,” Pashtun said.
Fuko Ito, the president of the Japanese Student Association, said she likes that Pashtun has clear goals for ISU.
“That’s kind of something that I want our president to have,” Ito said. “I’ve been in ISU meetings since last year, and the concern that I had last year and this year was it was really unclear and disorganized. I think he will do a great job in organizing everything.”
The elections for the 2015-16 ISU executives took up the majority of the meeting. The general body voted on seven positions including the presidency.
International Week is on track for April 12 and Omar Kurdi, the vice president for ISU until the end of this year, encouraged member organizations to start involving themselves in the planning and volunteering processes.
“We’re really excited. IWEEK (International Week) is probably the token event for ISU. Probably our largest planning goes towards IWEEK,” Kurdi said. “ISU puts on events during the week to table and to promote the international community in Athens County.”
After spring break, newly elected executives will shadow the current ones. Pashtun will begin his role as president immediately.
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