Year: Senior
Home country: Burkina Faso
Major: International business and international affairs
Student organizations/activities: First-Gen United, African Student Association, assistant manager at Lerner Health and Wellness Center
SA experience: Member of SA diversity and inclusion assembly
Favorite restaurant in the District: Founding Farmers
Favorite show from your childhood: Tom and Jerry and watching soccer
Favorite GW tradition: Going to see GW sports games
Role model: My mother
Ideal GW mascot: One that represents the diversity of our students
Proudest GW moment: Winning an intramural soccer competition and mentoring students
Dream job: A position that allows me to make change globally
Something you cannot live without: Water
Christian Zidouemba describes himself as an extrovert.
Zidouemba said he loves talking with other students as he walks around campus and attends classes, especially after more than a year of remote learning. He said the students he has met throughout his time at GW motivated him in conversations to launch his third campaign for Student Association president, which he announced earlier this month.
“I want you to remember that this election has never been about one person,” he said. “It’s about representation of the whole student body.”
If elected, Zidouemba said he will address food insecurity issues on campus, like ensuring that GW’s new unlimited dining plan will offer international food options in all three all-you-can-eat dining halls. He said he will collaborate with administrators and the GW Alumni Association to increase donations to offer more scholarships.
“I believe that being able to increase funds will also increase the diverse group of people that we want to bring on our campus,” he said.
Zidouemba said he will start school traditions, like residence hall competitions for prizes, and promote student volunteering opportunities throughout the District.
He added that as an “outsider” to the SA, having only served in it during his freshman year as a member of the diversity and inclusion assembly, and as an international student, he brings a different perspective than domestic students to his campaign by focusing more on international students at GW.
“This is our chance to move forward, not to go back to where we were and not to let us do the same mistake that we have done electing people within the SA over and over,” he said.
If elected, Zidouemba said he will lead from “the student side, not the administration side” and work to ensure the student body feels more represented by the SA in the wake of recent allegations of racism and ableism in classrooms. He said SA members should address students’ needs instead of focusing on internal reforms within the body.
“Who am I to say that every student doesn’t deserve a voice in our campus when the Student Association spent countless hours debating a pointless bylaw that doesn’t represent the students,” he said.
