Ashesi is in its sixth year of student government activity, and it is thrilling to lead such an amazing student community – a group of people who are mustering the courage it will take to confront the challenges facing our generation; who work hard each passing day with the hope of transforming our society; and who are doing it not just for themselves, but for their children, and their children’s children.

I am pleased to welcome you to the campus life page, and to share with you a little of what student life is like at Ashesi.  

The Ashesi Student Council (ASC)

The Ashesi Student Council (ASC) is the governing body for students of Ashesi University and is made up of executive and judicial officers.

In November last year, students voted for a new constitution to allow an elected ASC president to appoint a cabinet to work with. This was towards building a culture of trust among student leaders – to challenge student leaders to make the right choices, even in selecting the people to work with.

Our mission is quite simple. While partnering the University administration on our challenging mission to transform our continent, we engage the student community in making the Ashesi experience better through outside-the-classroom activities.

Our traditions

At Ashesi, we have very strong traditions but, there’s one that means so much to us – the honour system. It embodies our resolve to pursue our academic goals in an honest and ethical environment. Because, we believe that the efforts of the influential – our teachers and consultants; our nurses and media practitioners; our farmers and politicians – cannot transform our society if they are not built on the values of ethics and integrity.

Currently, the honour code is built around our academic endeavours – exams, tests, assignments. There is however an ongoing discussion to extend these principles to other areas of our social life. More than it being a code that guides our exams, it is becoming our way of life.

Community life

Every year, new individuals join our small community – people from diverse backgrounds with different skills, intellect and experiences. And though our experiences are dissimilar, they are the very things that make our community – diversity, open-mindedness, the opportunity to learn.

As a community, we are learning to play hard even as we learn harder. That is why the lecturers, with whom we spend hours in rigorous discussions of essays and arithmetic are the same people we dribble through on the soccer field. This tells the story of our friendly relationship with lecturers and staff.

Last year, the student soccer team lost to the faculty and staff team during our student-faculty games. This year, my administration is determined to prepare the student soccer team for a victory in our next encounter.

We are working hard to build a community fuelled by a sense of leadership; empowered by an attitude of personal and communal responsibility and guided by the principles of integrity. We are aware that the road ahead won’t be easy, but we look into the future with hope.

To parents of Ashesi students, thank you for the investments you are making in us; to our lecturers, you are transforming lives and we are eternally indebted to you; to Ashesi’s donors, we’re grateful for the tremendous support you continue to give our school. You will live to cherish every contribution you make towards this dream. 

And to my colleague students: Ashesi is our opportunity to give remarkable hope to our generation. It is our time to shine!

Sincerely,

Melvin Akaba
President, Ashesi Student Council (2009/2010)