dailyloe.com – On April 20, the University of Arizona’s Graduate and Professional Student Council elected Vanessa Macamo as its president for the upcoming school year.
Macamo, a PhD candidate from Mozambique, arrived at the university on a Fulbright Scholarship and decided to run for the presidency in 2026.
She stated, “The role and the goal is really to work, to promote academic, economic, and social aims to graduate professional students.”
The Graduate and Professional Student Council, established in 1991, supports PhD and master’s students at the University of Arizona.
Javier Duran, a professor of Latin American and Border Studies, was one of the council’s founders, emphasizing the importance of addressing graduate student rights.
He noted that the GPSC influenced the creation of similar councils at other U.S. universities by the mid-1990s.
Macamo was elected with 361 votes against Aamir Quraishy, who received 60 votes.
She expressed her gratitude, saying, “If I was able to do this, it means that someone after me that can see this can also think I can also do that.”
Macamo highlighted the importance of community, stating, “Every vote, every message, every prayer reminds me that when we come together, we can open doors that once felt distant.”
