Alford ’08 Steps Up to ‘Mission of Sisterhood’

The Association of Black Harvard Women (ABHW) last night elected the executive board that will lead the group into its 31st year of existence.

Natasha S. Alford ’08 was elected president and Amara A. Omeokwe ’08 was elected vice president in uncontested elections held in the Adams House Lower Common Room.

“ABHW has been my heart since I got to this campus,” Alford said. She said that she wants ABHW to continue “to be a strong representative of the black women’s community at Harvard, but also to reach out beyond”—into the wider community. “It’s not just about one person’s plan—it’s about coming together in our mission of sisterhood,” Alford said.

Alford’s words about outreach set the stage for two of the night’s most hotly contested races.

The chair of ABHW’s Alberta V. Scott Scholar Program, a mentoring program currently operated in conjunction with the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School that could undergo a critical restructuring in the next 12 months, went to Abimbola O. Orisamolu ’08 in a four-woman race.

With a large ABHW alumni weekend planned next year, another central issue in the election was the strengthening of ABHW’s alumni network, a responsibility that will fall to new alumni representative and public relations chair Anjelica M. Kelly ’09.

The other ABHW members elected to executive positions were Mariesa L. Ricks ’08, treasurer; Marisa S. Williamson ’08, action committee chair; Safiya J. Miller ’09, social chair; and Kristen M. Jones ’08, secretary.

The past week also saw the Harvard Black Men’s Forum elect its executive board for the 2006-2007 school year.

Charles J. Hamilton III ’07 and Michael P. Anderson ’08 were elected president and vice president, respectively. Other winners were Lumumba B. Seegars ’09, brotherhood chair; Xavier DelRosario ’09, social chair; Brandon K. Arrindell ’08, treasurer; and Felix Koskey ’09, secretary.