SGA Social Chair opens up to the Observer

By Ehab Tawfik

Second Year Student, Ehab Tawfik had the chance to sit down with May Nguyen, and ask her about herself and her plans for the position of Social Chair.

Ehab: Tell me a little bit about your background.

May: I attended Amherst College, class of 2004.  After Amherst, I went to work in Vietnam on early childhood care and education and then worked on the campaign to combat sex trafficking of children from Vietnam.  Hurricane Katrina hit my hometown in New Orleans, LA and so I went back to help with the rebuilding process, particularly addressing small business development in the Vietnamese community (yes, there’s a Vietnamese community of over 8,000 people in New Orleans).  Prior to SAIS, I completed 1 year at UCLA School of Law.

Ehab:Do you have any plans after SAIS?

May: I will return to law school to finish my JD.  Hopefully I can delay the job search process a bit!

Ehab: Why did you want to become the Social Chair?

May: SAIS is a very unique community comprised of the most diverse student body.  Last year I had a blast at all the SAIS events, especially the International Dinner before Winter Break.  In social engagements, SAISers have this incredible ability to be both relaxed and engaged at the same time – makes for a very good time.  Being the Social Chair means that I get to interact with all the different corners of SAIS and help build the community.

Ehab: What are your main responsibilities as Social Chair and what new ideas do you hope to bring to the Social Chair position?

May: I organize the major SAIS social student events.  Please contact me if you’d like to be a social organizer for any of the events this year.  I also manage the Student Foundation.  The Student Foundation is an account towards which we put all the money we raise during the school year from the social events.  At the end of the year, graduating 2^nd years get to vote on how we would like to invest the money.  Typically, this money will go towards something for SAIS (e.g. a scholarship for a second year student from a developing country).

As for big ideas, I think our social events have been great in the past year and I hope to fill the big shoes of my predecessors.  I’d really like to focus on how we invest our student foundation money this year.  I’ll keep y’all posted on options. 

In the meantime, if anyone has ideas, feel free to let me know.

Ehab: Is there something you would like to say to the student body?

May: I understand that exam periods are usually very stressful so please let SGA help you take a break with the International Dinner, Mr. SAIS, etc.  Enjoy the rest of the school year and we’ll be in touch.

Ehab Tawfik is an M.A.3 in Strategic Studies.