UK Chadian Student Senator Strives to Leave a Lasting Impact on Campus

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 26, 2016) — Esias Bedingar can be described in many ways. University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science senator to the University Senate, a Fellow with the UK Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, a multilingual student double majoring in public health and neuroscience, and a significantly involved individual are only a few of the descriptions that apply. Born in Mali, Bedingar has lived in Chad, Cote D’Ivoire and Tunisia, making the United States his fourth home. He is a native French speaker, but boasts proficiency in Chadian, Spanish and Arabic, as well as English.

Bedingar first became interested in the Student Government Association (SGA) when he was accepted into the Leadership Development Program as a freshman. This program enabled him to meet a lot of faculty, leaders and SGA alumni.

“I was able to make connections and meet a lot of influential people,” Bedingar said. “I was encouraged to run, and even though I barely understood English then, I did.” Although the language barrier made it difficult at the time, by his sophomore year, Bedingar had overcome all the hurdles and was elected into office as a senator for the College of Art and Sciences.

SGA President Rowan Reid said she is also glad to have Bedingar on board. “SGA wants our membership to represent the diverse backgrounds of students on our campus,” Rowan said. “It's great to have Esias bring an international student perspective to the table.”

As senator, Bedingar’s biggest hope is to see more international students getting involved on campus. His advice to international students is to “be more intentional about the things you get involved with on campus so that you can develop your career.”

“I see a lot of international students taking on leadership roles, joining the International Student Council, becoming RAs,” he added. “That’s exciting.”

In addition to his position as a senator, Bedingar founded a chapter of the American Mock World Health Organization on campus; as well as an NGO, Motocross for Malaria (MFM), which provides anti-malarial treatments to people in rural areas of Chad.

Bedingar said that his skill for languages enables him to make friends easily with people from different cultures. Last year, he served as public relations chair of the African Students Association and is currently an international student ambassador with the UK International Center, selected for his merit and willingness to promote diversity at UK.

"Esias is a world-changer,” said Ghana-native and UK student Bill Aboagye, who works on the international student ambassador team alongside Bedingar. “He has great potential and I have seen him become a better individual and leader since the first time we met.”

Bedingar hopes to further his education by pursuing combined doctor of medicine and doctor of philosophy degrees after completing his undergraduate studies in neuroscience. He is currently conducting research on Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia to further his knowledge in the medical field.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Gail Hairston, 859-257-3302, gail.hairston@uky.edu