Student Spotlight: Eduardo Arabu Jr.

At a school like Northeastern Illinois University, where students of various backgrounds and ages come and go at all times of day, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. There are some students, however, who take significant steps to stand out in their years here. The Independent would like to recognize these outstanding students in our new feature, Student Spotlight.

One step into Student Trustee Eduardo Arabu Jr.'s office and it is obvious that you are in the presence of an exceptional leader. The back wall of his office is lined with numerous awards, including the NEIU Student Leadership and Service Award, the NEIU El Centro Scholastic and Academic Awards, and the NEIU University Ambassador Award, among others. I sat down with Arabu to find out how he went from being just a student to an integral part of NEIU student life.

MJ: When you first came to Northeastern, what were your plans? What did you want to accomplish when you came here?

EA: My plan, like every college student, was to go to school, get the degree, get out of school and start a career.

What would you say is the first decision you made to get you to the point where you are right now?

The first decision is looking around campus and seeing a necessity for campus life and activities and through that idea one of the things that we're looking at was sports. So I looked around, we had all the resources, we had facilities, we had everything that we needed to start a basic club program. And, baseball is one of my passions, so I went through it and put together a baseball team that competed in Illinois as well as Wisconsin against some other big schools. We started with 10 guys and we built that into a powerhouse unit with 20 guys in uniform so we looked like a real college team.

What year was it that you did that?

I came in to school spring of 2005.

And when did you form the baseball team?

The baseball team was started at the end of that same semester.

So in one semester you went from being a freshman to...

To being an active leader through the sports program, and then I was invited to join SGA. Then I took a role there as IBHE-SAC rep, which is the Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Advisory Committee. I was appointed one year and won re-election twice in a row. Currently I'm a Student Trustee building off from there.

How does your job as Student Trustee differ from the other jobs in SGA?

The IBHE-SAC position is representing the university as a whole with other schools and with higher education systems in the state of Illinois. I'm more of a liaison. Student Trustee is more internal, where you're still representing the university as a whole, still doing relations with other higher education institutions and higher education systems, but you have a direct vote and you represent all of the students in something that impacts them directly.

What has been the most memorable experience you've had in your position?

As Trustee, just the ability to represent. There hasn't been one situation but numerous situations where I'm able to improve the quality of life for students attending here. I'm trying to negotiate with administrators to reduce tuition, or seeking different opportunities so that the students can graduate on time and can continue on with their career.

Of all the issues that you are pushing for with the administrators, which one do you think is the most important for Northeastern?

That's very complex because there's several issues that affect the university. My number one goal is university pride so when people graduate they have a sense of belonging to the university; they help alumni relations and alumni affairs and that brings more money and volume. It also provides campus life and activities that attract new students who come here and choose Northeastern over other schools. So university pride is huge and it's a very big component of student activities, student government, and other sections of campus life.

What is one of the biggest setbacks of being Student Trustee?

One of the biggest setbacks is that you are only allowed to serve one term, and one term equals six board meetings and board meetings are every two months. There's so much that you can do in such a short about of time, by the time you're getting your feet wet and ready to go, there's a new Student Trustee coming in. In other higher education systems student trustees are able to fill that role as long as they're re-elected every year. At Northeastern there is special legislation in the Illinois General Assembly that only allows our student trustees to run once, and that's it. And we're the only school that does that. Specifically because when the board of trustees started, there was a student who kept winning and winning and winning, causing a lot of trouble for the administration

How did you feel when you were appointed this role?

It was a great feeling. It's an elected position so I had to campaign out there, meet a lot of students and hear a lot of issues and difficulties that the students are going through in order to provide them with the advice and the advising they can do to fulfill their time here at school.

When your term is over, what is the next step for you?

My next step is to continue into my final year in SGA, my final year here in school, and to run for student government president, but also leave the student trustee position in good hands, to try and support and endorse another candidate who will continue the line of work that I've done and basically take it to another level, the foundation that I've left behind.

And then thinking further into the future, what are your plans for after you graduate?

Well, when I graduate I'm looking to pursue a master's in public policy joint degree with an MBA. I'm shopping around for various schools. I look to open my own business consulting firm that would deal with business development and political consulting, as well as probably run for office either in the state of Illinois or U.S. Congress.

What piece of advice would you give to the student body of Northeastern?

The one thing is, don't wait to be given the answer, look for the answer. You have to be very proactive to get out of here in four years, five years, whatever your goal is. Don't let nothing get you down. Stay focused, find the resources, look for opportunities, and put yourself ahead of others.