WashU’s board of trustees, the chief governing body of the University, elected the newest batch of graduate and undergraduate students representatives to the board. Since 1853, the board of trustees has acted as the legal authority in major decisions regarding the University’s assets, the awarding of tenure to professors, and the approval of construction projects. The role of student representative includes attending the board’s quarterly meetings, as well as the meetings of particular board committees. Student representatives are a part of the Student Experience subcommittee and not only represent student perspectives to board members but also serve as a liaison between the Chancellor and the student body. 

A major component of the work student representatives do on the board is confidential because they deal with highly sensitive information. This means representatives are tasked with finding the balance between respecting confidentiality and listening, learning, and staying informed about student life.

The current undergraduate student representatives are seniors Bella Gomez and Da’juantay Wynter, and the current graduate student representatives are dual-degree student Michael Kudom-Agyemang and fifth-year PhD student Alyssa Labonte.

Student Representatives to the Board of Trustees Da’juantay Wynter (left) and Bella Gomez (right) stand outside the Danforth University Campus Center
(Anna Calvo | Student Life)

Bella Gomez

Gomez is a senior from Miami, Florida double majoring in Global Studies and Latin American Studies, with a minor in Educational Studies. She is a Danforth Scholar and is involved in many community service organizations on campus, including Mentor STL. Beyond that, she is involved in global health research with the Global Studies Department and Philanthropy Lab, where she serves as a teaching assistant for the lab’s national grant writing board. She is also currently applying to dual-degree programs for a Master of Public Health and Doctor of Philosophy (MPH/PhD). 

Gomez is also a peer coach in the Learning Center, a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, and a Bear Ambassador for WashU’s Office of Admissions, where she spends lots of time walking backwards while giving tours to prospective students. 

A priority of hers is ensuring the University continues to invest in students, and that students feel like they have strong advocates when they are outside of the room where decisions are made. 

As a senior in high school, Gomez never imagined she would attend college until she became a Danforth scholar. 

“WashU showed me very early on that they were going to invest something in me, and no one had ever really invested in me like that before. No one had ever really given me a chance like that,” Gomez said. “I think this is a long time coming of trying to find every avenue I can to give back a little bit to the community that has given so much to me.”

Gomez wants the student body to feel as connected as possible to her and Wynter, and said they both have made it a mission to be super available and open to having conversations with students regarding any concerns they might have.

“We want to be here, and we want to make this role something that is not necessarily separated from student life,” Gomez said.“People can feel like they have this connection to two [student representatives], and on the back end, there’s a whole team of people [on the board] advocating for them and wanting them to have the best WashU experience they can.”

In her free time, Gomez loves to read and run. While she was abroad, she ran a marathon in Spain and she is currently training for a half marathon in October. 

Da’juantay Wynter

Da’juantay Wynter is a senior from Sacramento, California double majoring in Educational Studies and American Culture Studies, with a minor in the Business of Social Impact. Wynter is a John B. Ervin Scholar and a residential advisor, and he served as President of the Association of Black Students (ABS) during his junior year, when ABS was named organization of the year by Campus Life.

Additionally, Wynter is a peer coach in the Learning Center, former Gephardt Fellow, former Student Union representative, and a contributing writer to the WashU Political Review (WUPR).

Wynter recently returned from an extensive study abroad in 12 different countries, funded by the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

“No one in my family had been outside the country before,” Wynter said. “That’s what education can do. That is the power of WashU having need-blind admissions. These are things that have benefited me beyond measure and allowed me to create a life for myself.”

Wynter expressed his gratitude for all the opportunities WashU has given to him and said he knew he wanted this role since he was a freshman. 

“I look forward to [building] upon my ability to listen to students, empower students to feel heard, listened to, cared for, to feel like the University is working for them, and that 50 years from now, the things that make the University great now will still be here,” Wynter said. 

Wynter said he wants students to know he and Gomez will enter board discussions with the most informed perspectives possible, and will think about what’s best for WashU as a whole when they give input on board decisions. 

“We’re really thinking beyond ourselves and thinking for the spirit of good at WashU,” he said. “We’re lucky that people trusted us with this opportunity, and we just want to make sure that we can continue to be informed, intelligent, and strategic about what we’re doing.”

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Labonte

Alyssa Labonte

Alyssa Labonte is a fifth-year PhD student in the School of Medicine, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences Neuroscience Program. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where she majored in Biology and Psychology, with a minor in Computational Neuroscience. 

After two gap years working in the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU, Labonte began her graduate training, studying infant brain development. 

Outside of the lab, Labonte is executive director of the WashU Young Scientist Program, a St. Louis based initiative that develops scientific inquiry and literacy in students during their K-12 education. 

Labonte aims to improve avenues for graduate students to pursue nontraditional careers for their particular graduate program, particularly in an era of research funding cuts.

Labonte described how the traditional path for STEM PhD students is graduate school, postdoc, and then becoming a principal investigator (PI) for a lab. She said that graduate students don’t receive training for alternative careers that deviate from this path, and she hopes to help solve this issue as a student representative. 

“The politics surrounding science and higher education is changing a lot, and it’s not possible for all of us to have the same plan A,” she said. 

In her spare time, Labonte enjoys exercising and spending time with her dog and husband. 

Photo courtesy of Michael Kudom-Agyemang

Michael Kudom-Agyemang

Michael Kudom-Agyemang is a physician from Ghana currently pursuing a dual degree with a combined Masters in Public Health and in Business Administration. He serves as a board member of St. John’s Community Care Center, where he has gained valuable experience in healthcare administration and decision-making.

Kudom-Agyemang completed his undergraduate education in Ukraine, where he practiced medicine for 6 ½ years. He then returned to Ghana for 5 years and gained experience working in the government sector of healthcare and later the private sector. 

His goal as a representative to the board this upcoming fall is to support international students in finding employment opportunities after graduation and create a network of support with WashU’s community of international graduate students to help them integrate into a variety of career paths.

“It’s just a bit unsettling that you train all these international students, you give them all these resources, and then you just let them go freely and figure it out for themselves,” Kudom-Agyemang said. “I feel like WashU has the resources and stands in position to help these students that they have invested [in] to integrate into different places, and these students can [then] become resources for other [international] students.”

Aside from academics and work, Kudom-Agyemang enjoys watching movies, trying new restaurants, and spending time with friends.