Rashmi Samant has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win the prestigious position of the president of Oxford Student Union. She is the alumna of Manipal Institute of Technology, and a graduate student of MSc in energy systems at Linacre College, Oxford University.
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According to the Times Of India, Samant bagged more votes that the combined votes of the other three competitors.As per reports, she contested the election with four main agendas in mind. First, decolonisation and inclusivity;second,to ensure Covid-19 interventions for all; third, access to quality mental health resources, and finally,work towards decarbonising the university.
If her manifesto is anything to go by, Samant will lobby the University and Conference of Colleges to remove all statues which have proven to be imperialist, including Christopher Codrington. In addition, she will also push for residency requirements to be waived until the WHO declares that the pandemic has come to an end.
Samant, who hails from Manipal, is the daughter of Vathsala and Dinesh Samant. She completed her early education in Manipal and Udupi and then went on to pursue mechanical engineering from MIT (2016-2020 batch).While there, she was the technical secretary of the student council and is touted to be instrumental in initiating a number of constructive activities at the institute.