MIT university elects school's first-ever black woman as student body president since 1861

- Sophomore Danielle Geathers has been elected as president of the student body at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

- The mechanical engineering major student makes history as the first-ever black woman to be elected president of the undergraduate association at MIT

- Sophomore Danielle Geathers is also the founder of Talented Ten

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Sophomore Danielle Geathers has written her name in the history books after being elected the first-ever black female president of the undergraduate association at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

She makes history as the first black woman to lead the student body as president at MIT since the school was founded on April 10, 1861. Geathers is currently a mechanical engineering major.

Speaking to the institute’s paper, Geathers said she is hopeful that the latest history in the school will defeat perceptions that the school is still mostly white and male-dominated.

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"A black female in that role will squash every perception that MIT is still mostly white and male," becauseofthemwecan.com quotes Geathers as saying.

Geathers is also the founder of Talented Ten, a programme she introduced before running for the position.

Talented Ten focuses on increasing applications and enrollment among black women at MIT by pairing high school juniors with current students.

Parts of a statement of the organisation’s website highlights that Geathers created Talented Ten because she "understands the value that black females bring to campus while also understanding the tremendous loss the MIT community experiences when a qualified, underrepresented minority student chooses to not enroll."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that an institution in the United States, Princeton University, chose its first black valedictorian in the school's 274-year history for Princeton’s Class of 2020.

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Nicholas Johnson who was named for the position is a Canadian student who studied in operations research and financial engineering.

In speaking with CNN, he said that being considered for the position holds great importance for him, considering how the school is connected with the institution of slavery.

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