Anderson Ward and Ava Barefoot, East Carolina University’s newly elected Student Government Association president and vice president, are gearing up for a transformative term focusing on mental health, campus safety and student success.
Ward and Barefoot, both natives of Raleigh, were voted in by their fellow students during the 2023-2024 school year and will take office this fall. The two ECU College of Business seniors are using their learned skills and passion for Pirate Nation to work with campus groups to listen and implement new ideas.
“Working with these different departments is going to allow us to reach as many students as possible and hopefully help every one of them,” said Barefoot.
A Family Affair
Ward and Barefoot first met as freshmen through their older siblings.
It was a no-brainer for the two to attend ECU once graduating high school, especially with a large number of Pirate alumni in their families. They both credit their family ties for the desire to attend ECU, with alumni in their family dating back to East Carolina Teachers College. Ward shared a frame filled with ECTC memorabilia dating to 1929 when his grandmother attended, showing how much ECU and the community mean to him and his family.
“Me and my grandma lived in the same dorm, we lived in Cotten. That was something cute and fun that we figured out. She was here when it was ECTC, so she’s a teacher. I have many teachers in my family that all went here,” said Barefoot.
Both officers are involved on campus in multiple roles. Ward has been a member of ECU’s SGA since his sophomore year as a College of Business representative before serving as the director of marketing communications for former president Ryan Bonnett. During that time, he was also the president of Kappa Alpha Order, a fraternity at ECU. The roles provided Ward confidence when stepping into his new role as SGA president.
Barefoot is also involved in Greek life on campus as a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and has been the president of the ECU Club Lacrosse team for the last two years, which helped push her to run after finding a passion for listening to and helping others on her team.
