Kenza Halimi, President of Friemds, interviewed by Sara Sanabria
Why did you choose your BDE name?
We choose the name because of the relationship to the Friends show. We found that it corresponds with the spirit of the team and the type of campaign we wanted to produce. Like the characters in the show, we too are a dynamic group of individuals who are all friends at the end of the day. As well, the name highlights the idea of bringing students of the campus together.
What is your ultimate goal as a list?
Like the name, our ultimate goal is to bring together the integration of the campus. We want to promote diversity and we see this as a strength of our list. We hope to balance day and night life events to fit with the diversity of our student body and promote cohesion.
What is the biggest quality of the other BDE list?
The biggest quality is their communication and the way they craft an image for themselves. They have good visuals and they are very good at promoting their image and their vision for the BDE. Their vision however, is different from ours, as ours focuses on inclusion through a diversity of events and projects. Their vision, from what we observed, is very professional and based on a good marketing which is a different direction than ours.
What does reliability mean to your list and how do you plan to be a reliable BDE next year?
Transparency. It means regular reports of what projects are and how they are developing. Along with reliability, we believe there must be trust, which means not just talking about issues, but proactively solving them as well as executing projects and respecting the engagements made in the campaigns.
What do you see is the biggest obstacle you will have to face as a BDE next year and how do you plan to tackle it?
Achieving the integration that everyone talks about. We believe that regular day and night events are not what brings people together. Instead, we would like to see creative solutions to bridge together the Eurams, Eurafs and exchange students. For example, looking at Potter Week we found that if you give a common goal to the student body, they will unconsciously integrate. We would like to build off of this and create events for this purpose or perhaps integrate this element into other events.
How would you describe your list in 1-3 words?
We like to push boundaries so I’ll say ‘Building the bridges; bringing people together.’
