Nine Savannah State University students served as delegates at the 16th annual International Model African Union conference at Howard University, Washington, D.C., February 22-25, 2018. SSU represented Togo and Ghana in the simulations.
 
The SSU students included:

Rufus Crane, III, a sophomore political science major and SSU Model AU president; Wisdom Akpanagan, a senior homeland security and emergency management major; Riccarlos Carter, a freshman political science major; Traynearious Dillard, a senior computer information systems; Sean Edwards, a senior computer science major; Janae Jackson, a sophomore business management major; Natalia Santiago, a dual-enrolled student from Savannah Early College high school; Antwone Smoak, a senior political science major; and Haley J. Swindle, a senior history major.

Otilia Iancu, Ph.D., associate professor of public administration, and Emmanuel Nojang, Ph.D., assistant professor of homeland security and emergency management, serve as the faculty advisors for the SSU Model AU student organization.

Forty-one colleges and universities, from the United States and across the globe, participated in the IMAU. Among them were the University of Ottawa, United States Air Force Academy, Michigan State University, Kennesaw State University and a large delegation from the United States International University-Africa.

SSU’s Janae Jackson won the Michelle Tooley Outstanding Delegation in Committee Award.

“Being an active participant in diplomacy, simulation, and the search for solutions to continental issues only invigorated my passion to be a Foreign Service Officer,” said Smoak. “This experience is a reminder that there's a world of opportunity that must be seized.”

Similarly, Natalia Santiago said, “I came out with a fresh perspective on situations occurring in Africa. I also got the chance to converse with international students and professors and hear their solutions to current issues in Africa.”

As part of the IMAU conference experience, SSU students met with Frederic Edem Hegbe, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Togo to the U.S., as well as consulars at the Embassy of Togo.