A new school year at De Anza College means a new DASB president. This year, Arvind Ravichandran hopes to bring “positive change” to campus by shifting focus to students themselves.

“The main goal of the DASB Senate,” Ravichandran said “is to invite newly-elected students to feel welcomed, and empowered within the student council and to help the members of the DASB senate ‘realize they are also students,’ who should help each other academically.”

Not concerned with his own personal political aspirations, Ravichandran never intended to run for DASB President. “I was in the senate last year, thinking for my second year, I should be doing something different…planning events more or being more specialized on campus.”

In February, Ravichandran saw that no one else would be qualified for the DASB President role and decided to place his bid. “I knew the system enough. I became confident I could make a difference,” said Ravichandran. 

As a senator in 2011, he was involved in the finance committee as vice chair. He gained council experience in student rights and services.  Ravichandran cites De Anza’s Pepsi Refresh Project and Measure E as his main contributions.

This year, Ravichandran took an oath to mentor and reach out to students, which he stated is “more important than the typical political agenda.”

He expressed his disagreement with the concept of politicians. “People choose leaders because it is the person who is right-for now,” he said. “We are all are just citizens and you should only serve for the time you feel you can contribute. If you can’t, you should get out.”

As a second year business major, Ravichandran plans on attending one more year at De Anza while taking internships as well. As for a future in politics, Ravichandran has no long-term plans. “You never know,” he said. “I may decide to jump in if I feel that I have something to contribute.”