FISU's newly formed Student Committee has held its first meeting ©FISU

The International University Sports Federation’s (FISU) newly formed Student Committee has held its first meeting of the new four-year cycle.

All eight members of the Student Committee were present in the meeting, which was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The meeting was guided by the FISU Education Department.

Members were introduced to FISU’s governance and structure, as well as the organisation’s committees.

Participants were asked to think about general objectives and deliverables for the upcoming years and begin work on developing proposals for future activities.

"This first meeting was very fruitful," said Emiliano Ojea, who chairs the FISU Student Committee.

"Members received a lot of general information about FISU and got the chance to understand better how this Student Committee will work for the 2019-2023 term.

"We really hope this team will bring forth new ideas and concrete projects to work on.

"I am looking forward to our next meeting in June, to really start discussing and working on everyone’s plans."

Emiliano Ojea chairs the FISU Student Committee ©FISU
Emiliano Ojea chairs the FISU Student Committee ©FISU

The first meeting was focused on the aims and vision of the Student Committee, as well as the group’s working methods.

The Student Committee has aimed to increase students' participation in university sport activities and develop co-operation internally and with external partners.

The group also wants to reinforce the image of FISU and of the university sport movement, positively influence changes in and the development of university sport, and provide added value of the participation of students within the FISU structure by providing support to FISU events and committees.

"It was a very important first meeting to understand the role of the Student Committee and FISU in general," FISU Student Committee vice-chair Chiara Coltri said.

"It was the first step for what I hope can become a nice working group, made up of young people who, thanks to their personal experiences and ideas, can enrich this university sport movement that we love so much."

Along with chairman Ojea from Argentina and Coltri from Italy, the committee comprises of six other members.

Britain’s Ellis Clark, Hungary’s Viktor Kiss, Uganda’s Mercy Lakisa, South Korea’s Lee Kyung-eun, Germany’s Joshua Miethke and Mongolia’s Oyunbileg Zorigoo serve on the committee.

FISU says the committee is very important to the organisation, with the body serving as the voice of university students.