UNIVERSITY NEWS | Hayden Tanabe is breaking new ground. When he took office as president of the Associated Students of Loyola Marymount University in August, he was by all reckoning the first president in a long time who hadn’t held a previous ASLMU position. As he sees it, he’s “bringing the perspective of the other 6,000 students” to student government.
While he has dabbled in school politics – he was senior class president at West High School in Torrance and president of the Residence Hall Association – Tanabe’s leadership experiences at LMU have been preparing him for this opportunity.
“I have the unique opportunity to engage with younger students in the classroom whose mothers are victims of domestic violence and provide a better role model of what a man should be in today’s society.”
In May 2017, Tanabe spent a week in Beijing in a program sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs. He was one of 11 LMU students selected to become a Lingdao Fellow, and said he gained a better cultural understanding of what leadership is and how it is exercised. Tanabe said the new global leadership initiative allowed him to gain insights that prepared him to better engage LMU’s growing international student population.
But his education in leadership began in his sophomore year, when he was elected president of the Residence Hall Association. Tanabe was the first sophomore elected president and the first to be elected to two terms. His work was recognized when he was named Regional President of the Year by the Pacific Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls at the University of the Pacific.
As ASLMU president, Tanabe’s goals are to maximize resources for students and registered student organizations and identify areas at LMU that can grow. He’s looking forward to his first official meeting with President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., and to collaborating with him on future initiatives.
Tanabe chose to become a Lion because he saw the LMU experience as substantially different from the academic experience at other universities. At the top of his list was the emphasis of living out the mission and LMU’s strong academics. Tanabe sees the dynamic locale of L.A. as a major component in his education, as exemplified in his work with the MAGIS service organization.
MAGIS sponsors regular trips to Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood to work with individuals experiencing homelessness, and Tanabe regards these opportunities as offering him the chance to converse at length, and to genuinely be “with the other,” to bridge the gap between people of very different circumstances. Additionally, with MAGIS, Tanabe makes weekly visits to the Good Shepherd Shelter in Los Angeles. “I have the unique opportunity to engage with younger students in the classroom whose mothers are victims of domestic violence and provide a better role model of what a man should be in today’s society.”
