Prospective students
For applicants
If you are considering UIC for a graduate program, we would love to hear from you. Our members share what the community looks like from the inside, and the road they took to get here.
African Graduate
Student Association.
University of Illinois Chicago
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AGSA is anchored in the Ubuntu philosophy. Our individual journeys at UIC are shaped by, and accountable to, the community of African graduate students who walk alongside us.
Announcement
Africa Day Gala
Flagship event
AGSA's flagship annual celebration, culture, scholarship, and impact in one night.
About
AGSA was born out of a simple but powerful need: community.
When Rita Omuero arrived at the University of Illinois Chicago, she experienced firsthand the challenges many African graduate students face when transitioning into a new academic and cultural environment. In response, she took the initiative to build what she could not find, a space for connection, belonging, and shared growth.
Rita started AGSA and created a community for African graduate students at UIC. She brought along Joy Itodo and Tobiloba Adejumo, and they were the pioneering officers.
What began as a small group of about 10 members has grown into a vibrant, thriving community, now a recognized home for African graduate students from West, East, and Southern Africa at UIC. Today, AGSA continues to foster connection, celebrate culture, and empower its members academically, professionally, and socially.
There is no single story of Africa, of African graduate students, of who we are or what we carry. AGSA exists as a counter-narrative, a place where we own our story, in plural, with all its texture, contradictions, and joy. We want to own how that story gets told, which asks more of us than simply being seen.
AGSA is a community of 100+ African graduate students at the University of Illinois Chicago, founded in 2023.
Objectives
Our Objectives
Five commitments that shape how we show up for each other and for the communities we belong to.
Community
Foster a strong sense of community among African graduate students at UIC.
Growth
Promote academic, professional, and personal growth via seminars, workshops, and networking.
Culture
Celebrate and showcase African culture, heritage, and diversity on campus.
Mentorship
Provide mentorship to incoming and current students.
Collaboration
Build collaborative relationships with other student organizations and the wider university.
Leadership
2025 / 2026 Executive Team
The elected team that keeps AGSA moving. They plan, budget, program, and hold the space for everyone else.
Dayo Akinsiku
President
Temitope David
Director of Admin and Operations
Timileyin Okeseni
Director of Membership & Features
A lifelong network, rooted in purpose.
From the moment you consider applying to long after graduation, AGSA stays with you. The community is a layered one, current students, alumni, and friends, and the thread that connects us is the care we have for each other's journeys.
Alumni & friends
For the people who built it
Former members, industry partners, and friends of AGSA: we hold open channels for mentorship, speaking engagements, and sponsorship. The community does not stop at graduation.
Our pillars
Our pillars
Everything we do falls into three focus areas: building community, connecting with the continent, and supporting each other through the AGSA journey and beyond.
Activities
Upcoming events
From speaker sessions to socials, our calendar is packed with moments to learn, build, and connect. There is always something happening in the AGSA community.
Strong bonds
African rooted,
globally connected.
AGSA reaches beyond UIC. Our members come from across the continent and carry their work into industry, academia, and public life, wherever the next chapter takes them.
From Chicago to the continent, we stay a community. Alumni mentor newer members, old friends make introductions, and people show up for each other long after the cohort photos fade.
