Jonathan Ng will be Kansas University’s first Asian-American student body president, and he wants to use his position to help increase ethnic diversity on campus.

“It’s a big deal when you’re dealing with a first of that sort, whether it’s the first woman student body president or the first minority faculty member in an area,” he said. “It raises awareness and inspires people to pursue their interests and lets them now there isn’t a glass ceiling.”

Ng, a Leawood junior, won this month’s student body elections with running mate Loren Malone, a Senatobia, Miss., junior. They will be sworn in Wednesday.

Ng, 21, is majoring in Spanish and journalism. Malone, 21, is a pre-med major.

One of their goals is to construct a new Multicultural Resource Center near the Kansas Union and possibly connected to the north side of the union where students can learn about other cultures.

It’s been housed in a temporary building west of Malott Hall since its inception in 1995. Ng said the building was too small for the MRC to expand its services.

“A strong Multicultural Resource Center strengthens minority retention, which in turn strengthens minority recruitment,” he said. “The MRC affects all students. It’s not just the minorities.”

Ng (pronounced Ung) said funding likely would come from a variety of sources. Currently about $60,000 in Endowment Association money goes toward MRC programming. Some of that money could be put in a fund for a building, he said.

Student Senate funding, student fees and increased tuition money also could be used. And he said he planned to work with Endowment Association officials to create a proposal for soliciting someone to donate a large amount toward the project.

“Maybe increasing awareness right now, somebody would come out of the woods and answer our prayers,” he said.

Other goals of the student leaders include:

Creating an “Online KU Info” Web site that would include a comprehensive calendar of university events, and information on such topics as scholarships and intramurals.

Opening most campus lots to student parking at 5 p.m. Most lots are closed to students until 7:30 p.m. They also want to create a “KU Parking for Dummies” map to explain where students, faculty, staff and visitors can park.

Creating a committee to oversee extra tuition money received from students with increases beginning this fall.

“There needs to be an advisory committee made up mostly of students to decide where that money should be spent,” Ng said. “I don’t think this money should be lumped into the budget.”

Ng and Malone represent the KUnited coalition, one of three campus groups who sought the student presidency. The current student body president and vice-president, Justin Mills and Kyle Browning, represent Delta Force.

Ng said Delta Force focused more on grassroots campaigns and rallies. He said his administration would spend more one-on-one time with administrators and state officials.

“When the elections end, you step into senate and those lines drop,” Malone said. “We’re all students.”

But Ng said he realized Student Senate had little real power. That’s why he’s starting to meet with student organizations and other campus officials to build a rapport before the next school year starts.

“The power we have is to motivate people to make changes,” Ng said. “This gives us access that we wouldn’t have otherwise.”