Senior Jude Bourdeau’s friends joke that he’s “Mr. West Chester.” The tongue-in-cheek moniker references the accounting major’s many visible leadership roles on campus.

“That nickname has stuck with me,” he says.

It might have started when he became the guy with the golden microphone, doing man-on-the-street interviews for WCU’s social media channels. Bourdeau — then a sophomore orientation leader — took over the University’s Instagram account for a day to give a student’s perspective on orientation. It earned a spot for him as a social media ambassador in WCU’s University Communications and Marketing department.

He thought of using a golden microphone to ask fellow students the question of the day. The first-generation college student recalls, “I think my favorite question was ‘What makes you smile?’” Other favorites included a poll about the 2023 Super Bowl faceoff between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

As a student at James M. Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre, PA, he graduated in the top 10 percent of his class and participated in a city-wide student leadership program. Although he initially came to WCU intending to run track, he left the sport to seek a broader extracurricular experience.

That decision led to many opportunities, beginning with serving as a resident assistant (RA) since the second semester of his freshman year. After earlier assignments in Schmidt and Brandywine halls, he now works in East Village Apartments. His RA training taught him that he must be both a student and a role model, he notes, adding, “To be able to help someone in that moment of need really resonates with me.”

He also is a role model as a peer mentor in the Dowdy Multicultural Center, supporting other students of color in their transition to the University. “As a student of color and as a first-generation college student, I’m kind of checking the boxes that will make people feel more welcome. … If I can find a home at West Chester, you can as well,” says Bourdeau, who also is completing a digital marketing minor.

Bourdeau says his positions as president of Black Men United and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Black Greek letter organization, are ways to support other Black men on campus. Being historian of West Chester’s student chapter of NAACP allows him to focus on social justice issues, while work with the Friars Society offers an avenue for community service.

Bourdeau is ready to start his next chapter. After interning in accounting firm Ernst & Young’s Philadelphia office, he’s accepted an offer to join its technology risk section after graduation.

“One thing I want to add is that my story isn’t over — and neither is anyone else’s. You can always improve yourself, no matter what.”