Unsoed: Vice President's Secretariat Requested Student to Join Gibran's Working Visit

Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) has confirmed that one of its students took part in Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s working visit to several regions in eastern Indonesia on Thursday, 18 June 2026. The student in question is Rapid Bena Matin from Unsoed’s Faculty of Law. “We sent one of our students, who is also a Unsoed campus ambassador, to join Vice President Gibran’s visit to East Nusa Tenggara,” said Unsoed spokesperson Dian Bestari Santi Rahayu when contacted on Thursday, 18 June 2026. Rapid Bena Matin is one of seven students selected as Unsoed Campus Ambassadors for the 2026-2027 period. He was only inaugurated as a Campus Ambassador on 2 June and is required to attend training on 29-30 June. Dian said the university appointed Rapid Bena Matin to participate in Gibran’s activity because it was requested by the Vice President’s Secretariat. She stated that no specific criteria were requested by the Secretariat regarding the student joining the working visit. “No specific criteria were requested; they just asked us to send a student,” she said. Furthermore, Dian claimed that Rapid Bena Matin’s participation in the vice president’s agenda did not disrupt his academic activities, as the student is currently undergoing an internship. “So he is not leaving any campus learning activities,” Dian stated. Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka brought five students from various universities on his working visit to Ende, Gorontalo, and the Papua region from 18-21 June 2026. Besides Rapid Bena Matin, the other four students invited were Keletus Sakaro from Sanata Dharma University, Daffa Ulhaq from the University of Indonesia, Nolan Christoper Adam from Pelita Harapan University, and Salsabila Maulida from the Indonesian Institute of Arts and Culture. Gibran explained that the involvement of student representatives is part of efforts to strengthen oversight of the governance of the free nutritious meals project and the Red and White village cooperatives in the regions. He said this step is a follow-up to various student aspirations regarding the implementation of these priority government programmes. “I would like to thank all the students for conveying their aspirations peacefully. Thank you for the constructive input,” he said in an official statement on Thursday, 18 June 2026. According to him, directly involving students in monitoring the programme can ensure its implementation is transparent, accountable, and on target. He also expressed hope that student involvement in his working visits would strengthen collaboration between the government and the younger generation in overseeing the implementation of government programmes. He stated that the government is committed to utilising every rupiah allocated for priority programmes optimally and free from corrupt practices. “I think these steps are important to maintain public trust,” Gibran said.