In 1968, he narrowly lost the election for the presidency of the Union of Students of the University of Addis Ababa (USUAA) to Mekonnen Bishaw.
He became president in the same month as the ultimate challenge to the regime appeared in the student paper Struggle on the status of, and policy towards, the ethnic diversity of the country.
[1] There ensued new waves of unrest in secondary schools all over the country and USUAA submitted ultimata to the government that Ethiopian University Service teachers would be withdrawn unless a number of conditions were met.
[2] The death of Tilahun Gizaw undoubtedly contributed towards raising the level of political consciousness of the average student and enhanced the feeling of alienation from the regime.
[4] The violent crackdown on university students by the Imperial Bodyguard and the lack of response from the Addis Ababa University administration resulted in the ejection from the country of the Dean of the College of Business Administration, Dr. LX Tarpey, and the resignation of the Director of the Peace Corps, Joseph Murphy.