Rawan is the type of person that when she speaks, everyone stops and listens. She always has something powerful to say. Every time she speaks, she leaves you both informed and empowered after. There are so many amazing and intelligent, ladies that work in our SGA, and Rawan is one of them. She’s dedicated to our university and invested in making sure that it is a place where all students can thrive. Above all, she’s bringing the change needed for our campus and in this world. Originally from Missouri, Rawan moved to Fort Meyers, Florida with her family. She is in her sophomore year of college but has been more involved than most students: FLI (Freshman Leadership Institute), Noles Engaged in Politics and Garnet and Gold Society to name a few.
Her Campus (HC): How did you get involved in SGA? Why?
Rawan Abhari (RA): I have been involved in student governance since elementary school. Peer to peer service leading to community building was a default preset to me. Starting from running the school store to planning homecoming parades, all the way to facilitating discussions and demanding change from the local police departments are the epitome of what local governance and community care should be and I want to embody it. We should not just seek these positions of leadership for visibility, for name tag, or another resume bullet point. We truly facilitate the change we know we need to see through galvanization. You cannot galvanize without being an authentic, empathetic leader driven to build community as strong and as across identity lines as possible.
HC: What are some of the roles/positions that you hold in SGA (past and present)?
RA: I wanted to learn before I led because this campus holds so many beautiful and diverse communities to be served. For my Fall and Spring semesters, I was able to garner multiple valuable lessons from Florida State’s impactful institutes like the Freshman Leadership Institute. Or with the Diversity and Inclusion Institute where students from all walks of campus came together weekly to fully understand the range of diversity and multiculturalism to support fellow students with various identities, creating a more equitable and united campus. And the last learning institute of my first year took place within Noles Engaged in Politics, I learned the inner workings of the local government right at our doorstep at the Tallahassee Capitol and heard from congressional members on the importance of local governing and advocation. After learning about our campus and its plurality of communities, I began to serve my peers as the Deputy Supervisor of Elections this past Spring. In this role, I was able to work in the common struggle of creating freer and fairer elections. Being a liaison for potential leaders allowed me to truly be a resource for those ranging in experience levels. After this role, I wanted to work even harder to serve each community and their needs on our campus and I sought to fulfill this mandate in the Executive Cabinet. My current position requires me to answer to students on FSU’s campus with their different wants and needs with empathy at the forefront. Working to create dialogues through our tumultuous summer and nation, garnering sustainability efforts for our event planning, working to increase diversity training among SGA leadership, and doing community work for a historical documentary are just some of the few projects that have allowed me to be immersed in and listen to the vast communities at Florida State.
HC: Tell me a little about being Secretary of Internal Affairs. (do you enjoy it?)
RA: The Secretary of Internal Affairs has been a position that has given me more than just leadership lessons and challenges, but relationships and personal growth. I love this position because it allows me to truly be serving and sitting in with and learning from every person from every community on campus. That’s a mandate and I seek to uphold it every day.
HC: What are your thoughts on FSU SGA? What have you learned from being in SGA?
FSU SGA holds such a powerful space on campus and in the community to make that galvanizing change I spoke of. Like any person or entity with potential, we can fall short of that mandate. But what defines us is how we choose to persist from that shortcoming to do better. I have seen that the potential not only to succeed but to do better is within SGA leaders and leaders to come. I am excited to see this change coming.
HC: What have you learned from being in SGA?
RA: SGA on FSU’s campus has taught me to believe in the transformative capacities of others. Meaning that we are all products of society and it should be an onus on all of us humans in one community to build together, not seek to further our adversarial societal foundations. This means we are building as leaders together, not trying to beat one another. This means we invest in each other’s growth and not just our own.
HC: Would you encourage students to join/get involved with SGA? If so, why?
RA: I encourage everyone to join SGA in whatever capacity would fit them the most (identity agencies, bureaus, Senate, etc.) because we all have something to give in the effort for positive, sustainable change. It’s hard to answer the question singularly “what can I do to help” because everyone has something unique and individual to give
HC: How can we make FSU a better place/community for all students?
RA: I think we can make FSU a better community for all students by believing in the transformative capacities like I previously wrote. We can be better as an FSU community by engaging and caring in the Tallahassee community as our own, not our separate. Lastly, FSU could be made better if we sought this investment in each other. Sought investment in relationships. The gap between our country’s founding promise and reality is often evoked in stating this nation’s largest flaw. This flaw trickles down to all its systems including higher educational systems. It is this personal investment in the empathy of others that would be the largest step in filling this gap. This gap exists at FSU and in every community even beyond America’s borders. Community investment will bring us closer to the pluralistic society Americans were promised
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