[SBA Elections] On Behalf of Payvand Afzali for SBA President
USF SBA Elections
Dear Classmates,
Over the past few weeks, I have had a chance to meet and talk with many of you. I truly appreciate your willingness to both share your ideas about the future of our law school, and listen to my ideas as well.
Today I am writing for two reasons:
1. To share a bit more about my goals as President, my ideas on how to achieve them, and why I believe it is imperative that your voice is heard throughout the process.
2. To take a moment and update you all on my conversations with the administration throughout the past week.
I envision an SBA that is student led, student oriented, and devoted to the support and development of your legal careers, both at USF and beyond. In order for us to achieve our goals, whether they concern future employment, bar passage, academic support, or community involvement, we must build and utilize the support network available to us, and continue conversations with the administration urging them to work with us for our collective benefit.
Goals as SBA President:
1. Building our USF student body network
a. Connecting students (especially 1Ls) with other students that can help them achieve their career goals
i. This includes developing a mentorship program where upperclassmen help other students navigate the job market, as well as both the professional and personal obstacles that law school presents
b. Coming together collectively (all 500+ students) in order to shape our goals for the upcoming year
i. This is the reason we need monthly student only meetings
2. Building our USF alumni network
a. Focus a majority of SBA programming on alumni networking and outreach events
b. Host alumni events on and off campus in order to most effectively broaden our network
c. Compile an SBA alumni database that can be easily accessed by all students
d. Spotlight recent graduates who found employment in different areas of law, both in the Bay Area and beyond
3. Building our broader attorney network
a. Alumni outreach should not only be with USF alumni
b. Host programming events in which other practicing attorneys, both in the Bay Area and beyond, are invited to attend
c. Strengthen the USF name across the country
4. Pushing administration to be more cooperative in our efforts
a. Continuing conversations with administrative offices so they understand what we as students want them to achieve for us
b. Pushing administrative offices to work harder for the students and keep students’ goals at the top of their agendas
5. Making sure the new Dean is aware of all issues students face at USF
a. We are uniquely positioned to truly influence the transformations that are about to take place
b. If the new Dean is aware of the issues on our campus, then we can push him/her to achieve our goals
c. By the end of this academic year, the USF student body, via the SBA President, should present a detailed outline of the current concerns, needs, and goals of the school, as well as our ideas on how to bring those changes about
Meeting with Administration on 3/28
Last Thursday I met with Dean Dolly, Johanna Hartwig (Director of OCP), and Robin Keating (Director of Alumni Relations) to discuss their opposition to a discussion post I created on LinkedIn. My message was aimed to begin our alumni outreach and I did not understand why the administration wanted to prevent us from starting this endeavor. After a long discussion, I proposed that we have more open-ended discussions between students and administration in order to build communication and transparency. Eventually, they made a few promises that are listed as follows:
1. They will begin regular communication between administration and students
a. OCP and Alumni Relations are now open to hosting regularly held conversations with our student body
b. They are also starting a newsletter that will be sent out to all students
2. Increased student activity in alumni outreach
a. We are setting up ways that allow students to connect with alumni without any administrative involvement
3. Access to the alumni list that they do not disseminate to students
a. Go to OCP and meet with Johanna to discuss the reasons you are interested in a certain field and ask for a list of alumni to contact
b. She will then extract a list of alumni in your desired practice area and make that list available to you
I implore you to explore these opportunities because not only will they help your job search along, but they will also allow us to hold the administration accountable. Again, this is only the beginning of the conversation. Ultimately, we are aiming to secure our own alumni database that any student can access directly.
Thank you all for your continued questions and support. I am inspired by your dedication to USF, and I am honored to be a candidate for your 2013-2014 SBA President.
Sincerely,
Payvand Afzali
USF SBA Elections
Dear Classmates,
I want to start out by thanking you for your involvement in these elections throughout the past couple of weeks. Your genuine concern for and commitment to USF have proven to me time and time again how unique we truly are, and how honored I would be to speak on your behalf as SBA President.
I would like to take this final letter to convey to you some things that perhaps have not been made clear enough throughout this election process. As is clear to many of you, my co-candidate for SBA President and I have a lot in common when it comes to where our priorities lie, the issues currently facing USF, and what we plan to do to address those issues.
I believe that who we are is just as important as what we do. I believe that we are defined not by GPAs or starting salaries, but by the community of friends and loved ones around us. There is a human element to USF that ties each and every one of us together. We rise together, and we fall together. We celebrate one another’s success and we support one another in times of disappointment. We care, not just for ourselves, not just for our futures, but for one another. This human element is unquantifiable. It is incalculable. But it is mighty.
This is what makes us different. This is what makes us great. This is what I will fight to preserve.
Because in life, we will fall. We all will face hardships and disappointments. And it is true that a number of those stumbles will come during our time here as law students. This is the nature of law school and the nature of life. But the nature of USF is to catch one another when we fall.
What is important to me, and what sets me apart, is my sincere belief that we must fight just as hard for our community, for our friendships, and for our USF family, as we fight for our legal futures. No one succeeds alone, and when you’re a member of the USF family, no one falls alone either.
We must remember that we are more than numbers would allow us to be. We are stronger than any ranking would suggest. We have each other to lean on, to celebrate with, and to catch us when we fall.
This is the USF community I believe in and this is why we will rise together. Thank you again for your continued involvement, commitment, and support.
With Sincere Thanks,
Payvand Afzali