As the first Latina president of the Student Government Association at Georgia State, Jazmin Mejia (B.A. ’20) sets her mind on even greater achievements.
By Austin Birchell (B.A. ’20)
Note: This story was appended Dec. 18, 2019, with new reporting about Mejia's first seven months in office.
Georgia State students elected the first Latina president of the Student Government Association (SGA) in university history in April. Jazmin Mejia (B.A. ’20) won the presidency by a landslide, receiving nearly 75 percent of the vote.
Mejia, a political science major, never could have imagined the response her candidacy and election would receive. Since the announcement of her victory, Mejia has appeared on Telemundo and has been contacted by a number of other media outlets.
A native of Gainesville, Ga., Mejia grew up in a single-parent household where her mother passed on her work ethic and assured her of the support that would be instrumental in Mejia’s life.
Mejia’s grandfather was one of the first teachers in his hometown of Zimapán in Hidalgo, Mexico. Mejia, too, believes in the importance of education, and she hopes everything she does helps continue her grandfather’s legacy.
We sat down with Mejia about what the election has meant to her and what we can expect from her presidency.
What has life been like for you after the election?
Right after the election results were published, everyone began calling and sending me messages. Of course, I was in class and wasn’t able to pick up because I’m still a student, too.
That night, my mother called me sobbing. When I asked her why she was crying, she told me she had just seen me on TV. We both couldn’t believe it, and in that moment, I cried with her because of the recognition I’m getting from so many people.
I’ve got to give thanks to the director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), where I intern, because he’s been plugging me in everywhere and telling everyone about my story, which has led news outlets to pick it up.
Over the next few days, people kept congratulating me and liking my posts on social media. As I would walk around campus, people would come up to me and say, “Hey! I voted for you.” That’s been such an amazing feeling.
It’s had its share of overwhelming moments. In the back of my mind, I’ve always been unsure of being in the spotlight. But then, over the course of one night, I gained so much recognition and attention, and it’s been really important to me that I remain humble and make sure it doesn’t all get to my head. I’m a leader first, and I want to be the leader I grew up wanting to see.
You’re active on and off campus. What are you involved in outside the Student Government Association?
I work with Spotlight, an event planning department at Georgia State, on the Programs Board. I’m a day-time director, so I’m constantly working on events held in the plaza and elsewhere on campus, such as the Fall Festival.
I’m also a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. It’s a co-ed brotherhood of students all with the same goal of going to law school, becoming lawyers, and maybe even serving as elected officials. They really helped me out during my campaign. If it had not been for them, I’m not sure if I would have made it as far as I did.
Off campus, I intern at GALEO, a nonprofit, civic engagement organization that runs citizenship clinics, canvasses for bills that benefit the community and works with representatives and legislators. In my role, I do a lot of research and help out around the office. I also recently received the opportunity to work at the Capitol where I met a bunch of supportive people, other nonprofits and like-minded leaders who even suggested I run for office.
What motivated you to run for SGA president?
While I was in SGA, serving as a student senator for the College of Arts & Sciences, Franklin Patterson (B.A. ’19), the current SGA President, pulled me aside one day and told me I had potential. At the time, I didn’t see that in myself, so if it had not been for him, I probably would not have left my comfort zone. I wasn’t used to campaigning and putting myself out there like that. Thankfully, it turned out great in the end.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term?
I would really like to increase financial literacy at Georgia State. During my time here, I’ve noticed that a lot of students struggle financially, partly due to the difficulty of navigating the Office of Financial Aid and also dealing with personal finance. A lot of students don’t understand that you can complete your taxes online, don’t know how to do their taxes, or simply don’t do their taxes at all because their parents never did them or showed them how.
I hope to do this by establishing workshops — one on taxes and another on credit building. We would explain what a credit score is and the positives and negatives of getting a credit card.
I always hear students saying they wish they were taught about personal finance in high school, so we can make that change here at the college level at Georgia State. I want students to receive opportunities to understand credit and credit scores for when they go to buy a house or car after graduation.
I do know that there are current programs similar to these, but they are not marketed correctly. We need to make sure Georgia State students are aware of these opportunities and create events based around them.
How does it feel to have such a milestone in Georgia State history?
It’s so surreal. I’m constantly thinking I must be in a dream.
I hope my breaking this barrier sets a precedent for future women and minorities to run for office — in the SGA and beyond — and I hope my story empowers people to set their minds on accomplishing things that haven’t been done before.
Seven months after Mejia took office as Georgia State’s first Latina SGA president, we caught back up with her to talk about her historic administration.
What have been some of your biggest accomplishments?
One of my most important accomplishments has been to keep my grades up and still enjoy being a student while serving as SGA president. This is tough work, and time management has been crucial to academic success in my senior year.
Another accomplishment was presenting to the Administrative Council, made up of President Becker and his cabinet, and contributing to improvements on every campus simply by informing them of our initiatives. For example, the Dunwoody Campus had been struggling to repave their parking lots for years. They had extremely large potholes that were damaging students’ cars. Jerry Rackliffe, the senior vice president for finance and administration, is a member of the Administrative Council, and he was able to fix the issue after we told him about it. The Dunwoody Campus will have newly paved parking lots within a year.
We also helped almost every campus offer more diverse food options, which is very important for students with dietary restrictions. The Clarkston SGA has brought vegan food to their campus and is working on bringing halal. The Atlanta, Decatur and Dunwoody SGAs have brought vegan and halal foods to their dining halls and cafes. We’ve also started a program to bring free feminine hygiene products to all campuses. We plan on doing a pilot on the Clarkston Campus and expanding if the data proves the project worthwhile.
What’s been challenging?
It can be difficult to translate goals into reasonable, actionable items and then to keep working to accomplish them. Many presidents come into the SGA promising very big things only to realize it’s impossible to get them done in a year, and then they feel like they didn’t accomplish much. Thankfully, I have a great team, and we’re making strides toward accomplishing the initiatives we all came up with together that are bringing substantial change to all campuses.
What do you hope to do with the rest of your term?
I want to maintain the momentum we’ve built. Some administrations have trouble continuing to work hard when their successors are nipping at their heels. I will make sure we stay motivated and on track so we complete our goals while also training the future 91st administration to continue them. I also hope to motivate more students to join SGA. I know my presidency influenced how the SGA is perceived throughout the university, and I hope to see more students committed to making history at Georgia State at the spring elections.
[SGA candidate applications are due at pin.gsu.edu by Feb. 6, 2020, and voting will take place March 10–12.]
Photo by Steven Thackston