Victoria Swander

The Students in African Studies group was founded in the fall of 2013, under the guidance of our adviser Sarah Cervone. Sarah inspired students in her Cultural Anthropology and African Humanities courses to take advantage of available Africa-related academic opportunities by highlighting her own experience living and working in Morocco. Previously, I had not been active on campus whatsoever, but Sarah was so enthusiastic in her encouragement that I became interested in getting involved with the club. The members collectively founded the organization with the following goals: to promote student awareness of academic and career opportunities relating to Africa, to generate interest in Africa-related courses at Santa Fe as well as the study abroad trip to Ghana, and to fundraise to remove financial barriers preventing students from taking advantage of these opportunities.

 

Throughout the year, we promoted the Africa-related courses offered at SF, African language courses offered at the University of Florida (that SF students can take), and the summer study abroad trip to Ghana. We did so by tabling both on and off campus, making announcements in classrooms, and taking advantage of social media. Many students expressed interest in these courses, which can meet general education requirements at SF while also counting towards an African Studies minor at UF. This was my first exposure working with others in a club on campus. It gave me a sense of the process involved in chartering an organization, reserving spaces and equipment on campus for fundraisers and events, and participating in leadership training. I discovered how heavily others rely on leadership, myself included. Many students were content with following direction, but few were prepared to take the initiative to organize a plan and assign specific tasks to others. I realized how important it is to step up and take action in order to accomplish tasks. A related lesson I learned was the importance of defining concrete goals and deadlines. Meeting often to discuss and assign tasks was necessary to show continuous improvement. Being able to clearly communicate to others our purpose was especially helpful when fundraising, as people were much more likely to donate to students with solid goals and a history of activity and progress. 

 

By the spring of 2014, I had taken over the position of Vice President of the Students in African Studies. We participated as a club in events such as the World Diversity Fair and African Diaspora Day. We represented Santa Fe by tabling at the Harn Museum during their Kongo Across the Waters Museum Night. We reached out to African artists within the community in order to share their work with students. This included holding a poetry reading by SF professor and author Dr. Naana Horne, showing paintings by UF student Ndubuisi Ezeluomba, and inviting hip hop artist Nazir Hausawa to discuss the censorship of his music in Nigeria. We also engaged in various fundraising efforts by selling baked goods and handmade jewelry on campus as well as off at the Radical Press Coffee Collective, monthly Gainesville Artwalk, downtown Farmer’s Market, and the annual 5th Ave Arts Festival.