Before Hadar Arazi was even admitted to UF, she knew she wanted to get involved in Student Government.
In high school, Arazi got a glimpse of UF’s SG when she met student leaders at a conference during her senior year. She was fascinated.
Now, two years later, she’s running as Swamp Party’s candidate for Student Body treasurer alongside presidential and vice presidential candidates Joseph Michaels and Tia Smart.
Born in Jerusalem, the 20-year-old UF political science and public relations junior grew up speaking some Hebrew and Portuguese, taught by her Israeli father and Brazilian mother.
When she was about a month old, Arazi’s family moved to California, where she lived for 11 years before moving to South Florida.
Arazi said her culture has contributed to who she is as a person.
“I’ve always been exposed to different cultures, and I’ve always been interested in learning more about other cultures,” she said.
In her last two years at UF, Arazi became a UF student senator, member of SG External Affairs and president of Jewish Student Union.
As a freshman during Summer B, she became involved in External Affairs, an agency within SG. The agency represents student opinions and views on key legislative priorities at the local, state and federal levels.
She ran for Senate a few times but wasn’t successful until her sophomore year in Fall 2013, when she applied to be a replacement senator in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She earned the seat and re-slated with Swamp in Spring 2014.
In Senate, Arazi currently serves on the judiciary and allocations committee, the latter of which is one of her favorite parts of Senate.
“It’s really exciting to see student organizations able to expand their programming because of the funding we’re able to provide them,” she said.
She said she enjoys helping new organizations grow, as she knows it’s hard for any organization to expand without the proper funding.
As Student Body treasurer, she said she wants to make the Reitz Union a second home for student organizations. However, Arazi said her main goal is to empower student organizations by providing the proper funding.
“Student organizations are extremely vital to every student’s experience here at UF,” she said. “Student organizations add another aspect to your experience here.”
Check back Friday for profiles on the candidates for vice president and president.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 2/19/2015]
