As president of the Florida State University Student Government Association, Nastassia “Tazzy” Janvier is comfortable taking on leadership roles.
So it was only natural that on June 1, just months after being elected student body president, Janvier took on another leadership post when she was elected chair of the Florida Student Association.
As chair of the FSA, she represents the student bodies of Florida’s 12 public universities — amplifying the voice of more than 400,000 students. It also gives her a seat and a vote on the Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System of Florida. It’s an expanded set of responsibilities Janvier said she relishes.
“In my role at FSU I am tasked with representing students on the university Board of Trustees,” she said. “I bring up conversations that are pertinent to students and then I work to ensure that I can help students.”
Janvier said she envisions her role on the FSA in very much the same way.
“Students are here to turn our ideas and our dreams into projects and progress,” she said. “I am here to help that process at FSU and with the FSA.”
While each of the state’s public universities has its own unique identity and culture, Janvier said the needs of Florida’s students transcend campus boundaries. She said that belief is informed by her experience as a first-generation college student and it’s one that will guide her in her role on the Board of Governors.
“The biggest priority is helping stakeholders across Florida recognize the amazing things our students can do when given the opportunity and then getting them to commit to ensuring that opportunity,” she said.
Janvier added that part of that commitment means ensuring not only access but by prioritizing student safety and health.
“We need to make sure that students feel safe on our college campuses and that they have access to resources like health care and mental health resources,” she said. “That includes recognizing that COVID-19 has long-term impacts on physical and mental health.”
Janvier added: “My fellow members on the Board of Governors can expect me to represent the students of Florida and their needs in their entirety. That means student financial health, physical health, mental health and campus housing and security.”
Her role with the FSA is a continuation of a trajectory Janvier has been on since she arrived at FSU as a first-generation college student.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Miramar, Florida, Janvier didn’t necessarily know the ropes of college life and the academic demands of FSU when she arrived in Tallahassee — but she leapt in.
She has held leadership posts in the FSU Chapter of the NAACP, the Tallahassee League of Women Voters, the Black Student Union, her sorority Delta Theta Sigma and several positions within the FSU SGA.
Janvier, who graduated from FSU in 2020 with her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary social science, is currently working as a graduate assistant in FSU’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy while pursuing a master’s degree in public administration.
Her time at FSU has given her the foundation for her role with the FSA and beyond, Janvier said.
“My experiences as an undergrad at FSU prepared me to take on all that I’ve wanted to,” she said.