Cal State Student Association President Tara Al-Rehani Reflects on Her Leadership Journey

As Tara Al-Rehani, '26 Political Science, reaches the end of her term as president of the Cal State Student Association (CSSA), she is reflecting on all that has transpired during her journey in student government.

It all started during her freshman year at SJSU.

A couple of her friends invited her to attend a meeting for the Lobby Corps of Associated Students (A.S.). Although Al-Rehani didn't realize it at the time, that meeting marked the beginning of her path into student leadership.

"This was an example of the stars aligning," she says.

At the meeting, she learned the committee's purpose, which involved making recommendations to the A.S. president and Board of Directors about state and federal legislation that might impact the university.

Inspired, Al-Rehani applied to become a student-at-large member of the Lobby Corps, and got accepted. She remained in the position for a year and half.

During her first year on the Lobby Corps, she had a chance to attend the California Higher Education Student Summit (CHESS) at the state capital, where she received training on governance and public policy. There, she had the opportunity to meet local legislators and connect with students from all the other California State University (CSU) campuses.

This experience showed her what was possible.

"I saw that I had a bigger capacity to bring a lot of people together and have a greater impact," says Al-Rehani.

Stepping things up

In 2023, she decided to take the leap and apply for a position on the Cal State Student Association . She was elected as vice president for systemwide affairs.

The Cal State Student Association is an advocacy organization that serves as the voice for nearly half a million students who attend all of the CSU campuses. It consists of an Executive Board with five executive officers. There's also a Board of Directors consisting of 23 students - one student from each CSU campus, along with a student who serves as board chair.

"Having the opportunity to work at the system level was enticing because I felt there was more of a direct outcome," she says.

In 2025, she was elected president of the CSSA and will serve in this role until the end of May. Over the past year, one of her main priorities has been student mental health.

In 2024, the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) surveyed students nationwide and found that higher percentages of students were experiencing stress, anxiety and depression. The CSU is currently looking for ways to partner with external organizations to bring more access to mental health support for students.

"Across campuses, mental health and access to physicians is scarce," Al-Rehani says. "Systemwide, there are long wait times. That's become a big concern for us."

She also serves as a committee member for the Never Again is Now! Mural Project , which recognizes SJSU's role during the U.S. government's incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

"In this role, I've been working to emphasize the importance of this mural to legislators about why it matters; why it's important to acknowledge the history and recognize something so sad and dark," she says.

SWANA

Al-Rehani has also spent her time at SJSU working tirelessly to bring a SWANA student success center to campus - one that would empower and support students with heritage from the Southwest Asian and North African region.

In 2023, she joined forces with her good friend Wahhab Salemi, '25 Political Science, to start a registered student organization called the SWANA Initiative, which focused on finding a path toward opening a SWANA center.

Through the SWANA Initiative, Al-Rehani and Wahab recruited students and collaborated with places like the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center and the Native American and Indigenous Student Success Center (NAISSC). They helped to provide programming for cultural movie nights, hosted study nights and even organized the catering of cultural food.

"It was about building a space for SWANA students that was secular and inclusive. Something interesting is that Wahhab's parents are from Afghanistan and he's Muslim. My family is from Iraq and we're Catholic," she says. "So even though we have different backgrounds, we had an understanding and respect for each other. And that was something that we wanted to cultivate as well into the new space."

However, that new space has not yet come to fruition.

Wahhab graduated from SJSU last year, leaving Al-Rehani to continue pushing the SWANA Initiative forward on her own. But since she was busy with her role as president for the CSSA, Al-Rehani wasn't able to continue all the work. At the beginning of the school year, MOSAIC hired its first SWANA cultural programmer to plan events and activities that allow for dialogue and the building of community. Having someone in this role means the world to Al-Rehani, and she's hopeful that a SWANA student success center is still a possibility for the future.

"This is very personal to me. Finding spaces for your community that are inclusive is critically important. I would hope that the SWANA center can open and grow into something inclusive and open to everybody. It's something I would love to see," she says.

As Al-Rehani prepares to graduate next month, she is already in the job application process and hopes to apply to law school.