Fellowship Spotlight: Shahrzad Roshan

Shahrzad Roshan is a third-year at the University of Georgia studying international affairs. She is the co-president and co-founder of Undocumented Student Alliance (USA). USA is an advocacy group on the UGA’s campus that advocates for und(er)documented students in Georgia, participates in community service to serve the und(er)documented community in Athens and conducts political action in order to repeal the Board of Regents ban that prohibits und(er)documented from attending UGA. After graduating, Shahrzad plans on attending law school and eventually pursuing a career in public law. Through the Fellowship, she hopes to gain in-depth knowledge of the policymaking process. She believes that in order to affect the law in any manner, one must understand it thoroughly. Upon moving to the United States from the Middle East, she found her identity to be heavily politicized. Shahrzad felt very powerless in the face of discriminatory policies in Georgia. That motivated her to want to be more in control of the bigger context that was affecting me. Through this fellowship and her further involvement in political organizations, she believes that grass-root level change coming from her and other members of the community is very much possible.