FSCJ Deerwood SGA President Rader addresses Gov. Scott’s Cabinet on Affordable College Education

Rader, who serves as president of the Open Campus/Deerwood Center Student Government Association and the District Four Coordinator for the Florida College System Student Government Association (FCSSGA), was in Tallahassee on March 18 to address Florida Governor Rick Scott’s Cabinet.

Governor Scott’s Cabinet met to hear about his recommended “It’s Your Money Tax Cut Budget,” which amounts to $80 million designated for colleges and universities who graduate students best-positioned to get a job, as the governor explained. Scott believes to make education more accessible, it has to be more affordable, and used the opportunity to explain other steps he has taken, such as last year’s veto of a tuition increase, and the creation of landmark $10,000 bachelor’s degrees.

Rader spoke in favor of the governor’s actions, and explained his decision to attend FSCJ.

“Thank you Governor for your commitment on keeping our colleges and universities affordable and holding the line on tuition,” said Rader. “There is truly no better place to get a great education that is affordable than in the state of Florida. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to take the first step in my higher education at FSCJ. One of the great things I love about our Florida College System is that it attracts some of the best and brightest minds, which is why we need to make sure that Florida continues to pursue and have policies that lead to higher education affordability.”

Rader was joined by two other Florida students and by J. David Armstrong, president of Broward College and former chancellor of the Florida College System. In turn, they offered their support of the governor’s efforts and the need to keep college tuition affordable for not only students, but for the employers who need the skills they can bring, provided they can afford the required education.

This wasn’t Rader’s first exposure to high-profile public speaking and involvement. According to Deerwood Student Engagement Coordinator Norine Katich, Rader has attended the Summer 2013 Florida Model Legislature, where he received the Student Participation Award. He has been asked to return in Summer 2014 to be a committee chairman in the Florida Model Legislature House of Representatives. In January 2014, as a member of the FCSSGA Executive Board, he spoke with U.S. senators and representatives in Washington, D.C. on issues related to student loans and Pell Grants during the FCSSGA Spring Conference. 

Rader will graduate from FSCJ in May 2014, and plans to major in Political Science at University of North Florida. We expect to be hearing from him, and of him, much more in the future.