The Associated Students of Highline College is getting back in gear after a mixed start.
On November 1, Yahya Abdulmohsin was confirmed to be the new Vice President of the ASHC.
Elections for the student council are held during Spring Quarter. Last spring, Nestor Reyes was elected president of the ASHC, but was unable to fulfill this position due to conflicting responsibilities. Now, the position goes to Mahad Dahir, former vice president of the ASHC.
“I was originally elected as Vice President this past June with the understanding that I’ll be working with Nestor Reyes since he was elected president a week or two before the election for VP had begun,” said Dahir.
“During CORE team training, we were hoping that Nestor would be able to join us as our president. Unfortunately, he had a lot of other responsibilities that were out of his control therefore he could not fulfill the role as president. The moment that Amy told us that Nestor wouldn’t be joining us, it was a turning point for ASHC as we wouldn’t have a president this year,” he said.
“We still have responsibilities to fulfill. [So] Nurma and I decided I should be the president, [and] we worked it out with Amy,” said Dahir.
Nurma Khan is the ASHC speaker of the caucus, and Amy Bergstrom is the Interim Director of the Center for Leadership & Service.
Despite a lack of a full council, the ASHC council has been working to make Highline more equitable from a student perspective.
“I met with Dr. Mosby last week. I mentioned people have been calling for social justice and change,” said Dahir.
Dr. John R. Mosby is the president of Highline, and has shown a desire to increase equity in the community and the school in the past.
“This college is also part of a multicultural and multigenerational community, and it is crucial that their needs are addressed in an equitable manner,” said Dahir.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” he added.
“I believe this is the first time we’ve had an all Muslim ASHC council, this is a historic moment,” he said.
But tackling these issues isn’t easy, and they’re being addressed as best they can, and the key seems to be community.
“We are at a point where people are continuing these calls for social justice and human rights protections and because of that there are many solutions to the problems we’re seeing in our community.
“However, we may not have all the answers to the questions folks in the community are asking regarding changes to how we treat each other in this society. We would like to increase partnerships with various community organizations that do have the same mission.
“Therefore, it is critical that we not only continue to work with existing organizations but also some new ones so that our team and these organizations are well-informed and understand how we conduct things here at Highline,” said Dahir.
In addition, Dahir also shared a bit of the challenges he’s faced, including Autism.
“I’m the first Achieve student in the council, and I want to use my platform to empower students with disabilities for change,” he said.
The Achieve program offers support to students having to overcome different obstacles and challenges.
Outside of the ASHC, Dahir is also a student with a passion for film and advocating for his community.
“I originally wanted to study Network Security but will change my major to Multimedia Design so that I can become a filmmaker and venture into how film can play a role in empowering people to fight for changes in their communities,” Dahir said,
“Films can educate people about various causes around the world and many examples of this are Remember the Titans and BlacKkKlansman. Therefore, I would like to study to become a filmmaker so that I can empower my community to take to the streets and raise their voices in order to create a new society towards tolerance and coexistence!!” he said.
“I believe that my family is a strong part of who I am as a human being and many of them have influenced me to become a better person day in and day out.”
“Community outreach and legacy is how I want to be remembered,” he said.