Meghan Larkin selected for the 2025 Phenomenal Woman award

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST

By Ryan O’Connell Associate Editor The Dean of Students Office recognized 31 nominees for the 18th annual Phenomenal Women award, celebrating women and Women’s History Month, and presented the award to Meghan Larkin March 27. Rachel Spezia, assistant dean of Campus Engagement, welcomed attendees to the event and gave an outline of the ceremony, including recognizing the nominees, announcing a new leadership program, and a keynote address from the 2018 winner of the program. “I’m so excited to be here. This is one of my favorite events to coordinate,” Spezia said. “I think now more than ever, coming together as a community and celebrating and lifting each other up.” Spezia said it was extremely difficult for the committee to choose the winner of the award this year, and there were several “fabulous nominations” that “induced tears.” Kianna Bauer, 2024’s Phenomenal Woman and the administrative services manager for the University Police, announced the winner in conjunction with Spezia. “This year’s recipient had multiple nominations, … ‘She created an environment where I could grow as a leader, find my voice, and most importantly, make mistakes without being judged,’” she read. Spezia read from another nomination, “She is passionate about working with student leaders, helping them through gaining pertinent skills for not only their current leadership positions, but also looking to the future to improve various competencies for their careers.” “The recipient is one of the brightest lights in the FSU community. She truly embodies kindness and loves to empower the women around her,” Bauer read. President Nancy Niemi gave the first address at the event, her approach to the stage backed by the song “I Am Woman.” “‘I Am Woman’ is and will always be one of my personal theme songs - I hope you have them too … and you play them when you need inspiration or hope or joy,” she said. “We’re going to continue to need these songs.” Niemi said although women’s rights have come a long way, there is still lots of work to be done. “The work of being equal, of having equality, is never done,” she said. Niemi said this work allows women to do better than ever before, and encouraged attendees to achieve this by paying attention to “intersections.” She added even today, there is still a debate in many segments of U.S. culture as to whether women should work, and how there is an underlying expectation women will become mothers and marry men. The intersections of a woman appear when we consider her economic status, her religion, her disabilities and more, Niemi said. Because of their intersections, some women don’t have a choice in whether they want to work, she added. “Let’s look at our intersections, our own, of our colleagues’ intersections, our students’ identities, and let’s ask each other - ‘What does being a phenomenal woman look like and feel like to you?’” she asked. Zae Valera, a 2018 graduate and winner of the 2018 Phenomenal Woman award, said for the people who know her, giving a keynote speech was not in her comfort zone. Valera said her personal standards have always been very high, and rarely gives herself much grace. She struggled with imposter syndrome, she added, and a voice that told her she doesn’t belong or she shouldn’t take up space. “But over time, those who saw the potential in me before I saw it in myself allowed me to hold up that mirror,” she said. Valera said she realized she didn’t need to wait for approval, not to be afraid to take risks, and that even phenomenal women make mistakes. She added when she won the 2018 Phenomenal Woman award, she didn’t know she was ever nominated, and only went at the discretion of her boss. “Before I could fully process it, I heard my name, and I was in utter shock,” she said. Valera said it helped her realize the best growth sometimes comes from taking risks. “Sometimes the best growth happens when you step into something before you feel prepared for it,” she said. “Most importantly I want to remind you, as I remind myself, to give yourself grace, because you are worthy of every success and your potential is limitless.” A new program, the Women’s Student Leadership Network, was then recognized, which paired students with a woman leader in the University community, offering a mentoring opportunity. “Our goal was to establish connections, a support person to walk each other through the semester, and I’m certain we did just that,” she said. Spezia thanked those involved and encouraged those interested in joining the program to reach out to the Dean of Students Office, as they are already recruiting for the fall 2025 cohort. David Baldwin, director of Human Resources, and formerly the Dean of Students when the annual Phenomenal Woman award at FSU was created, then read the names of the nominees. “I’ve loved this ceremony forever, ever since a grad student so many years ago - Amanda Emery - came to me with the idea and said ‘We should do this,’” he said. “And to see it evolve from just a little ceremony where everyone just kind of showed up and milled around to this now, is phenomenal,” he added.