La Sierra University

Taking God’s Lead: Student Association President’s Unexpected Pathway

Unexpected opportunities can turn the bestlaid plans around. For La Sierra University’s student association president, a chance to speak at the California State Capitol last fall opened potential possibilities he’d never imagined and hung a question mark over the path he’d charted.

Lawrence Steven Dorsey III, who goes by Steve, is a senior psychology major and religious studies minor and the president of the Student Association of La Sierra University, or SALSU. The progeny of Southern California Conference pastors of the same name, his father and grandfather, leadership and service run in his DNA. Aspirations to advocate for his fellow students emerged while serving as a SALSU freshman senator and materialized with Dorsey’s election to lead the student association during his senior year. From this platform, he unexpectedly found himself in a position to speak on behalf of students around the state of California.

Following an invitation from university President Joy Fehr, Dorsey provided testimony before the California State Assembly Higher Education Committee on Nov. 3, 2021. He delivered his talk, centered on the present equity gap in higher education, during an informational hearing on the post-pandemic future of the state’s colleges and universities. The university is a member of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU), and Dorsey appeared along with AICCU’s vice president for government relations, who served on a committee panel discussing the pandemic’s impact.

“When President Fehr extended me the opportunity, I did not comprehend the scope of what I would be doing,” Dorsey said. “Testifying at the state capitol was one of the more formative experiences of my life. Testifying on behalf of La Sierra and students of California showed me the significance of using your voice, but more importantly, being ready to stride when God opens a door.”

Following the hearing, several assembly members encouraged Dorsey to apply for the California State Fellows program, which involves serving full-time Lawrence Steven Dorsey III is president of the Student Association of La Sierra University.

as a legislative staff member for 11 months. Dorsey submitted the application and will be interviewed in February. A decision is expected in March. In the meantime, he has applied to graduate programs for clinical psychology, the career path he had previously mapped out. “At its core, this fellowship could represent a monumental step in a possible political career, which I did not expect but am ready to embrace,” Dorsey said. “It will be exciting to see which door God opens.”

____________________ By Darla Martin Tucker