When Rachel Callaway stepped onstage in October, she couldn’t see anyone inside HPU’s Pauline Theatre because of the bright lights.
Still, she knew she had a crowd of 300 female first-year students in front of her.
“Breathe,” she told herself. “Breathe.”
She was seconds away from telling her story for the first time publicly. It was what she called her “scarlet letter,” something she told Vice President Joe Biden in a letter when she invited him to campus as part of his “It’s On Us” campaign.
The campaign focuses on ending sexual assault on college campuses, and Callaway wanted HPU involved because she’s been there.
A family member sexually assaulted her when she was 14.
It was a courageous move to go public at HPU’s Title IX training. But Callaway isn’t one to shy away from difficulty, even when it’s emotional. She knows it’ll help more than just herself.
That moxie has helped her become HPU’s Extraordinary Leader for November.
Callaway is HPU’s first female SGA president in 13 years. But she wasn’t picked for that.
Not by a long shot.
Forever Thankful
Callaway never visited HPU before she came.
She found it on the Internet from her home in Simi Valley, California, and she was sold by what she discovered.
At first, she didn’t get too involved. She worked as a cashier at The Grille, one of HPU’s 14 locations for on-campus dining. But she knew she wanted to be more than, as she says, a “potato chip.” That is, someone whose life revolves around class, work and sleep.
So, the next year, she got busy as a student justice, the youngest member of HPU’s inaugural Student Supreme Court, and Chief of Staff for the Student Government Association.
For the past two years, she works as a Resident Assistant at the Women’s Complex. And this year, she became president of HPU’s chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Association’s honor society.
Last spring, Gail Tuttle, HPU’s Senior Vice President for Student Life, suggested she should run for SGA president.
Callaway did. And won.
Today, three years after starting at HPU, Callaway will graduate in May with a degree in strategic communication 10 days after her 21st birthday. A year later, she plans to earn from her alma mater a master’s degree in poltical communication.
She wants to become a press secretary for a politician. She’s already gotten a taste of that after interning last summer for U.S. Rep. Steve Knight, who represents California’s 25th Congressional District, which includes her hometown.
Ask Callaway about all that, and she says she’s forever thankful.
Her childhood was tough.
Growing Up Fast
Callaway, the youngest of three, was 2 when her parents divorced.
After the divorce, her mom struggled. She had shortness of breath, didn‘t sleep well and told her only daughter before courtroom hearings, “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Later as a seventh-grader, Callaway was sexually assaulted by a family member. The family member went through counseling. So did Callaway. Meanwhile, she searched for the normal in a life that didn’t feel so normal.
Her mom, a kindergarten teacher, helped.
“My family had no money growing up,” Callaway says. “We ate stale crackers and mac and cheese. We had nothing, and we still don’t have a lot now. But coming here to this school and learning in an environment that I really never thought was possible has made me realize how thankful I am.
“And now, I realize what all my mom went through. She always said, ‘God doesn’t give you more than you can handle,’ and that has clicked for me. She helped me and my brothers pursue our dreams.”
Peyton Davis, HPU’s assistant director of student conduct, has seen firsthand how Callaway’s childhood has impacted her.
“I think it’s made her grow up a little faster than she wanted to,” she says. “The SGA presidency did that as well. And now she has this great passion and great drive, and as a student advocate, she has a deep empathy that helps her relate to her peers.”
The Weight is Gone
Back in October, Callaway talked for 25 minutes at HPU’s Title IX training, and afterward, students stopped her and sent her emails, thanking her for sharing her story.
Two days later, Callaway did it again at the Greek Conference Center. This time, she spoke in front of 20 people – professors, local residents and male and female students.
She no longer felt scared. She felt relieved.
“It had always been like a scarlet letter for me, but once I shared it and made it through, it was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” she says. “I didn’t have to hide myself anymore.”
Callaway sees herself as a survivor, and HPU has helped her grow – and heal. Davis is reminded of that every time she pulls from her bottom drawer a box of Teddy Grams, one of her favorite snacks.
Callaway gave it to her in August and taped to the box this handwritten note: “Thank you for always being so supportive and a great mentor.”
When Davis talks about it today, she still gets choked up.
“It just warms my heart,” she says. “That’s why I’ll never throw it away.”