A few hours after he graduated on May 4, Student Body President Austin Shaw reflected on his shortened term in office and said his greatest accomplishment was restoring “perspective” and “credibility” to a scandal-rocked Student Government.
“I reestablished a working relationship with Student Affairs,” says the English major. “That was important.”
But according to his political opponents, that was also overdone.
“I don’t think he was a successful president,” says former Boca Governor Rakibur “Rocky” Joarder. He gave up too much student rights to Student Affairs and brought back the credibility of SG in the eyes of Student Affairs – but not for Student Government itself.”
Student Affairs, the administrative department that oversees SG, is not usually a hot topic of discussion among student leaders. But ever since Shaw took over for his predecessor – who resigned after several financial and ethical scandals – administrators from Student Affairs all the way up to FAU President Frank Brogan threatened to shut down SG if it didn’t make big changes in the way it policed itself.
Shaw was vice president when Kirk Murray resigned in November, after the UP broke stories about Murray mismanaging several SG programs, including one that was supposed to give away Barnes & Noble gift cards to students. Evidence mounted that Murray had kept some of the gift cards for himself, and FAU police launched an investigation.
Shaw also stepped into an SG that made headlines in local media for all the wrong reasons, from botching the 2006 elections (that took four months to resolve) to being accused of attempting to shut down the student-run radio station.
“Unfortunately with the negative press regarding SG over the last year, this [restoring credibility to SG] had to be [Shaw’s] number one goal,” says Lisa Bardill, former associate dean of Student Affairs. “There were many students who were discouraged with SG and sort of apathetic about the most important organization on campus – Student Government.”
When he took over for Murray, Shaw immediately started working with administrators to fix SG’s tainted image – despite opposition from his fellow student leaders.
“There are people who say SG needs to be autonomous and that you are sacrificing the rights of the students by working with Student Affairs,” Shaw said. “Criticisms like that were significant oppositions.”
Bardill, the primary advisor to SG on the Boca campus, says Shaw had to disagree with some of his fellow leaders in order to make change. However, she says he was “just trying to shift the balance where administration and those students who were disgruntled could have faith in SG again.”
House Speaker Pro Tempore Christopher Mack says SG gained a lot of respect from the students during Shaw’s term, but “lost power to the administration.”
Although Mack feels the control on SG from Student Affairs was inevitable, he says Shaw could have “fought a little harder.”
In order to overcome these challenges, Shaw simply did what he “thought was right.”
“Every decision that I made, I made on the simple binary of ‘is this right or is this wrong,'” he says.
So, how do Shaw’s critics and his supporters feel about his legacy?
Mack says Shaw will be remembered for his “ethical reputation,” while Bardill says he will be known for his “exemplary speaking skills.”
Although Shaw doesn’t feel he’s left an indelible mark on FAU, he does feel he’s left a bit of an “Austin Shaw tradition.”
“I know that I have a specific style of government and whether or not that will be followed is up to my successor,” Shaw says with a smirk. “I’d like it to be, I think it’s the right model.”
Shaw hopes his methods will be followed next year to maintain continuity, yet, he says his successor Tony Teixeira, “is going to be an outstanding president.”
“I’m leaving a detailed letter for Tony [Teixeira] and he and I had a 45-minute meeting and covered all the things that were on my desk,” Shaw says. “And that right there is an accomplishment in itself. I don’t know the last time a current student body president would meet with his successor.”
For his predictions on next year’s SG and Teixeira’s reign, Shaw says Teixeira’s going to be “a fine leader” and that his popularity with the students is a great advantage.
While SG is constantly surrounded by politics, Shaw says that he and Teixeira are “not in it for the politics,” leaving time to focus on the students. Shaw says Teixeira has a creative mind and a lot of “neat ideas.”
Shaw is on his way out the door and into another, as he will be attending Oxford University in England next fall, where he plans to major in theology.
“Student Government is not an end in itself,” Shaw says. “It’s a means to an end and it’s a learning experience.”
