FEATURE
“Student Government experience” is a refrain heard often during election campaigns at FAU. It usually means “get in line, pal.”
And those who were “in line” for student body presidency have been pals — or at least running mates — since 2007, starting with Tony Teixeira. Abe Cohen became president after being Teixeira’s VP, and outgoing president Tiffany Weimar campaigned for governor with both.
Weimar’s VP, Collene O’Reilly, would have continued that line next year, possibly to be followed by her running mate Chuck Forbes and Boca governor-elect Allison Gentry.
But president-elect Ayden Maher cut in on that line of succession with an electoral upset March 23 and 24. Thanks to the help of new voters, he swung from 107 votes behind O’Reilly in the initial election to 156 votes ahead in a second round of voting.
Maher also would’ve been the first non-Greek student body president elected in more than five years — except that he joined Greek Life prior to the run-off election.
The UP talked to the president-elect about that and his plans for the future. We also caught up with Weimar to review her term. Here’s what they said.
University Press: What are you most proud of as university-wide senator?
Ayden Maher: Securing $65,000 for Owl Radio, for legal work for getting an FM transmitter. I also fought against the shutting down of the Broward Wellness Center. [Associate Dean of Student Affairs] Terry Mena said I was the first person from the main campus to advocate on behalf of every campus and that he had never seen that before.
UP: How would you compare yourself to Tiffany as president?
AM: At the [March 26 Boca] House meeting, Ms. Weimar actually had her second vote of no confidence. This was her first vote as president; she also had one as governor.
Ms. Weimar is a graduate student, and they sleep in their offices sometimes, and they bust their ass. So, while I do think she may have been disconnected from the vast majority of students here at FAU, she did do good things. I know she advocated for GSA [the Graduate Student Association]. But apart from being campus governor, I don’t know any real-world leadership experience Ms. Weimar had.
UP: What are your commitments and priorities going into office?
AM: Parking. I cannot wave a magic wand, but I spoke to Mr. Isaac Roman about it — he’s the student body president of FGCU [Florida Gulf Coast University] — and they have a parking waiver. Your first parking ticket would be waived. No one wants to say this, but a couple-dollar increase for Traffic and Parking, to go solely toward building a new garage.
Secondly, sustainability. When I was vice president of Mission Green [Student Association], instead of wanting to have dance competitions or tree-planting ceremonies, I wanted to cut Kleenex out of the bathrooms and convert to having air-blown dryers and no-water urinals. That will save on paper, water [and] waste management, and it’s also better for the environment.
Advisers. We need more advisers. I was on the Facebook group “You Know You Go to FAU When … ” and a lot of people wrote that advisers tell you nothing. I’ve only met my adviser once, but I left scared out of my pants. Hiring more advisers is a must because students need direction here.
We’re going to talk to Chartwells about labeling options for vegan, vegetarian [and] lactose-intolerant people. Students need refills, and I’m sure they’ll pay a quarter for them. The no-refill policy is a joke. And I definitely think we need a rotational basis for later food options — maybe Papa John’s stays open until 10 on a Monday, Wendy’s on a Tuesday [and] Salsarita’s on a Wednesday.
UP: You take over in May. What are your plans for summer?
AM: I am considering studying abroad for a few weeks in England. But summer is really when we can do work, when we can have a group of students returning in the fall who say, “Wow, that wasn’t here before.” I will promise you we’ll be on campus almost every day this summer working for students. I’m moving closer to campus in May for that reason.
UP: The president is allowed to write legislation and send it to the Senate for consideration. Do you intend to?
AM: Ms. Weimar [wrote a bill that] asked for $50,000 to improve the campus, although, clearly, she did not spend a penny of it, and that money is lost now to FAU from our reserve account. $50,000 can do a lot for students. Would I take advantage of it? Yes, but only with a clear plan of action to use the money.
UP: How are you going to make sure you get concerns and ideas from students?
AM: Every school’s SG Web site I’ve seen is better, so much better. I think if we can hire a full-time webmaster and not just have a graduate assistant update it once a month or something like that, I think that would be so cool. A Web site that will be really proactive and have links to student media and group organizations — we really want to create a calendar for student organizations, and every single club you can type in and see all their events. If we can get a Web site that responds and not just post minutes from two years ago, I think that would be really cool.
UP: What do you plan on delegating to your VP? One of the duties of the VP is to chair the university-wide budget committee. Do you think he’s prepared to do that?
AM: He did not have any SG experience, but I’m pretty sure Tiffany did not either before she ran for governor. I’ve had the job twice, and I say he’ll do a great job compared to Chuck Forbes, who hasn’t done it. I’m not worried at all about him.
UP: You’ve said that SG isn’t well-marketed. How are you going to reach out to students and make sure they get information they need, such as about voting?
AM: I know it’s annoying, FAU, but there needs to be e-mails maybe for three weeks leading up [to elections]. We send out two or three, maybe they check one of them. We announce it on Owl Radio, get more of it in the UP. With the first election there were pieces of paper with “SG elections” on it, and you could not see that from a mile away, really small. Why not before, and why not bigger, and why not hung up everywhere? I gave [Election Chair] Freddy [Moldt] $500 for that in a bill, and if they need $1,000, so be it. If more students vote, that’s all that matters.
UP: You said during the campaign that you wanted more “natural” places on campus for students to relax. Do you still want to work on that? How? How much will it cost?
AM: Yes, yes, yes. The first area we were looking at — we have a hammock committee on campus, Nona [Smatrakaleva] is the head of it — we’re looking at starting with eight of them. We’re looking at things like getting corporate sponsorship. We could match SG funds, going to the community and matching donors.
UP: Do you support FAU’s effort to ban smoking on campus?
AM: I do not support the smoking ban on campus. I don’t support smoking; I’m not a smoker. I wish my mom would stop, and my aunt has cancer. But smoking is a social thing, and when you create social areas for smokers to go — I almost feel that’s encouraging smoking. I understand the health risks, which is why I don’t think people should be able to smoke in the Breezeway or other dense areas. Ban it there and you can patrol those certain areas, but instead what they’re doing is saying, “Hey, you can smoke right here. Enjoy. Want me to light that for you?”
UP: You said you want to get free-food passes from Chartwells, one free meal a week for SG members. How much would that cost, and where would the money come from? What’s your reasoning?
AM: I hope that Chartwells will step up and do something. I think by pressuring them we can get something like that to representatives who are dedicating sometimes five hours of their time a week or more. If you’re a commuter student and paying for gas and a meal, you’re going in debt to serve on a volunteer position. And this revolving door we have with representatives is not helping FAU; it’s really hurting FAU. You’re getting students who don’t know the statutes, don’t know what happened last week.
UP: And if these sponsors don’t step up? Would you fund this idea with students’ activity and service fees?
AM: I would consider funding it from A&S fees if it was feasible. Maybe not once a week, but maybe once a month to be more financially smart and not just spend it on SG people, because that doesn’t seem right to me. But yes, I would.
UP: There’s a long line of Greek presidents. You “lost” in the initial election, joined Greek Life in the interim, and came out on top in the run-off. What do you want to say about that?
AM: I never wanted to rush a fraternity; it wasn’t my thing. But I met with a few guys, and I was a founding father of Phi Delta Theta during the first election. Did they do more for me? Maybe, but we talked to everyone: ASU [Asian Student Union], Greek Life, athletics; it wasn’t just about Greek Life or residential students. There’s only about 20 in my fraternity, so unless they got some good connections — and it’s not like we’ve been entrenched in Greek Life for a year or so now. I would say joining a fraternity like Pike [Pi Kappa Alpha], which has tons of members, is more a move to garner votes after you lose an election. Was it coincidental? Yes. Did they win the election for me? No.
UP: Lastly, is there anything you want to say to students as you head into office?
AM: My office is on the second floor of the Student Union [of the Boca campus], and I don’t know what my hours are yet, but please stop by — I know it’s far. Add me on Facebook and directly communicate with me. Just because I’m the president doesn’t mean I’m not a student. If you want to make FAU a better place and have ideas, get in contact with me. Without your ideas and input, I’m just one person. Get involved, join a club, join Greek Life, go to a game. Do something you didn’t think you would do. Be innovative and creative and have fun. You’re only in college once, and you can make a difference.
He’s Taking Over, She’s Taking Off
University Press: You finish your master’s degree in business this summer, right? What’s next? Got a job lined up?
Tiffany Weimar: I have a few job offers. One is actually for a nonprofit in Palm Beach, director of alumni and donor relations. That was one interesting position; I’m still interviewing. But at least I have an offer somewhere.
UP: How do you feel wrapping up your term? Are you glad to go?
TW: I really had my time to shine, and I’m ready to pass the torch. I’m very proud of the accomplishments and all the hard work I’ve put in. I can’t even explain what I’ve gotten in return from being active; it’s been an amazing experience.
UP: Do you feel that you’ve lived up to your campaign promises and done everything you set out to do?
TW: Yes. Collene and I really set out many initiatives, and I have them listed in this letter [editor’s note: see page 3]. For the most part, we definitely addressed, I would say, 95 percent, if not all, the things we intended to, if not set up the foundation for the next leaders. It’s going to be a lot easier for the next leaders coming in.
UP: Your platform included “being a resource for students,” weekend programming and marketing. What did you do in each of those areas?
TW: We made SG more visible. We have the SG brochure that was just printed. As far as transparency, we set up the framework for student leaders to be able to put their meeting minutes online. Just being a strong advocate for students. I think one thing that I’ve done that is very unique, although I’ve dealt with a lot of immediate changes, I’ve also laid a groundwork for future long-term projects. You won’t see the most severe labor for one, two, three, eight years down the road from when you’ve started
.
From the programming perspective, there were bonfires, we had the Hoops for Haiti event, [and] the spring game coming up. We really haven’t had to pick up the slack from other areas. I didn’t feel much of a need.
UP: What are you most proud of? What was your biggest accomplishment? Any regrets?
TW: One thing I’d have to mention was selecting a university president. Representing the students, that was a long process. Going through 40-some applications. I definitely did my work and research on all the candidates to really get the word out to students. I was continuously asking for feedback. There wasn’t as much feedback as I would’ve liked.
A couple things that are immediate are school-spirited projects around campus. Owl etchings on the bus shelters. The new welcome signs coming into FAU, they’re blue and red instead of the white [old ones]; we’re the ones who got that through. Diversity Way is gonna be a spirit campaign. It actually starts after Dade Avenue and goes straight down to Parking Garage 2. It will be, like, five banners alternating; it’ll be pretty cool to see. You’ll have the large banner on the light pole, and underneath it will be, like, 11×16 small banners, which clubs have already reserved. It’ll be an amazing opportunity for clubs and SG to be seen. The SG brochure, the shuttle bus [and] a contribution toward the stadium.
UP: Your VP, Collene, didn’t win your seat. That ends the continuity from Tony to Abe to you, and then potentially to her. Why do you think Tony, Abe and you won? Why did Collene lose? And what do you think of Ayden?
TW: I think if I knew the answer to that, things would be a lot easier. We had a constant following for a good three years, and we had a lot of support. When they saw Tony, they also saw Abe, and when people saw Abe, they saw me. But I don’t know if that’s why, because when people see me, they also see Collene, and she didn’t win.
I think Collene and I have laid a foundation for the next student body president that, to be honest, Ayden will probably get credit for, and that’s not a good or a bad thing. It’s good for the students. It’s gonna make the next guy look great, but Collene and I have left an awesome mark on FAU.
UP: The Boca House has twice voted no confidence in you for not making it to meetings — they said you hadn’t shown up since January, actually — and for not signing legislation for weeks. What do you say about that?
TW: I am probably the most fiscally responsible president about bills. I question whether SG or the university should be funding some of these things. There needs to be a better process for getting bills signed. Sometimes it’s not in my mailbox when they say it is. There are a few bills that I have prolonged signing, but I think that’s important because you’re spending students’ money.
UP: What were your main duties as president, as you saw them?
TW: Above all, I’ve been completely active and engaged in every single process and decision that has dealt with students. I would ask you to go and speak to Nancy Blosser on my engagement with the BOT. I’ve challenged administration on policy changes. Students need to be aware of that, and they’re just not.
In the know
Here’s what SG leaders and administrators who have worked with both presidents think
Boca House Speaker Alan Pollock
On Tiffany:
There are a lot of things, especially along the lines of communication, that President Weimar could’ve done a lot better with. She hasn’t discussed any BOT positions [where] she would have to make a recommendation on behalf of the students.
A lot of our bills are held up for weeks upon months in her office. You don’t see her in the office that much.
On Ayden:
He’s already hit the ground running. He wants to give House members incentives to keep coming to meetings week after week. He came up with a food voucher system through Chartwells. Coming [to the House and] saying, “I’m going to do this,” and in a week’s time, coming back and going, “Hey, I did this,” — I haven’t seen that in any of the executive branch officials or even the university executive branch officials since I’ve been at this school. I think he’s going to do great things.
Associate Dean of Students Terry Mena
On Tiffany:
There’s a lot of things that students don’t see day-to-day. She’s a big, strong advocate for students. Some real critical decisions were made at the Board level [where] she really asked critical questions and put the student face in front of the decision-making process.
I think her involvement to figure out the best person for the job [of FAU president] from the student standpoint is really important. It’s a testament to her legacy.
On Ayden:
Most recently I’ve sat with Ayden on the [university-wide SG] budget committee. and I really, truly believe he was a champion for the students across the university and not just for a particular community or campus.
Boca Governor Marni Sherman
On Tiffany:
I love Tiffany; I think she’s a great person. But as president, I have been very unhappy with her. At the BOT meeting [to select FAU President Mary Jane Saunders] I did not hear her one time speak up for the students. And she hasn’t been around a lot; we have all this legislation that was passed how many weeks ago that we can’t do anything with because she hasn’t signed any of it.
On Ayden:
He’s really good at debating, [and] he has a lot of experience in Tallahassee. He knows how to talk to people and make them feel good about themselves and relate to them. He always stands his ground and doesn’t conform.
