Shane Hawkins, sophomore social studies education major, has been appointed interim student body president for the Student Association by departing Lazaria Bennett-Lewis.
With low voter turnout and transparency in focus, Hawkins stepped into the role with an awareness of a structural challenge facing the Student Association.
“If you look at our voting results for past student body presidents, you would see a very low percentage of the student body actually voting,” Hawkins said. “How can we say that we represent a student body when we’re not really voted on by the majority of the student body?”
Hawkins previously served as executive assistant and chief of staff under the former president. In those roles he was responsible for meeting minutes, assisting with agendas, and attending administrative meetings.
“I already planned on running for student body president next year,” Hawkins said. “So there was an element of nervousness, but I felt pretty confident coming in.”
According to the Student Association website, the organization receives $0.60 per credit hour from each enrolled student through the General Service fee, generating approximately $120,000 annually.
Hawkins said the Association allocates close to $20,000 per semester to support RSOs and scholarships. With that financial responsibility, he says transparency must extend beyond visibility.
While the Student Association is widely recognized for its high traffic restroom flyers- “potty postings,” Hawkins says outreach is only part of the equation.
Public Information Officer, Katie Stroede, junior Biology major described the importance of these postings and emphasized Hawkins’s role in supporting outreach.
“These posters are guaranteed to be seen, whereas a social media post limits our audience to our followers,” Stroede said. “I do believe [Hawkins] supports the nontraditional communication methods.”
Hawkins says he wants student government engagement to go deeper beyond recognition.
“Before I joined the Association, I would hear people say, ‘What is Student Association? What do you guys do?’” he said. “That was kind of the main thing — getting our message out.”
Hawkins plans to introduce a resolution creating an Academic Engagement Committee which would assign representatives to specific colleges.
“They’d have a specific person they can talk to,” Hawkins said. “Someone who’s also in contact with faculty and deans so that they can again be that bridge that we always say we want to be.”
He is also partnering with the Faculty Association to organize a student-faculty panel later this semester aimed at increasing mutual understanding.
To address low election participation, Hawkins is exploring changes to the election timeline.
“Usually it’s in March,” he said. “People are focused on spring break and final exams. They’re not really focused on who’s going to be student body president next year.”
Stroede commented on his plans to increase accessibility.
“Shane’s number one goal as president is to be accessible to students,” she said. “Just being present on campus and showing that he is putting action behind his words will win over the students.”
Hawkins also plans to maintain regular communication with President Grant and the Board of Control.
“If a student brings a concern to me and months go by with no answer, I’ll bring it back up,” he said. “I will always ask for a follow-up.”
He pointed to recent examples of student raised concerns, including the need for an accessibility door button between Pierson and Science West buildings and discussions surrounding the AI policy.
“Small changes … really add up,” he said.
