The Bottom Line

Issue date: 5/17/06 Section: News

"I don't play games," said Shavonne Shorter, president of the SGA. "I am here to try to help the students, to serve as a vessel for the students."


Shorter has just been elected to replace Lisa Bennett as the President of the Student Government Association of Frostburg State University. A Communications Studies Major and a Leadership Studies Minor, Shorter, though only a sophomore, has been extensively involved in life at FSU and promises to be a strong and progressive leader for the upcoming year.


Shorter, 19, grew up in Crownsville, near Arundel Mills, Maryland and is a graduate of Old Mill High School. In her senior year she joined Future Business Leaders of America and competed at the State level. Although she never made it to nationals, her younger brother has followed in her footsteps and is competing at the National Level this year.


President Shorter confessed that she did not always do well in high school, but that her family has been a constant driving force behind her, encouraging her in her academic pursuits. Her great-grandmother, who only has an eighth grade education, has probably been her greatest source of inspiration.


"For the longest time, I thought that college hadn't existed when she was a little girl. Now I'm the first in my family to be attending a four-year institution," she said. "My family always keeps pushing us to work hard and get our education so that [my brother and I] can do better than they were able to."


Shorter, like many other students, came to Frostburg State with the intention to transfer, but after her first semester, transferring was out of the question.


"I was totally hooked," she said, laughing.


She fell in love with Frostburg's small size and that students can get the individual attention that they need from professors who actually know their names. The SGA elected Shavonne Shorter as an On-Campus Senator in her first year at FSU and she was named 'Senator of the Year' that spring.


"Being part of the SGA really opened doors for me," she said.


Once a Senator for the SGA, Shavonne threw herself into life at FSU. She is now a Resident Assistant for Cumberland Hall and speaks fondly about her Cumberland kids.


"They call me 'Mom'," she said smiling. "They all know to come to me, because 'Mom' will take care of everything."


Shavonne is a Bobcat Ambassador, acting as a guide for prospective students, and she works as a Student Assistant and a Peer Mentor. She has been on the Dean's List, she won the NAACP On The Ball Freshman Award, and she is the third student to have received the Dr. Harold and Geraldine Delaney Leadership Award at FSU.

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