Shafer speaks for UC graduates

Yet another Sig Ep Commencement Speaker. Way to go!

When Justin Shafer of Sycamore Township decided to run for student government at the University of Cincinnati, he had no idea he later would receive some of the university's most prestigious awards.

On May 15, Shafer received the UC Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence and the Just Community Award.

When he graduates June 10, he will deliver the student farewell address.

When Shafer and a friend, Benjamin Hines, decided to run for president and vice president of student government, they really wanted to make a positive difference for the university, he said.

He and Hines wanted to change the whole thought process of what student government should be. They wanted to shift from a focus on programming to a focus on making policies that affected all students rather than any single group of students.

While working on a business degree with a focus in accounting and finance, Shafer also became president and co-founder of the Honors PLUS Student Association, was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, the Sigma Sigma Men's Honorary and the Student Alumni Council, and served on the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Task Force.

During the past year, he was named national Interfraternity Council Greek Man of the Year. He was honored with Sigma Phi Epsilon's largest award, the Balanced Man Quest to Greece Award, which provided a two-week scholarship to study Greek heritage in Greece, according to Fuller.

During the commencement ceremony, Shafer will talk about the changes that have occurred on campus, how students have changed, how people can follow their dreams, and how the university has helped students reach their dreams.

Blue Ash, OH