Finalist
Andrew Merkin
Rollins College
Senior in Anthropology/Int'l. Business
3.86 GPA

Working quietly in the background but not unnoticed, Andrew Merkin of Rollins College will be sorely missed when he graduates this spring. Ask some, and they’ll credit him with working behind the scenes to make Rollins’ Student Government Association a consistently top-rated group. Ask others, and they’ll tell you how he’s helping shape the future direction of the college, showing a wisdom beyond his years. Either way, you’ll find someone who doesn’t jump out at you upon first contact but makes a difference that has been felt and will be for quite some time.

As the college’s first-ever two-term SGA vice president, he’s helped revamp, improve, and prepare the senate as its president. He also serves on SGA’s Cultural Action Committee and is credited with creating SGA’s novel communication newsletter, The Toilet Paper.

As chair of Rollins’ Quality of Student Life Taskforce—working under the All-College Planning and Priorities Committee —he’s helped shape focus group feedback into future initiatives.

He’s also impacted Rollins as a student representative of both the planning committee and the Executive Committee Faculty Committee, as treasurer of the Pinehurst Organization, as a brother of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, as secretary of the Order of Omega Greek Honor Society, and as a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the Black Student Union, and Om, the Indian Student Organization. The latter two are notable since Merkin is Caucasian.

“One of the things that makes him unique is he’s involved in many different organizations and advocacy efforts that on the surface wouldn’t seem to be linked,” says Cara L. Meixner, director of student involvement and leadership and adjunct professor for the college of arts and sciences. “But he has this capacity to forge links or forge connections between those organizations.”

Merkin chose to run as SGA VP again because he’s the “quiet type” and didn’t want to serve in the presidential limelight and PR role. “Instead of just learning the ropes and then moving on, I actually got to come back and develop it further than I had,” Merkin says. “One of the biggest things I’ve been working on with Student Government this year is setting up the standards for the things I had to learn that first year, whether it’s who to speak to during the summer when you’re working or how to set up senate at the beginning of the year. I’ve really tried to develop a training manual where we had almost our entire executive board write up monthly reports of what they’ve done and their opinions, and then at the end of April, we’re going to meet with the new president and vice president and go over everything that we’ve learned and the politics that have developed over the years so that they have a head start.”

Merkin also served as a rower on the men’s crew team and even did a stint as DJ for Rollins’ student radio station, WPRK 91.5 FM, co-creating and co-producing a well-received weekly two-hour show called “Radio Coconuts,” mostly dedicated to the music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett and the Parrotheads.

He’s done all this while pursuing a double major in anthropology and international business in the honors program with the goal of getting an MBA and working for a non-profit or entrepreneurial non-profit organization. Before then, though, he’s applied this summer to participate as a leader in the John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth summer programs as part of CTY’s mission to “identify, nurture, and develop academic talent among pre-collegiate students.” Then he’ll do a 27-month term in the Peace Corps.

Merkin’s leadership style is one of empowerment. “I try to empower people as much as I can,” he says. “I’ll guide them in whatever ways I can, but actually, I like to let them do the work and take the credit for it. I like to show people how I do things and guide them, so they don’t make the same mistakes I have.

“I don’t really call it as much of a leadership style as a friendship,” he says. “One of the reasons I joined the Greek organization Tau Kappa Epsilon was because I wanted to improve them because they had often become an isolated group, so I’ve tried to get the new recruits out into new organizations and really strengthen both the organizations for having new people in them and the Greek system for being more available to the school.”

That friendship style of leadership gets results, benefiting all involved.

“He’s not just a mediator, but he can facilitate discussions. He gets people to buy in, and he does so without people even realizing he’s doing it,” says Steven S. Neilson, SGA advisor and 15-year veteran dean of student affairs. “He’s very likable, kind of quiet, but sometimes good leaders are not necessarily the ones that are positional or ones that are loud—they’re the ones that work more quietly behind the scenes and build consensus and get people to talk to each other through some of the strength of their personality and their own sense of character.”

On campus, Merkin’s role has been influential from the top down. “I had no hesitation in inviting him to be a member of the All-College Planning and Priorities Committee, which is charged with writing the strategic plan that’ll guide the college in the next three to five years,” says James S. Malek, Rollins’ new provost and vice president for academic affairs. “He’s proven to be one of the best members of that 25-member committee, which consists of faculty, staff, trustees, administrators, and students; he is capable of a breadth of vision and a level of intelligent discourse that have enabled him to contribute to the planning effort in ways that exceeded expectations.”

“He is…certainly [one of] a small handful of students who understand how a college works,” says Dr. Hoyt L. Edge, Hugh F. and Jeannette G. McKean professor of philosophy and associate dean of the faculty. “I really have a lot of faith in him [on the planning committee] and his decisions and his understanding of how things work and his representation of students.”

Edge relates how on an anthropology trip to Bali, Merkin went above and beyond the rigorous course requirements, taking opportunities to explore the region further on his days off. “He squeezed every drop out of the experience in a way that I’ve rarely experienced, and I take that to be not only significant in itself but a prime metaphor for Andy’s life,” Edge says. “He lives life fully and with passion.”

Beyond campus, Merkin has participated in the Coastal Beach Clean-up, Habitat for Humanity, Roadside Adoption clean-up activity, Restore Orlando, and holiday and fundraising events such as “Halloween Howl,” “Holiday Funfest,” “Kiss the Pig,” and “Kiss the Donkey.”

He’s one of the top three anthropology students at Rollins, receiving a paid trip to the American Anthropological Association Conference in New Orleans. He’s also been on the President’s List and is an Algernon Sydney Sullivan Scholar. Among other awards, he received the Brian Lofman Award for being the person most desired to work for and/or with.

Merkin attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, receiving Basic Cadet Training, or “BEAST,” in aeronautical engineering and the award for “Best Basic Cadet at Drill.” He then headed to the University of Florida for a semester where he was an Air Force ROTC Cadet and inducted into Phi Eta Sigma, the freshman honor society, and Phi Sigma Theta, the national honor society. He knew he wanted to go to Rollins and went once the financial aid allowed it. Rollins’ intensive studies and lack of “jump through hoops stuff” appealed to Merkin.

“He’s a wonderful student,” says Dr. Rita Bornstein, Rollins’ exiting president. “He’s a very well-rounded person and works together with collegiate organizations and groups, which is rare. Andy is special because he’s good in so many areas—he believes in SG and believes he has a role to play in bettering the college. And he’s a very serious person.”

“Andrew’s commitment to advancing the institution and promoting student leadership is unparalleled,” Meixner says. “It’s rare to meet a student who projects the commitment and positive attitude that Andrew radiates on a daily basis. He’s been a shining light on this campus. He’s done so much to bring faculty, staff, and students together. He’s…like an older, wiser person in the body of a college student. He has this way of understanding and relating to faculty while also being held in high esteem by his peers.

“He’s very inclusive,” she says. “He excels in making sure that he brings everybody’s point into consideration. He never marginalizes anyone. He’s a very active listener. And he’s just one of those people who takes feedback very seriously and is constantly striving to improve himself—he asks for feedback, which I think is also a sign of maturity.”

Merkin mostly supports himself through grants, scholarships, work-study, and a Stafford Loan. -VAB

Contact Merkin at amerkin@rollins.edu.