Image courtesy of Stephen Sauls
Camila Fernandez / Assistant News Director
During the birth of the University in the 1970s, the Charles Perry Building, also called Primera Casa, was the first and largest building on campus.
“You walk out of the door at PC [today],” said Steve Sauls, vice president of Governmental Relations, “You look to the right, you look to the left— none of that existed when I started.”
After 20 years of pushing for University expansion, the man who is credited for funding in the growth of the Modesto Maidique Campus is retiring.
To fulfill the vision of a growing higher education institution, Sauls has brought student and alumni leadership to Tallahassee and Washington D.C. to sell the idea of FIU.
With his strong governmental relations experience in advocating, lobbying and fundraising, the University has grown in construction and graduate programs.
Sauls played an important role in securing funds for a Law school and a School of Medicine at the University. He also secured $2 million in donation to the College of Business as Vice President of Corporate Relations at Office Depot in 2006.
“So, for me, it wasn’t about a job, or whatever university I could get a job at,” he said. “It was really about building this institution.”
According to a memorandum by President Mark B. Rosenberg, his fingerprints are on virtually every initiative at FIU.
“Sauls is irreplaceable. His experience at Federal and State levels is hard to replicate and his knowledge about Federal and State policy and politics have helped us to advance this institution,” said Rosenberg in an email to Student Media.
Sauls said that his most satisfactory legacy will not be the University’s expansion, but rather the people he met along the way, including his successor, Michelle Palacio.
She will be the new vice president of Governmental Relations this year, effective Dec. 15.
“He has a huge heart,” said Palacio, who is currently the assistant vice president of Health Policy and Government Affairs. “Very few people get to see that side of him.”
She said she would see it on occasions where he would reach out to help people with financial aid and mentoring while not asking for any public recognition.
“A ‘mentor’ is not a big enough word,” said Anthony Rionda, chief of staff at the College of Law.
Rionda, one of the many former student government presidents Sauls has worked with over the years, said Sauls helped refine his leadership and decision-making skills.
“He helped explain real-world problems and helped us believe that we can have some impact on them,” he said.
Adriana Pereira, director of State Relations, said Sauls’ departure is bittersweet.
“He’s leaving, but it’s an exciting time for him in his life,” said Pereira.
She said that working every day with her colleagues at the Office of Governmental Relations has brought them together as a family.
“We’re excited because I’m getting married, Michelle’s having a baby and everybody in the office— we’re all, like, on this natural high,” said Pereira.
“It’s been wonderful to see these individuals become successful in life and I’ve been trying to pay more attention to that,” said Sauls.
From being editor-in-chief of the University of Florida’s independent Florida Alligator newspaper to being at war in Vietnam, Sauls said it is good to reflect in the past.
Yet, he prefers to focus on moving forward. He plans on traveling abroad to Brazil to visit family and friends south of Sao Paulo.
“I’m going to do my own study abroad,” said Sauls. “I’m phasing that part of my life where I want to slow down and not be working 24/7.”
Despite his leaving, he said he will continue helping the University in developing a stronger Washington presence.
“I just want to thank FIU for having the privilege of being a part of this wonderful enterprise for so many years,” he said. “I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”
camila.fernandez@fiusm.com
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