I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Dan Shaw, who in addition to serving as the faculty adviser and editor of this great campus newspaper from 2008-2019, was also a community staple at the Monroe Evening News for several years, and brought a fount of knowledge and experience to the Agora when he moved to MCCC.
Dan was one of the single most influential instructors during my time at MCCC.
I was blessed and fortunate enough to be amongst his first group of students when he arrived at campus.
Always a tireless proponent of his craft, Dan was first and foremost a journalist at heart and truly a fitting veteran who was always in his element as our instructor.
During his tenure, he took the newspaper to the next level by entirely reformatting the layout, building a cohesive team of students, launching a digital format and focusing on the continuity of the newspaper with forward-thinking staff recruitment.
In addition to the early days, Dan was also an incredible mentor to so many students during his 11 years as editor.
Not only are we better writers for having known him but he also took great pains to help secure funding for students when it came to the annual staff trip to New York, and always held an annual Agora alumni get-together at his home each summer.
He will be missed remarkably and by a wider audience than one can possibly know.
Casey C. Cheap
Arlington, Virginia
