By Amanda Falzon
With the 2007 Student Government Association spring elections on the horizon, there are currently no tickets eligible to run for president and vice president because of SGA policies.
Due to extenuating circumstances, Peter DiSilvio, the SGA president who was running unopposed, is not eligible to run for re-election.
“We have certain requirements that all of our candidates have to maintain a certain G.P.A.,” said Lisa Giunta, election commission chairwoman and rules committee chairwoman of SGA. “Unfortunately, our only candidate for president does not reach the necessary requirements to allow him to be eligible.”
The SGA constitution states that in order for students to run for the office of president or vice president, they must have a 2.5 grade point average and the status is to be verified by the Dean of Students Office. DiSilvio’s grades have not met the standards for candidacy.
“As of right now, my grades are not up to par,” DiSilvio said. “The reason for this is my fault and I don’t want it to sound like I’m making excuses, but I’m making an excuse because that seems to be the way it is. At the end of last semester, my grandmother suffered a heart attack and it caused me to kind of forget what’s going on here.”
His grandmother later passed away and DiSilvio had planned to take care of missing assignments after her burial. However, he said he was again deterred from rectifying the situation when he was involved in a car accident that totaled his car.
“Then, I decided to be selfish, childish and I just kind of stayed home,” DiSilvio said. “I didn’t want to deal with it.”
DiSilvio did contact advisement about his grades in January, but did not put much more thought into it until Diane Perillo, assistant director of student activities, approached him about his ineligibility. DiSilvio took initiative over spring break to set his grades straight, but could not meet with the Office of Student Accounts until Wednesday. He has until Friday, April 13, the day of the second informational meeting for all possible candidates, to fix his grades.
“I am going to fix my G.P.A.,” DiSilvio said. “I am going to handle this. I will be there on Friday. I will announce again that I am running for president and I will go from there.”
DiSilvio notified the senate members on Monday night through an e-mail informing them about the situation and his reasons behind it. He said about 30 of them responded saying that they understand what is going on and are behind him.
“Pete is one of the most dedicated and motivated people that I know,” said Stephanie Kaplan, a senate member. “I think that he has the situation under control and that he has a good grip on it. I know him very well. I know that he’ll take the precautions necessary to get this thing resolved by Friday.”
DiSilvio expressed his gratitude for the senate’s support.
“I just want to illustrate on the senate’s behalf that they really are my friends, without a shadow of a doubt,” DiSilvio said. “Mark Twain said, ‘friends will stand by you when you’re wrong.’ Anybody will stand by you when you’re right. I know I’m wrong, I know I screwed up, but my friends, my senate, are still with me.”
Russell Akiyama, DiSilvio’s former running mate said he has no intention of running in the election unless further discussions about the campaign cause him to change his mind in the upcoming days. When asked if he would run for the vice presidential position with anyone else that may decide to run for president, he said, “It really depends on who the person is.”
The election commission has reopened the candidate process to anyone who wants to run for president or vice president. A mandatory informational meeting will take place on April 13 at 4:30 p.m. in the Student Center Greenhouse for all those interested.
