By Jacqueline Hlavenka
The face of the Student Government Association may drastically change once again come Fall 2008.
Former SGA President Pete DiSilvio announced last Wednesday that he will be running against current SGA Vice President Kate Legnetti in the upcoming student body election. DiSilvio was eliminated from the race the last time he ran, in April 2007, after his G.P.A. fell below 2.5. If elected, DiSilvio will serve his term with appropriations chair, Carlos Cruz, a sophomore political science major, ROTC member and participant in the University’s radio station, WRHU. If elected, Legnetti, a junior, will switch from her role as SGA vice president to president, and current president, Brent Weitzberg, will become vice president.
“Brent and I decided to switch this year mainly because we wanted to change things up a bit,” Legnetti said. “We knew we wanted to run again, but we wanted to keep things how they were, and we figured the best way to keep things fresh and not stifled is to make sure we switched.”
After coming into SGA without any presidential experience, both Legnetti and Weitzberg have made names for themselves within the administration and student body, and wish to continue the dynamic during the 2008-2009 academic year.
“[Brent and I] had a pretty decent year knowing absolutely nothing,” Legnetti said. “We were completely new at this and it took us a few months to get settled and acquainted with everything. I think that now we both have our footing, I think we have a solid reputation with a lot of different clubs.”
At Tuesday evening’s SGA meeting, the senate voted to have one representative for every 125 undergraduate students at the University that will go into effect next year, and Legnetti plans to continue to aid the expanding needs of the club.
“I don’t know about Brent, but personally, something I’d like to change is the camaraderie among Senate,” Legnetti said. “We’re getting a very large number of senators-something like 10 delegates. The better we know each other, the more we could get done.”
When deciding to change presidential roles, Legnetti described she wanted to “switch things up a bit” not based on experience, but class standing.
“Come Christmas, we both wanted to do it, but I suggested we switched,” Legnetti said. “He’ll [Brent] be a junior and I’ll be a senior. Junior year is the year where you have to buckle down and figure out what you want to do, so he’ll focus more on his schoolwork. I’ll be a senior. He’s [Brent] done a great job at being President. He’s the youngest president ever elected. So, we’re switching. Not because he’s done a poor job or I can do better, we just want to switch.”
When comparing herself to the DiSilvio and Cruz ticket, Legnetti explained that University students get a “package” with her ticket. Legnetti has worked closely with public safety officials and Women of Action to establish more blue lights on campus and balance the student club budget.
“With us, it’s Brent and Kate, and this year, Kate and Brent. It’s a package,” Legnetti said. “I think in my opinion we are better with delegating. Pete had the mind-set that ‘I’m the President, I’m going to do it because I have to.’ There’s certain things Brent and I have to do, but there’s a 50-person Senate for a reason. They should get a piece of the work. That’s why we’ve kept up our grades this year. I think that’s why we’ve kept a social life. We don’t live in this office. We’re here a lot, but not nearly enough as we could be if we didn’t delegate.”
On the other hand, DiSilvio feels he has business to address.
“I don’t think of it as taking over, but it’s like going back to work,” DiSilvio said. “There’s still a lot more that I can accomplish, and there’s a lot for the students I can do, and now is the time to get it done.”
In a sense, DiSilvio will pick up where he left off-fighting to get Dutch Debits at off-campus locations like Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway, creating greater student club interaction and utilizing administrators at more student-based functions.
“For one thing, there’s some unfinished business I have with Dutch Debits off-campus. That’s a major issue for me,” DiSilvio said. “Another major issue I want to see dealt with is that administrators have one great advantage over students-time and knowledge. Knowledge in the fact that they’ve been here longer. I want to give student government that type of forward thinking and an agent of change, not looking at the short term, but the long term as well.”
As DiSilvio organized the club congress last year, including the Destination Runway fashion show, which united 15 student organizations, DiSilvio brought up his grades and described his edge against the Legnetti and Weitzberg ticket: experience.
“While Kate has two years as a senator and one as vice president, and Brent has one as a senator and one as president, I have two as cabinet, one as a senator and one as president,” DiSilvio said. “At that alone, my experience balances out the two of them. I feel I am more proactive-I’m going to search a problem out before it affects students.”
“It’s not just organizing the clubs, it’s organizing the Greeks and the clubs and saying ‘we are the student body’ and act as one voice,” DiSilvio said.
Former SGA president Peter DiSilvio.
SGA vice president Kate Legnetti.