Guzman hopes for transparency in SGA

by Emily Landgraf
When Brian Guzman was announced as the new SGA president on Tuesday, April 6, the shouts of his brothers from Sigma Phi Epsilon could be heard throughout the SRC.

Guzman, a junior, beat out sophomore Lindsay Galbraith, achieving the goal he set for himself in his freshman year.

Guzman hopes that during his presidency, he will be able to keep the student body aware of what is going on within SGA.

“I’m hoping to take the presidency from the executive to a friend to every student on Rider’s campus,” he said. “That’s really my dream.”

Guzman is hoping to get the minutes of all cabinet and Senate meetings out to the students, possibly via e-mail.

“I’m also hoping to get something like Weekend Warriors out during the week, so that students know what’s going on during the week,” he said.

Scott Phillips was re-elected as SGA vice president and is hoping to carry on some of his incomplete work.

“Namely, the Safe Rides program and our involvement with the Westminster campus,” Phillips said. “I have seen a lot of things students brought up that couldn’t get done this year, so I hope I can get them done next year.”

Other winners included freshman Kristin Farina, who won secretary, and junior Mike Zilly, who won treasurer.

Three out of four of the winners of major SGA positions are part of the Greek community, demonstrating a trend that has been occuring for several years now.

Romano said that all of the candidates ran excellent campaigns.

“I’m proud that all of the SGA positions were contested this year,” he said. “I hope to reach a point where all of the positions are contested.”

Senior Ally Watson, the SGA elections and recruitments chair, was happy with the way the elections ran.

“There were less candidates this year than in prior years, but there was a lot of enthusiasm,” she said. “I was just amazed at how smoothly things went this year.”

According to Watson, the voter turnout was good with 732 votes cast. But there was a 1,000-vote goal, which Rider missed by 268 votes. This year’s turnout was also less than the past two years, which tallied 950 votes and 928 votes, respectively.

“Voter turnout was good either way, but we think it might have something to do with the fact that voting was not counted as points toward Greek Week or Battle of the Buildings this year,” she said.

Romano, on the other hand, was not as pleased with voter turnout.

“I would have liked to have seen more numbers,” he said. “It just demonstrates the level of interest that students have in the student government.”

Senior Kenneth Jacobs, the leader of the SGA organizational affairs team, ran the debates this year.

“I think all the candidates did a really good job,” he said. “I was really impressed with some of their answers.”

It was obvious that Guzman was thrilled about his win, as friends and supporters congratulated him.

“I just want to thank the student body for voting,” he said. “It really shows how dedicated this campus is.”

Phillips is looking forward to his second year as SGA vice president.

“It’s really exciting to be serving again,” he said. “It’s something I’m really passionate about, and I love serving the students.”