Meet the Lawrenceville SGA Executive Board Candidates – President
Kristin Farina
Hometown: Langhorne, Pa.
Year: Sophomore
Major: Marketing and International Business Minor: Spanish
Clubs/Activities: Current SGA Secretary, Alpha Xi Delta, Club Field Hockey (captain), Intramural Volleyball
What changes would you like to see made next year? Two of Rider’s community values are “that no one will walk these halls a stranger” and “that the integrity of word and deed forms the foundation of all relationships.” These values are important in everyday life, no matter who you are or where you go. However, websites like “CollegeACB” and “Formspring” are counter-productive in achieving a positive college experience. As president, I would like to stop this destructive way of venting online when people don’t like their roommates, because their boyfriend/girlfriend cheated or someone thinks another deserves to be publicly humiliated. Using websites like this and posting information (which may or may not be true) alienates people and can deeply hurt them. Rider is a wonderful university and if we can avoid negative attention on these kinds of websites we can prevent the tragedies that have happened on campuses like Rutgers.
Reuben Martinez
Hometown: Pottstown, Pa.
Year: Junior
Major: Mathematics
Clubs/Activities: Ultimate Frisbee Club, SGA Bronc Aide/Tech and Web, Bronc Buddy Captain for two years
What changes would you like to see made next year?
Obviously communication is very important in any group. I’d like to have my team comfortable in expressing their opinions and becoming vocal about ideas we have. Not only should our group be vocal, but the school as well should be able to communicate ideas and get feedback on how we are doing as the school’s Student Government. If we ever want to improve events that we hold or other events we should hold, then we should hear it from them.
How would you go about making those changes? These changes can be made by just making sure everyone is heard in the group. If I have to go up to them and personally ask them what their opinion is, I will. For the students to offer their opinions, I will ask to set up a feedback box on the Rider website, where students can submit comments to our SGA and we will evaluate each of them as they come to us. I want to hear what the students at Rider have to say.
Brian Williams
Hometown: Edison, N.J.
Year: Junior
Major: Accounting and Finance
Clubs/Activities: President of Men’s Club Lacrosse, Club Volleyball, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Leadership Development Program, Tour Guide
Why are you running for this position? I am running to be SGA’s next president because I would like to enact positive change for Rider University. Our university’s extracurricular activities have been the main reason for my success in college, and I would like to give back to these organizations and the members involved. I know that if elected to the position of president I will be able to make the necessary changes that the university as a whole would like to see.
What changes would you like to see made next year?
The biggest change I hope to implement would be to better integrate our campus. It is important for the strengths of each individual organization, club and sports team to work together to make Rider University the strongest it can be. It is also important to work between the Lawrenceville campus and Westminster campus. Both campuses in our university have a very different set of majors and perspectives. If we are able to bring these campuses together, we will be able to learn an array of new things from one another.
