Boris Gresely said two things come to mind when he reflects on his time as president of the 58th Session of the Student Association at Syracuse University: teamwork and change.

On the wall behind Gresely’s desk in the SA office in the Schine Student Center are framed designs depicting some of his favorite athletes and sports teams, like Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi and the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. Gresely, a senior, said he is a proponent of teamwork, and often thinks about how collaboration among his cabinet members benefited his administration.

“My measurement of success is based on the success of my team,” he said. “So when my team succeeds at an initiative that I want them to tackle, that’s success for me.”

That team for Gresely is his cabinet, which includes his vice president, Daniela Lopez, and directors of the specialized SA committees. The cabinet revolves its initiatives around Gresely’s plan to “reform, reconnect and redirect” the student body and the university, he said.

Through his three semesters as president, Gresely and the cabinet have also frequently worked with the SU administration to improve the student experience at the university.

Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz, senior vice president and dean of student affairs at SU, credits this joint effort to Chancellor Kent Syverud’s desire to engage with students and Gresely’s enthusiastic and collaborative nature.

One of Gresely’s main priorities has been bringing students, faculty and administrators together to resolve issues in a constructive way, Kantrowitz said.

One way in which Gresely and SA did that was to help organize and host The Cuse Conference, which was held April 19. The event allowed students to be “stakeholders” in the university by generating constructive conversation with the administration on university issues, Kantrowitz said.

Gresely was serving his first semester as SA president when Syverud took office, and the pair has worked closely together on Fast Forward Syracuse, Syverud’s three-part campus plan for SU.

Gresely represented the interests of the student body as a member of the Steering Committee for the Academic Strategic Plan and the undergraduate experience workgroup. Lopez, his vice president, served on behalf of students on the campus framework committee for the Operational Excellence segment of the plan.

“Boris knows when to step in and lead and when to delegate,” Kantrowitz said. “So I think he was able to get a lot of students involved in these workgroups. He was very enthusiastic about that.”

Aysha Seedat, the current ­­­­director of SA’s Student Life committee and president-elect of the organization, said she wishes Gresely emphasized to students how frequently and closely he worked with administrators and other student organizations, like the Resident Hall Association and the Graduate Student Organization.

“I want people to know how different that is,” she said. “That never really happened before.”

Gresely said the 58th Session passed the most resolutions of any other session in SA history.

The collaborative relationship between SA and the administration is just one unique element of Gresely’s administration. Gresely is also the first SA president to serve three semesters. In Fall 2013, the student body approved a new constitution, which aligned the presidential term with the academic calendar rather than the calendar year. As a result, Gresely began serving as president in the spring 2014 semester.

Gresely and Lopez’s campaign was also unprecedented in that it was the first time in SA history that the president and vice president ran together as one ticket, Lopez said in an email. She added that this change expanded the role of the vice president.

Lopez said through her work with Gresely she has known him as a motivated and optimistic person, but that she thought he “struggled to foster communication amongst the members of his team.”

Gresely, who is graduating in May, said he has committed so much to his role as president that he has not put too much thought into what is next for him after graduation. He is sure that no matter where his career takes him that he will be someone who thinks critically and works to promote change.

“It’s bittersweet because I wish I could stay here for a longer time and keep my team and keep on changing because you really like it,” Gresely said. “It’s part of growth as well. It’s understanding when it’s your time to go.”

Published on April 26, 2015 at 8:48 pm

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu