Charlie Mastoloni doesn’t want you to think he’s “corny.” Or “fruity,” or “cliché.”

The Syracuse University Student Association presidential candidate knows how he can sound when he says things like, “We can learn a lot from history” or “follow your heart,” or when he marvels at the family in the restaurant booth adjacent to him having thoughts just as complex as the ones he’s having.

He wants you to think he’s experienced, caring and idealistic, but not too idealistic.

Mastoloni often says he wants to “empower student ideas.” His platform technically has four pillars — culture, community, diversity and safety — but beyond those words he said the issues he focuses on will be up to his peers. He wants to be a delegate, not a trustee. That’s why he embarked on a “listening tour” with his vice presidential candidate, Jessica Brosofsky.

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That’s also why he says he comes to the table, the one he’s sitting at in a nearly-empty Varsity Pizza at 8:45 p.m. on a Saturday, without an agenda. He wants students to tell him what they want so he can facilitate. Mastoloni said he can make things happen because of his experience, and that’s the biggest difference between him and the other two candidates. He is the only presidential candidate in Greek life, the only candidate to have gone abroad and has been a part of the SA student life committee.

“He’s a fiery, passionate guy,” said Will Skalmoski, a senior in the Setnor School of Music who roomed with Mastoloni when they were abroad in London in fall 2015. “It’s a constant thing, him getting people together. People would join him (in plans) because he’d drawn them all out and they looked dope.”

Skalmoski saw Mastoloni lead adventures around the city, organize Thursday parties and facilitate weekday study sessions.

Mastoloni had been cooking chicken tikka masala in his and Skalmoski’s London flat last fall when he had to decide if he’d run for SA president. He told Skalmoski that he worried about the commitment, but always wanted to make a difference.

“I’ll always remember it because (the masala) smelled up the entire apartment,” Skalmoski said. “But I asked why he wanted to run and he said, ‘I could be the best president our school could have.’ I said, ‘Bro, that’s exactly why you have to run.’”

Within 10 minutes, the decision was made.

That decision came years after — and is perhaps the product of — the moment that ignited Mastoloni’s passion for community service.

He had entered high school as the new kid. While his friends went to public school, he enrolled at Connecticut’s Fairfield College Preparatory School. After a few days, he didn’t like school, so he threw a tantrum and refused to go. His parents, after a few days, relented. While sitting outside the public school waiting to make the transfer official, he suddenly felt in his heart that he made the wrong decision.

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“You can kid yourself all you want,” Mastoloni said. “But you’re going to end up where you’re supposed to be — even though that’s awfully corny.”

Though he returned to Fairfield Prep, he still hadn’t fully bought in. A Jesuit school with a “More for Others” motto hadn’t convinced him.

“Of course I thought (the slogan) was bullsh*t,” Mastoloni said, dropping his voice to a mock-angsty teen. “I just wanted to go do my own thing, man.”

Later that year, Fairfield Prep hosted students from Bridgeport, a struggling industrial city, to play games. When the kids paired off toward the end of the day after dodgeball, Mastoloni talked with one boy and discovered they were both New York Yankees fans.

The boy had never been to Yankee Stadium. That surprised the son of a New York City pearl salesman who’d been to plenty of games.

“It makes you want to help him go see a freakin’ Yankee game,” Mastoloni said. “I’d never been involved in community service before, but that’s (what started) me wanting to help others. It makes you happier. That’s what it comes down to.”

He rebuilt homes in Appalachia and volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club. He said his work, combined with a passion for SU that started at birth with his alumna mother and their orange Christmas tree ornaments, makes him the most qualified candidate.

“I don’t want to come across as this wise, old sage, but I think (my experience) gives me a chance to see different perspectives and social norms,” Mastoloni said. “Sometimes you’re not necessarily always right. I recognize that other students have perspectives. I want to know them.”

That prompted the listening tour. Mastoloni and Brosofsky have met with 11 student organizations and many individual students to hear their thoughts on campus-wide issues. It’s Mastoloni’s take on his role model Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “fireside chats,” which he used to increase transparency during his presidency.

Alpha Phi Alpha is concerned about Chancellor Kent Syverud cutting funding to diversity programs. Students who don’t really understand SA want better email communication. Syracuse Stage students are forced to pay for meal plans they often can’t use. Mastoloni has noted them all.

“Charlie is an unorthodox individual,” said Boris Gresely, a former SA president and Mastoloni’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity brother who graduated SU in 2015. “Usually candidates see issues and act, but he’s doing the listening tour, which is the exact opposite. I thought that was very innovative.”

Gresely first noticed Mastoloni when he gave a prepared speech while campaigning to be an assembly representative for the College of Arts and Sciences. Gresely looked around Maxwell Auditorium in surprise. No one, he said, nor anyone he was with had seen someone prepare a speech for assemblyman elections.

A year later, Mastoloni called Gresely and told him he was thinking about running for president.

“Why do you want to do it?” Gresely had asked.

“I couldn’t answer that question (as a sophomore),” Mastoloni said. “Now, from the experiences I’ve gained, I can.”

Previously working in SA is just one point of Mastoloni’s pitch. He said he wants students to realize his varied perspectives from abroad, as a new kid and a friend. Now, like in the Fairfield Prep classroom long ago, there needs to be a buy-in.

Before Mastoloni can “empower students,” the students must empower him.

 

Published on April 13, 2016 at 12:27 am

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR