As past-elected officials of the Student Association 58th session, we kindly urge the student body of Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF to inform themselves about the candidates seeking a position for the 60th Session of your student government.

We write this letter to highlight the important role the President, Vice President and Comptroller have in the Student Association. Throughout our time in office, serving the organization for three consecutive semesters, we gained an understanding of the expectation and the criteria a potential elected official must meet.

We have been following the current SA election and believe that being comptroller demands of an individual to be both active and fair for all students and as such, Malik Evans, definitely fits that bill.

Malik is the most experienced candidate running perhaps in this entire SA election season for the 60th Session. He has served on the Finance Board for the past 2 years under two different comptrollers and served as a cabinet member during the 58th session. He was the past president of the Residence Hall Association, an active member of the Student Leadership Institute, and is a member of Greek life.

Moreover, Malik understands one important aspect that hasn’t been mentioned throughout the entire election season — which is the role of the comptroller as a member of the SA Cabinet. As a cabinet member, the comptroller is responsible for also having a say about the direction of the organization and campus and serving as an additional advisor in the cabinet in matters of fiscal responsibility.

Luckily, whomever the next president and vice president of the Student Association will be — they’ll have the opportunity to work with someone who has been a prior cabinet member and understands the role better than they will.

Malik’s selection will further cement what was once started during the 58th because of his institutional memory. Accomplishments such as negotiating the funding of the readership program, creating the chat and dine program, starting the bike share program, dealing with a potential student athletic fee, creating the Cuse Conference, creating the undergraduate research grant and increasing transportation during Winter and Spring Break (to name a few). We are glad to see Malik seek this position and wish all the candidates the best of luck.

Boris Gresely, President of the 58th Session
Daniela Lopez, Vice President of the 58th Session
Patrick Douglas, Comptroller of the 58th Session

Published on April 13, 2016 at 10:49 pm