Click the link below to view Gino Grivetti’s acceptance speech as the newly elected SGA president. Mary Argana will serve as the vice president.

What is your motivation for running for president?

I have noticed a lack of engagement among the students both from the campus ministry office and from the CEO club, I have just seen that students are not very engaged and when you are not engaged you are not very happy. My motivation for running then is to provide better events for students, CAB falls under SGA, and there is a lot of other stuff, so that is my primary reason for running. 

Why do you feel you would best represent QU?

I believe all of the people that are running would be quite fine in the role. I think that I might bring a little more of an innovative approach, more experience maybe, from things that I have tried in my past positions. I can spend less time trying to do things I know will not succeed and more time working on what the students really need, which is both events and firmer presentation.

What do you think the role of SGA is for students?

In the past it has been clubs are forced to attend and then beg for money and we usually shoot down those request. Student government that model is stupid and will not work. So reinventing SGA, I think the big word is being the voice for students, especially as QU is going through its financial recovery process. The students need to have their input, and that’s regardless if they want to say anything or not. I feel like the students don’t believe they have a voice or they don’t even know who they should even talk to. My vision is that the student senate would be open for all students to show up, not just the elected ones, and bring your problems, but also the things that you are proud of, so we can pass on that information. If the students don’t speak up then the administration and the teachers can only go off of the information that they have and that is often financials, so the students need to have the voices heard and that should be what SGA is for, not just doling out money to clubs that ask for it.

What is your campaign strategy?

There are two prongs to the campaign. The first prong is the poster and the second prong is the Facebook page which also has the poster on it. My other strategy also involves reaching out to groups on campus that I know have had a bad experience with SGA in the past and in particular, Greek Life. Another group I am looking at is actually three groups, the people who go to class primarily at different campus so, north campus, blessing students, and the airport. At times they are almost invisible students because we don’t see them in Francis Hall and therefore they don’t exist. So those groups who feel underrepresented, I am reaching out to the most, but of course I am here for all students as well.

How do you hope SGA will get involved, what do you expect?

It’s all up in the air, anytime you revamp something, it’s new you don’t know how people are going to react. Are people just going to continue on with business as usual and not show up, if this new SGA doesn’t work, then what?

In my ideal world SGA would be something that people would actually want to be engaged in, that they would actually want to come to. They would feel empowered through SGA and then SGA in turn would then summarize their demands or there problems and bring them to the right people. So instead of one person going to maintenance it is SGA coming and we speak for all students. I would also want to see an improved relationship with administrators, faculty, and staff, especially through the financial recovery. The goal of a college is to be student centered essentially. Students are both the customer and the product so if you want to improve your product you have to listen to the customer as well.

Do you think you can get all of your ideas done within the limits of a budget?

Yes, I can definitely work with the budget that they give us. The thing about a budget is that if you don’t spend it, it doesn’t stay in your account. It gets spent elsewhere. I think being more diligent with our spending and how the money is allocated. I am willing to work within that budget and I don’t think that I will need any more. A couple thousand dollars is more than enough to get everything done that I want to get done. I think that we can be a little more frugal with our events. I would like to see less expensive, more recent events.

What are some of the new ideas that you want to bring to SGA?

My campaign promises break down into three areas. One is bringing back stuff from the past that students really enjoyed. Another is looking at our present what we need right now, this week. Lastly, looking towards our future and making sure we have resources for our future.

What experiences do you bring to the job?

I have been involved in CEO club, which has tried and succeeded to a certain degree on getting events together for students. So I think from CEO Club we have experimented and refined some of our techniques and we have a good idea at this point what works and what doesn’t and I can import those ideas into SGA. I have also been apart of the camp ministry office and my tasks included student events, and not just communicating those ideas well and communicating those events, but finding out what works and what doesn’t work. So essentially if the students don’t want an event I don’t want anything to do with it.

How do you balance your life (work, personal, school) now with SGA?

I am taking 21 credit hours right now, it’s a substantial load to get a double major down in time. I try to compartmentalize things. Making a list everyday of what I need to do. With SGA coming on board I look at my schedule and basically make sure that I have enough time for it, that I have that hour set aside for meetings for executive meetings. Make sure that I allocate enough time to it. If I had to sacrifice my time in another aspect of my life then I would say that if the students are kind enough to want me as their president then I would be kind enough to say, you get my full attention. I would also say that if SGA is just as anemic as it is this year then we may not see too much of a conflict there, but I hope that wouldn’t be the case.

What is your favorite thing about QU?

My favorite thing about QU and something I would like to import into SGA is that if you are willing to put together something and do the work and put in the effort then we are going to be behind you. The ability to say, hey if you are willing to do that then we are willing to work with you. That open-mindedness is what I like the most.