Last in a series of stories profiling this year’s Student Union presidential candidates.
Student Union Presidential candidate Anthony Garofalo plans to continue the drives to bring cable to campus and relax the the Guest Policy if elected next year, but contends that the biggest issue facing the next Union Executive Board will be defining the roles of E-Board members.
“This race should be about what is the role of the president, what is the role of the vice president,” Garofalo said. “To me the job of the president is to be the chief advocate of students on campus.”
Garofalo, who is currently the School of Hospitality and Administration president and former member of the committee Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore formed to investigate the Union’s structure, said the new structure provides a good format to build from, adding he hopes to make the constitution simple and straightforward.
“I think it’s great that we’re streamlining the government,” he said. “We need to make sure we keep [the constitution] simple and we keep it very down to earth and very user friendly. We have 16,000 students and about 80 of them involved in student government. I want it to be the largest representation possible.”
While Garofalo said he originally supported the slate system of candidacy, he now feels breaking it up will help to end infighting which has plagued the Union.
“Originally, I was pro-slate and someone on the committee suggested the idea of running individually,” he said. “If you run individually, you’re going to get the most motivated people elected.”
Garofalo also said if elected, he hopes to maintain a good relationship with the administration throughout his tenure.
“My job is not so much to guide the policy, it’s to take that policy to the administration,” he said. “One of my biggest things is warming relations with the administration … you have to be friendly. If you’re going to say ‘we want this’ they’re going to say ‘no.'”
“Administration friendly” does not always mean accepting the first response given, he added, it means allowing for an amicable relationship which will greatly benefit the reception of student initiatives.
Garofalo also cited the lack of communication between past Senates and E-Boards as a stumbling block which prevented progress.
“One of the most important parts of the new setup of the student government is that the president and vice president are directly responsible for the assembly,” Garofalo said. “I think it’s going to be important to obviously form a strong relationship with all the people in that body.”
Though Garofalo admitted he does not have specific plans on how to deal with issues such as relaxing the Guest Policy and bringing cable to campus, he said creating that plan is something he will work on if elected.
“Cable, definitely important, got to continue that,” he said. “I like to watch TV as much as the next guy. So it’s definitely something we need to work on.”
Other presidential candidates have limited their scope as to what can be accomplished by coming into office with a set agenda, he said.
“It’s not my place … to come up with these plans,” he said. “That’s why I think I’m a stronger candidate, because I’m really going to listen to the students. I’m listening already.”
Garofalo said he has already heard many interesting ideas from students, such as providing students who live on campus with free local calling from their rooms.
According to Garofalo, advocacy is the most important aspect of leadership – as seen in his platform statement of “Listening. Doing.”
“I think those are the two steps to advocacy,” Garofalo said. “Politics is not my thing -I’m not going into that at all. It’s the servant aspect that I’m really looking for. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to make it better at BU.”