New USG Executive President Addresses Fordham

Hello, faculty, administrators, members of the Fordham community but above all else, greetings to my fellow students. The United Student Government inauguration this past April 16, marked the final moments of transition, the end of one administration and the beginning of another. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Matt Cardinale, FCRH ’09, Michelle Costantino, and the 2008-2009 session of USG for their service and dedication to Fordham University. This year was full of some impressive accomplishments, measured in the countless hours and sleepless nights spent pouring over budget appeals, felt in the footsteps of students walking for breast cancer awareness and suicide prevention, and heard in the voice of Tom Zuppa, FCRH ’09, calling for reform in the club reservation process. I believe that the true measure of a person’s accomplishments, and the most effective gauge in determining the worth of your efforts, is to look at what you’ve done and upon leaving ask if you’ve left your organization better than you found it. Take pride, Matt and Michelle, in knowing that was certainly the case this year, for you have done that and more.

When Mike Recca, FCRH ’10, agreed to run as vice president, I knew that I had chosen someone whose dedication was unmatched – someone who would give every ounce of himself to the work of USG and, yes, someone who, like me, has an arguably un-healthy amount of spare time on his hands. While we will likely never agree on politics, his vision for Fordham, his commitment to service and his passion for improving the condition of our fellow students is both respected and shared. After one of the most intensively organized and heated campaigns for this office in recent memory, I write to you grateful for all those who voted in this year’s elections, but most of all both humbled and honored, by being entrusted with the responsibility of executive president of USG. It is with a profound sense of pride, a deep passion to change so much of what Fordham has become and a sincere hope for all that this University can be that I assume this office and prepare to lead.

Over the course of the past three years that I have served on USG, I’ve noticed how funny it is that certain words and phrases have a way of getting stuck in your mind. How particular slogans and catchy buzz terms tend to last long after you first encountered them. As I look back at the time I’ve spent here at Fordham University, one phrase which seems irreparably etched into my memory is “Toward 2016”. As a freshman, I recall the first time I ever heard Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, speak when he addressed the incoming class of 2010 in Leonard Theatre. In that moment, the words “Toward 2016” and the plan for the future that they represented really struck a chord within me. I never imagined I would find my way to Fordham, but this plan offered a doubtful freshman the reassurance that the decision to come to Rose Hill was the correct one. It had the vision and bold idealism necessary to bring this institution to preeminence, but it needs much more and we must act to see it through.

While the “Toward 2016” plan for Fordham University places great emphasis and prioritization on long overdue construction projects, facilities improvements, and infrastructure development, there is a greater need for the general enrichment of student activities and the empowerment of student organizations on campus. During the time that I have been on the Senate, I cannot count how many times a student leader has expressed to me their deep frustration with the lack of transparency and efficiency, not only from the Office of Student Leadership and Community Development and other areas of the University, but from their own student government as well. I believe this is something that must be changed, and I assure you it will be, swiftly, effectively and without fail.

 The fault here is mutually shared, but the solution to these common concerns rests not in scattered complaining or saber rattling, but instead by proving that we as students, as tuition-paying customers, as men and women of Fordham don’t just deserve to see change on campus, aren’t just entitled to it but will have earned it through our collective action.

To the academic community, I offer you a USG that will be more proactive than ever before in ensuring that policy issues regarding students’ intellectual growth and study receive great attention and consideration. We will serve as a means of communication and cooperative support for your programs, info sessions, lectures, public announcements, and more. Understand that we value your support well beyond the confines of the classroom and the bindings of our textbooks; you are our strongest allies and we will strengthen our working relationships and bonds to ensure progress for Fordham.

To the administration, USG extends a hand in friendship and the spirit of collaboration. I understand that there will be times when we differ on the issues that face the student population of this campus. We will agree, we will argue but we will never stop talking. Years of overly combative approaches and half measures have harmed not only our government but our administrative offices as well, seeding a perception of distrust between the student body and the administrators who work for and with them. This ends with my administration. I believe that we are made stronger and more efficient when we are entrusted and empowered with greater responsibility and autonomy – USG is ready for this. We will be your partners in cooperation, your supporters in times of success, and, make no mistake, your most constructive critics in moments of failure. 

To my fellow students, you will be our government’s strength, its driving spirit, and in return we will be your voice. This year more than 1,500 students on this campus voted in the USG election, a strong message that we do not need to accept the stereotype of student apathy at Fordham University. It was an outpouring that proved that students do care about what takes place on this campus, that they are not content with the status quo, and that they support leadership that will guarantee that their ideas, concerns and issues are not just simply heard but seriously listened to, considered and acted upon. I promise you that this will be the rule, not the exception, but please keep us accountable, come to weekly Senate meetings and ask questions. Your USG will be more visible, more accessible and more engaged than ever before. We will take on larger issues that go well beyond the gates of this campus, everything from our continued growth in Lincoln Center to the recent MTA fare hikes that threaten so many students’ ability to pay for higher education in New York City. We will forge and strengthen relationships with our neighboring universities throughout the greater New York Metropolitan area to form the first legitimate multi-institution undergraduate lobby to fight for student rights and services at the governmental level by year’s end. We will respect and work with our partner governments and finally put an end to the petty bickering, rampant egoism and senseless undermining that have plagued the tri-governmental relationships in the years past. Above all else, we will harness the power of our commuter and resident students, the illuminative and investigative resources of our on-campus publications and the righteous might of our collective and organized student body to negotiate and fight for improvements to our facilities, changes to administrative policies in the area of free speech and demonstration, and increases to the amount of resources made available for our clubs and student organizations.

Finally, to the elected members of USG, congratulations on being elected and thank you for dedicating your time and energy to the cause of Fordham, but consider the easy part over. In the coming year, Mike and I will ask much of you, but only because the issues that we face are many and our resources are few. We will have precious little time to make a positive impact on this campus, but if you are willing to work hard and work often, then I promise you that our efforts will not be fruitless, that your service will not go unnoticed and that we will not let you down.

We are revitalized. We are renewed. We are ready.  

Now my friends, let’s get to work.