Never one to wait for opportunities to come to him, in just over a year and a half at UB, Anthony Burgio is already heavily involved in the student government.
Recently winning the position of Student Association treasurer, running unopposed as a candidate for the Momentum party, an eloquent Burgio outlined his path to SA treasurer.
Burgio, a sophomore accounting major with a minor in history, attributes much of his passion for government to the example set by his family. Having acquired an interest in politics from his father and grandfather, his attraction to political affairs manifested itself at an early age.
"My family has always taught me to be aware of what's going on. Not necessarily in politics, but what's going on around you," he said. "Even when I was in elementary school I was interested in that."
Burgio applies this mindset to his opinions on student participation within the university; he said it is necessary to be assertive in order to get involved in university happenings. As treasurer-elect, he said he hopes that he can help to inform students about the financial side of SA, so more students will become involved.
"There's a million different ways to get involved, so if people aren't getting involved, it's really their own fault at this point," Burgio said. "I came in here as a freshman and two days before class I knew that I was running for senate. You really have to be aggressive too, and get out there."
Burgio said apathetic students are only hurting themselves by not getting involved.
"Every student pays for this, so for you not to try to take advantage of getting involved with something that you pay for is really foolish," he said. "And at the very least, you should utilize the services that you pay for. You should come get free tickets to something, even if you give them to your friends. I mean, why wouldn't you? You pay $69.75 per semester."
Based on his involvement within the university, it is evident that Burgio does not suffer from apathy, having begun his student government career at UB as a freshman after winning a position as a commuter senator.
Soon after, Burgio took on his first monetary-related role at UB as a member of the finance committee. Gaining experience on the committee, and believing himself to be qualified, Burgio said he decided to go a step further and run for SA treasurer.
"Not only my background in accounting, but also just the fact that everything I've done, with the exception of SUNY Student Assembly delegate, has been kind of finance-related," said Burgio. "So I think that the qualifications were more for this position than anything else."
In addition to his experience, Burgio said his personality traits make him an asset to both SA and UB students.
"(SA is) just something that I became involved with very early on, freshman year. It's something that my commitment to has continued to grow, along with my interest in it and my love for the university and for SA," Burgio said. "That's really my motivation for it. I think that I'm pretty hard working, just a pretty fair person, pretty honest guy, really pretty open with everyone."
According to Burgio, growing up in Buffalo and recognizing its political weaknesses helped him understand the affect government can have on the development of a city or organization.
"Being in Buffalo and New York State have definitely been two big influences," he said. "I became aware of what bad government can do to a city or state."
Putting what he has witnessed and learned into practice, Burgio sets out as SA treasurer-elect with a clear plan. He said he hopes to increase student knowledge about the finance department, and help make it a user-friendly outlet.
"There'll be an overall improvement to the finance department next year in that it will be characterized by being one that is very open and accessible to both clubs and students," said Burgio. "Not that that doesn't happen now, I just think that it can be improved upon."
In light of the lackluster showings at the polls for SA elections, Burgio plans to continue to advertise SA and attempt to educate students and clubs about its duties.
"We're going to continue to do everything we can to promote SA, to make people more aware of the election process," said Burgio. "I think that needs to be improved too. Ultimately, if you want to get involved, there's no reason why you can't."
In the time he has available away from his schoolwork and student government obligations, Burgio said he looks forward to good weather so that he can spend leisure time outdoors.
"I like going out occasionally on weekends, and I play tennis and run a lot. I'm outside as much as possible when it's nice out."
