Recently elected SUNY SA delegate Peter Rizzo was voted onto the SUNY-wide executive board this past weekend at a SUNY SA conference in Rochester.
Rizzo, a sophomore English and history major, won one of the executive spots reserved for students from university centers like UB. Along with other board members, he will now represent UB, Albany, Binghamton and Stony Brook at monthly committee meetings.
"I'm excited and I'm looking towards the future to help take this organization to the next level," Rizzo said. "There are great people to work with, and this organization needs to be pointed in the right direction and I have the capability of doing so."
Rizzo said he attended the conference this weekend with the initial intent to run for secretary of the SUNY SA E-board. After losing by three votes to Kellie Gervais from Albany, Rizzo decided to run for the university representative position.
"After I lost for secretary, I had so many people coming up to me saying how they thought I had such great ideas," Rizzo said. "As soon as I lost that position, an hour later I ran for executive board and won that."
Joshua Hynman from Geneseo was elected president of SUNY SA and will serve as the lone student on the SUNY Board of Trustees. Brian Fessler from Albany was elected vice president.
Rizzo was elected to the executive board with Jory Schwach from Binghamton.
"University center representatives talk about what those four schools are doing in their government, and bring ideas back to the executive board meetings," Rizzo said. "We relay messages back and forth and have the proper representation of problems and ideas from our university. For example, parking, food prices, anything."
SA Treasurer-elect Mazin Kased said he was pleased with Rizzo's win.
"He was chosen because he charmed them. He's a very good speaker and they had faith in him," said Kased, the current SA Senate chair. "I think he will go very good."
Kased said Rizzo has excellent communication skills, which is a key factor for his new position.
"I believe this is his year to shine. This is his year to make a name for himself and make some changes," Kased said. "Communication is key. He will deal with other universities and I wouldn't be surprised if he is elected to an E-board position next year.
Kased said UB also made a great impact overall at the SUNY conference.
"UB got so much respect going into that conference, especially respect from Albany," he said. "Everyone really liked how we were laid back and our overall presence."
SA President-elect Dela Yador said the conference touched on issues from tuition to academic freedom. Yador said he is happy Rizzo was elected to the board and thinks he will really bring something useful to the SUNY table.
"It's fresh blood and I think he is going to do a great job," said Yador, who is currently the SA vice president.
Rizzo's election means that UB will have a representative on the executive board for the second year in a row. Outgoing SUNY SA delegate Robert Batdorf won a seat for UB at the start of last semester.
Rizzo said he wants to improve the type of leadership shown in SUNY SA and will work to bring the organization to the level he thinks it should be at.
"We need a professional attitude, and I want to be an agent of change," Rizzo said. "If someone needs my assistance, I'll do my research and I hope they will do the same."
Rizzo said he is excited to work with other schools and integrate their ideas into UB and visa versa.
"So many other schools have fests, but fests that are different from ours," Rizzo said. "It's great to see these organizations are so similar and we can use each other's ideas to grow together as part of the State University at New York."
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
