At the end of last month, four juniors were elected to serve on the 2014 Bucknell Student Government (BSG) Executive Board: Loren Jablon as President, Whitney Tatem as Vice President of Operations, Walker Brady as Vice President of Finance and Anthony Gingerelli as Vice President of Administration. The Bucknell Student Government’s purpose on campus is to represent Bucknell students and oversee the recognition and allocation processes of student organizations on campus. BSG appropriates funds to various clubs across campus, spearheads student initiatives and works to unite and create a strong sense of community throughout Bucknell. The students on BSG work so hard and have done so much for our campus. BSG is responsible for bringing late night dining to campus, the Bison Bikes Program, Zip Cars and the Bison’s Frozen Yogurt Machine. Learn more about the responsibilities and goals of BSG’s new executive board below – and to the four new candidates, I think I can speak for everyone at Bucknell when I say a big thank you for all your time and hard work. Best of luck!
Loren Jablon – President
What is your position and what responsibilities come with it?
As President, I wear many different hats. I like to think of myself as an adviser to a group of incredibly passionate and talented students from each of the four class years. My formal responsibilities include serving as the presiding officer of the Executive Board, the Executive Committee and BSG Congress. I am the liaison between students, faculty, staff, administrators and trustees. I also interact with students to learn about their concerns relating to campus issues and student organizations.
My real responsibilities on a day-to-day basis vary significantly based upon the initiatives our committees and class congresses choose to pursue. I spend most of my time meeting with students, administration, faculty, staff and my Congress members to discuss everything from dining to housing to safety concerns. Under my leadership over the course of the past year, BSG worked with the University to amend the medical amnesty policy, create a forum for students to talk openly and honestly about campus life and provide late night dining options and frozen yogurt on campus.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year on BSG?
As I am about to begin my second term as President, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with my new executive board and Congress to continue to give back to our community over the course of the next year. I am really excited about BSG’s current plans to implement new recognition and allocation procedures for student organizations next semester. The new guidelines will emphasize fiscal responsibility and aim to maximize the reach of student activity dollars. This significant change is an initiative I worked extensively on this past semester after consulting with various student leaders, other institutions and BSG. I am really proud of this effort because I believe that the new allocations system will benefit all students in the end.
My main goal for my second term is to finally make BSG a transparent organization. I want the student body to better understand 1) how BSG can improve our Bucknell experience and 2) what initiatives we are working on. I strongly believe that transparency will encourage collaboration amongst the student body and strengthen our efforts to improve campus life. Specific plans to accomplish this goal include launching a public website at the beginning of next semester, writing a monthly brief outlining our major initiatives, and providing better forums for students to share their opinions.
For those who are reading this, please know that real changes on campus cannot happen without your help! Do not hesitate to reach out to BSG at bsg@bucknell.edu. We’d love to hear from you!
Whitney Tatem – Vice President of Operations
What is your position and what responsibilities come with it?
My position is Vice President of Operations, and my main responsibilities will include conducting all BSG general elections, overseeing student organization recognition procedures and acting on publicizing the events and activities of BSG and BSG-sponsored groups to the student body.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year on BSG?
BSG is currently revamping the student organization recognition process and classification guidelines, which I hope will facilitate a stronger relationship between BSG and student organizations. It is my hope that these new procedures, if put into effect, will encourage student organization growth by way of increasing membership and allowing student organizations to host more successful events with ease.
Walker Brady – Vice President of Finance
What is your position and what responsibilities come with it?
My position is the Vice President of Finance. My responsibilities are I chair the committee for appropriations, where student organizations request and apply for money from the student activities fund. I meet with President Bravman and a number of deans every month. I make sure that the student activities budget stays at an even keel so we have money for the whole academic year. Lastly, I review every club’s budget to make sure they are using their funds in responsible ways.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year on BSG?
My main goal I would like to accomplish this year as VP of Finance is to get the word out to the campus about the new appropriations guidelines that have been created. It makes it easier for students to request money for their events and clubs can ask for larger sums of money than ever before. The campus complains about there not being enough non-drinking alternatives, so I would like to see more students come in with good ideas for non -alcoholic events that will draw the masses. My second reason for this is to see student life shift predominately on campus. I am open to all ideas to get students back on campus having a good time.
Anthony Gingerelli – Vice President of Administration
What is your position and what responsibilities come with it?
My position on the BSG exec. board is the VP of Administration. I am responsible for working closely with administration to relay student opinions of the many different issues and problems that the campus faces. This leaves a wide spectrum of opportunities and issues to tackle in my position. The more recognizable problems among the student body would include the downtown social ordinance rule and the drug policy on campus as well as the point system. Many students wonder how effective and reasonable the disciplinary setup is and how Bucknell’s social scene will change with the issues of downtown. Essentially, the purpose of my position is to familiarize myself with students and their opinions about the administration at Bucknell, and work with the administration on campus to represent these opinions/ideas and to work in implementing the changes students wish to see.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year on BSG?
It is very difficult to narrow down the things I wish to accomplish as VP of Administration to one thing.
The campus seems like a very safe and open place to be and it is filled with a lot of warm-hearted people that have a smile on their face every time you see them. Unfortunately, there is always a needle in the haystack. As warm and safe as the campus may seem to some of us there are a lot of people on campus that do not feel the same way. Their differences make them vulnerable to cold and heartless comments leaving them feeling unable to express themselves because they do not look or feel the way that the majority of Bucknell does. In a leadership role on campus I want to work with the rest of the students to ensure that this changes. Whether it is through events or simply spreading a contagious attitude throughout campus I look to take initiative in opening the eyes of all students on campus.
The social scene is something that has been on a roller coaster throughout the past few years. With the news of limited downtown housing in future years, there has been a bit of havoc among the student body. I want to work in order to save the social role that provides an escape for students from rigorous schoolwork to continue Bucknell’s balanced life of hard work and fun. Activities both on and off campus provide this getaway for students; it’s simply the attractiveness of events that make it worthwhile. Hospital visits have become too much of a routine for Bucknellians and there needs to be a change in the norm of heavy drinking on campus. Norms need to change. More informed disciplinary rules in regards to the point system would be a step in the right direction. Liquor being more troublesome than beer has not always been followed up with authorities accordingly. These are important issues, this is college after all. I also thrive to get the university as a whole to get together socially much more. Too many people slip away into their sports, busy routine or Greek system and people lose touch due to such.
***I want students to know that I want to hear from them. I want to hear ideas. It’s my job to make sure you get heard. Do not hesitate to email me with opinions and beliefs that you have. People say a lot of great ideas and never reach out and express themselves. AJG017@bucknell.edu