Quinnipiac’s Student Government Association held its elections for the 2021-2022 Executive Board yesterday, April 13. Eleven QU students ran for five positions on the board. The winners were announced last night.
Alongside the Executive Board, SGA also elected its Judicial and Ethics Board, Specialized Representation Cabinet, and Class Cabinets for the classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024.
President: Nicholas Ciampanelli
Ciampanelli has been involved with student government since his Freshman year. This past term he served as the VP of Student Experience and now has been elected President of SGA.
Ciampanelli said in an Instagram post that he hopes SGA can develope “a more inclusive and equitable campus climate, spearheading new traditions to bolster our school pride and spirit and shaping our student experience to make it truly worth it.”
Vice President: Christopher Longchamp
Longchamp is a second year in the 3+1 economics program. He has served as a sophomore senator on SGA as well as the secretary. His interest in student government began after his first year at Quinnipiac.
“I wanted to make an impact at Quinnipiac that would last beyond my time here,” Longchamp said. “I basically ran because I wanted to be there for students that did not have a voice on campus because that is how I felt. I felt like I never knew about what was going on on-campus and I wanted to get more involved.”
Longchamp ran for the VP position because he felt there were always ways to improve and he wanted to be able to hold people accountable for their initiative progress.
“I think that the initiative work that the organization does is some of the most important work we do for the student body,” Longchamp said. “The Vice President’s duties are aligning with both what I want to do for the organization and what I want to do after college. I am a Data Science and Math minor, so with surveys getting transferred to the Vice President, I can work with real data sets and use the tools that I learned in class along with helping the students.”
As VP, Longchamp has big plans for how he will make an impact through SGA.
“I think that the QU community can expect a person that will be there for them and give their fullest effort to make Quinnipiac a better place. I would like to leave Quinnipiac a better place than I found it,” he said. “Whether it is getting up at 7AM during the weeks, working in the suite on the weekends, or staying up late at night drafting resolutions to be sent to administration, I will be there to fulfill my duty and to advocate for students on campus.”
Longchamp has a few goals for student government this next year.
“My goals for SGA this year are to work with organizations and start to look at different ways that we can address the different and major issues on campus,” he said. “Obviously, the most pressing issue thus far is diversity, equity and inclusion on this campus and multicultural organizations not having their voices heard.”
He also believes in the importance of group effort to see real change happen.
“It will take everyone on this Executive Board and General Board to work with the multicultural organizations and to learn more about these organizations,” Longchamp said. “Whether it is Carmine posting the multicultural organizations events on the SGA Instagram, me having myself or senators reach out to multicultural organizations to get initiative ideas, or Cam allowing those organizations to have the proper amount of money to put on events, it takes the whole Executive Board and General Board to address this issue.”
VP of Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement: Jeremy Gustafson
Gustafson is now a junior, but has been on SGA since his freshman year. He has served as freshmen class senator, liberal arts senator on the Specialized Representation Cabinet and the chair for the past two years.
“Over the past three years, I have been dedicated to listening to students’ concerns,” Gustafson said on an Instagram post. “I will continue to advocate for all students no matter their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, ethnicity and gender identity. Together, we can build a truly more inclusive college campus.”
VP for Finance: Cameron Davignon
Davignon has served on his class cabinet and the Finance Committee since his freshman year in the Fall of 2019.
Davignon’s platform, posted on social media, included points of what he wants to incorporate into his position during his time as VP for Finance.
His four main areas of improvement were to “ensure SGA finance policies and procedures are as logical and efficient as possible. Promote equal access to funding for all student orgs no matter their purpose. Empower and encourage student orgs to put on bigger and better events for the entire student body. Act as a liaison between administrators and students on financial matters,” Davignon said on an Instagram story post.
VP of Public Relations: Carmine Grippo
Grippo is a sophomore finance major from Middletown, Conn. He has been a part of SGA since his freshman year when he served as class president. Grippo also served as sophomore class president this past term and has always had an interest in student government.
“I’ve been involved in campaigns since I was very young. Watching local political leaders make a difference in their communities is something that I value,” he said. “In high school, I served as the Student Body President and loved being involved with helping administrators make decisions. I also love speaking up for kids that feel that their voice isn’t being heard.”
Grippo ran for VP of Public Relations.
“With Public Relations, I have the platform to show off my creative talents,” he said.
Since winning the election, Grippo has a plan for how he will execute the tasks of his new position.
“The QU community can expect exciting material, consistent updates on what is being worked on and notifications about all QU events taking place from everyone in SGA,” he said.
He also has goals for what he hopes SGA will look like this next year.
“My three main objectives for the Fall and Spring semester are to get unengaged QU students involved, improve school spirit and improve the reputation of SGA,” Grippo said.
Student Voters:
There is still a lot of work that student voters feel need to be done and are hoping SGA can help accomplish.
Sean Dalton is a sophomore biology major from Mahwah, N.J. He hopes that student government will make changes across campus.
“I want to see more school spirit now that issues of COVID are improving on campus,” Dalton said. “I also hope to see more Intramurals on campus. I would really like to see more students get involved with sports and that starts with more options.”
Shannon Luker is a senior graphic design major from Glastonbury, Conn. She voted in last night’s election and is excited to see the difference the new SGA elects will make.
“I voted for SGA because every vote makes a difference. I also knew some of the candidates running and saw how much effort they put into the election and their future positions. They do very important work on campus,” Luker said. “I think the monetary addition to parking for the next year was frustrating to many students and I want to see SGA further push their agenda for that! I want SGA to continue fighting for the well being of the students.”
This story has been edited since its original publication.
