This year, we already know who will win the Student Association election for executive vice president.
Thomas Falcigno, the current interim EVP, is running unopposed – a rare occurrence on this campus. Last year proved to be a fairly competitive election between three qualified candidates who brought varied perspectives and experiences to the table. This year, that isn’t the case.
Having just one option to choose from for EVP when filling out a ballot isn’t a good thing. In fact, it reflects poorly on the SA that only one person was brave enough and qualified enough to step up. Given the number of senators who are passionate about – and outspoken on – the issues important to them, we would expect that more would be willing to lead the student body.
All of this, of course, is beyond Falcigno’s control. Despite being the only one in the race, he put an impressive amount of effort into an ambitious platform. It would have been easy for him to toss ideas together at the last minute, avoid researching his initiatives and leave out students’ concerns. But instead of slacking off, Falcigno has clearly treated this election just as seriously as last year’s candidates.
For that reason, and because we believe he has the personality and the drive to be a leader, The Hatchet’s editorial board endorses Thomas Falcigno for SA executive vice president.
It’s particularly refreshing that Falcigno has his own ideas and convictions, and plans to stick to them. It can sometimes be difficult for an EVP to concentrate on his or her own goals, especially when the SA president needs help accomplishing bigger things. But Falcigno told us that he doesn’t believe the EVP and the SA president always have to be working on the same thing: each can do their own work independently.
Yes, the student body’s two leaders have to be able to work together. But we have no doubt that Falcigno’s friendly demeanor and experience in the SA will allow him to coordinate with the SA president while still accomplishing his own goals.
His initiatives are substantial – and some are even as far-reaching as those we would expect to find on presidential platforms. His freshman forgiveness plan, in particular, is something that would positively affect student life at GW for many years to come.
At first, we had doubts that allowing students to retake a class they completed in their first 30 credits was necessary. After all, college students are adults who make mistakes and learn from them, and we can’t expect second chances out in the real world. But Falcigno defended and explained his plan, and convinced us that his intent isn’t to coddle homesick freshmen, but to make life easier for new students who are struggling.
His ultimate goal is a reasonable one: create a standardized, baseline forgiveness policy across all of GW’s schools, with enough flexibility that each school can customize its policy. It seems like a fair, well-researched way to ensure that students aren’t being penalized for a genuine lack of experience with college-level work.
Falcigno did acknowledge that he didn’t have all the details for the plan worked out. But he also demonstrated that he had done extensive research on freshman forgiveness policies at other schools – including those already in place at six of our 14 peer schools. Still, it was disappointing that he hadn’t reached out to any officials about whether or not they would be open to a program like this, so it’s difficult to gauge whether it’s a feasible initiative.
Such a sweeping change is ambitious, and Falcigno recognizes that there are limits. But we believe that his leadership qualities and institutional knowledge have given him a good idea about what’s doable – especially given that he’s already serving as EVP, and has plenty of connections within the SA.
Falcigno was also willing to think outside of the box. He came up with realistic ideas that are even absent on this year’s presidential platforms, and put a new spin on the issues we hear about every year. Affordability, for example, is a cornerstone of two out of this year’s three presidential platforms. Yet Falcigno was the only one to breathe new life into a buzzword like affordability with creative ideas, like changing transcript fees and allowing part-time graduate students more time to drop classes without financial penalty.
Good leaders should also be able to recognize when they’re wrong, or when the system breaks down. Falcigno did just that during his hearing when questioned about the finance committee’s insensitive comments about funding a South Asian heritage event.
Rather than excuse the behavior as a misstep or lack of knowledge, Falcigno explained that during the process of transitioning into the EVP role, he missed some important meetings. While simple oversight at meetings can’t fix all mistakes, Falcigno said that as EVP, he plans to be at each committee’s meetings to keep their members on track, and provide “advice and guidance.”
Furthermore, Falcigno advocated last year that the entire SA should undergo diversity and inclusion training before trying to mandate that other student leaders do so. This coming year, he wants the SA to undergo trainings during their August retreat, and would look into any possible additional trainings for the finance committee – a part of the SA that often comes under fire.
Policies and ideas aside, we believe Falcigno has the temperament to be the SA’s EVP. Falcigno is professional, knowledgeable and genuinely cares about the issues he presents. His platform reflects his devotion to the student body, and his willingness to put students’ wellbeing first – and those are the best qualities we could hope to find in an EVP.
Vote for Falcigno for SA executive vice president this Wednesday or Thursday.
The Hatchet’s editorial board for executive vice presidential endorsements included opinions editor Sarah Blugis, contributing opinions editor Melissa Holzberg, sports editor Nora Princiotti, design editor Samantha LaFrance, copy editor Brandon Lee, assistant sports editor Mark Eisenhauer and managing director Eva Palmer.
Listen to the editorial board’s endorsement hearing with executive vice presidential candidate Thomas Falcigno here.
