Executive vice presidential candidate Mike Pellegrino runs under the Change for Students slate to reform the SA, but he said his experience with other student groups gives him the leadership to head the Senate.

Pellegrino said his involvement in student groups has helped him learn how things work, especially when it comes to SA funding.

“I think playing rugby has been very valuable because it’s taught me how to be a part of a team even when it hurts,” he said.

As a member of the International Affairs Society, Pellegrino said he learned group dynamics.

“That’s taking a large group of people and getting them involved,” he said. “That could translate to the SA because the SA is basically the same thing.”

He also joined the GW’s College Republicans.

“Joining the CRs was kind of a social thing,” Pellegrino said. “I try not to be political.”

Pellegrino said his campaign focuses on advocacy.

“A lot of people like to talk every year about community and bringing the SA to students,” he said. “I don’t want to stop there. There’s no reason to bring the SA to students if it doesn’t do anything.”

As EVP, Pellegrino said he would make sure senators follow through with the resolutions they pass. Food services and recycling top Pellegrino’s agenda.

“I want to stand up on some very specific issues,” he said. “About dining services and how they rip us off there and about recycling and how the University lies to us.”

Pellegrino said he wants to improve GW’s food service contractor Aramark, which he said students at other colleges compliment, and strengthen contracts with janitors to require them to sort trash.

“We don’t really have a contract with our custodians to sort trash,” Pellegrino said. “Georgetown and American have this type of contract and I’d like to see GW re-evaluate what the custodial contract is now.”

Pellegrino helped draft the proposed SA constitution, a ballot referendum, with SA presidential candidate Daniel Loren and other Change for Students candidates.

“A lot of our platform is just us sitting down and talking with students and saying `what would make you like the SA?'” he said.

Pellegrino said a similar constitution passed by student vote before, but the Senate never acted on dividing the legislative branch of the SA into separate graduate and undergraduate councils – a measure included in the new proposal.