Newly elected Student Association President Dylan Lustig enthusiastically began the first meeting of the 56th session by presenting his cabinet appointments to the general assembly.

In an interview beforehand, Lustig said he wanted to use the meeting to introduce goals for teamwork and unity within SA and build a greater sense of connection with the student body as a whole. The meeting was held Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

Lustig and Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo took their respective oaths of office confirming their elected positions. The rest of the assembly followed in its own oath to start off the new session.

The introduction and confirmation of Lustig’s appointments for his administration’s cabinet were the main focus of the evening. Lustig said the criteria for his appointments were strong dedication and the ability to make an influence within SA. Applications for the positions were open to the entire student body, Lustig said, although all but one were previous SA members.

‘I looked for the best team I could put together,’ Lustig said.

Lustig made a surprising choice by appointing Taylor Carr, his opponent during this fall’s presidential race, to the chief of staff position.

‘I knew I would come back to SA,’ Carr said. ‘Making a difference and a positive change on campus is something I am really passionate about. It was just a matter of finding the niche where I would fall in the 56th session.’

Carr said he believes his experiences have made him a good asset for this role, and he was eager to accept the job. As chief of staff, he can aid Lustig as a trusted adviser regarding various issues and ideas.

The fact that Carr and Lustig were opponents only months ago does not mean they don’t respect each other’s ideas and passion for SA, they said.

Lustig said Carr was an easy choice for the position because they had a common goal of overall success for the organization. Carr’s confirmation as chief of staff will make SA a powerhouse organization because he knows the ins and outs of SA, and he has been in a cabinet position before as the chair of the Student Life Committee, Lustig said.

‘I wanted someone who would not agree with me all the time,’ Lustig said. ‘Carr was upfront and said he would challenge me, but it will be exciting to see what we can do together.’

For his new position, Carr said he will attend the different committee meetings and work one-on-one with the committee leaders to maintain an organized SA. Another major ambition of Carr’s is keeping the committees focused to ensure specific initiatives are accomplished, he said.

Carr said these goals are pieces of his presidential platform he is now trying to implement as chief of staff.

Alexandra Curtis, one of Lustig’s campaign managers, was appointed to the position of vice president. The importance of recruiting valuable assemblymembers and creating a mentoring program for new representatives are aspects Curtis said she would improve within SA. She also said she would be working closely with Lustig on SA’s signature day of community service, one of Lustig’s campaign points.

There are 12 open seats in SA that Lustig said are important to fill. The organization is again not 100 percent representative of the Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry student body. Lustig said he and Curtis are not rushing to fill the seats because, although it is important to be operating at full capacity, they are looking for dedicated and qualified individuals.

Lustig decided to make the position of director of public relations into a two-person role and appointed both Colin Brown and Karah Cesar as directors. The concept for co-directors stemmed from the need to strongly enhance SA’s social media presence and overall identity on campus, Lustig said. He said this could be accomplished more effectively with two well-qualified individuals working together toward the same goals.

The other cabinet position appointments included PJ Alampi to Student Life Committee chair, Jesse Feitel to Academic Affairs Committee chair, Sean Dinan to Student Engagement Committee chair and Ross Lazerowitz as the director of technology.

During the meeting, Jenny Choi and Eugene Law were nominated for the positions of recorder and parliamentarian, respectively.

Each of Lustig’s nominations and appointments were confirmed with uncontested votes by the general assembly. The confirmation process is an action required by the representatives in SA’s codes.

Lustig said he wants the members of each committee to reconfirm their individual leaders in the near future after seeing the work that is being done.

‘This is a new, separate process not in the codes,’ Lustig said. ‘It is just something I really want done because it should be everyone’s say and not just mine.’

rebarill@syr.edu 

Published on January 17, 2012 at 12:00 pm