Larry Seivert, the write-in candidate who lost last year’s Student Association election, is running for president once again.

Seivert, a junior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, officially announced his campaign for SA president at 6:30 Wednesday night in the atrium of Schine Student Center. Seivert stressed the importance of engaging students and letting their voices be heard in SA.

‘My campaign is built on my passion for bringing the Student Association to the students,’ Seivert said. ‘My goal is to reach out to all of you because your voice is the heart of Student Association.’

He finished last year’s race 183 votes behind current SA president Marlene Goldenberg. As of now, there are no other candidates running against Seivert. Seivert outlined his goals for the 2009 fiscal year, and spoke of specific changes he believes would improve the university for students.

‘Based on my experience, reaching out to every student with a broad strategy really wouldn’t be effective,’ said Seivert, who’s served in SA since his freshman year.

His strategy includes holding town hall style meetings, providing free off-campus transportation, improving communication between student groups, raising pride for SU athletics and making the budget process more efficient.

Seivert also said he realizes academics come first. He discussed giving more money to merit-based scholarships to reward students for academic achievement.

‘Many don’t realize what Student Association has to offer to its students,’ Seivert said. ‘We come together to represent our individual schools on campus and give you all a voice. We allocate $2 million of your money to different student groups. We take initiative regarding the issues that affect you.’

In his time at SA, Seivert has worked on off-campus safety and transportation task forces, as well as serving as the liaison for the executive board of student trustees.

Though there were no questions to follow Seivert’s speech, there is still talk of last year, when Seivert seemed to step up at the last minute to run against Goldenberg. He was originally set to be Goldenberg’s chief of staff.

Goldenberg said Seivert ran last year as a write-in candidate, meaning he did not have to go through the formal procedure to get his name on the ballot, nor did he have to abide by the deadlines.

‘When I decided to run for Student Association president last year, it was far past the time for turning in the 500 signatures to become an official candidate,’ Seivert said.

He added that he had far more time this year and didn’t miss the deadline.

Goldenberg said she was surprised when Seivert decided to run last year. She won the election, but still acknowledged his efforts.

‘He put up a good fight,’ she said. ‘He was a formidable candidate.’

The deadline to declare candidacy passed at 12 a.m. today, and Seivert seemed to be the only announced candidate. But it is still possible for a student to follow in Seivert’s footsteps and run as an undeclared candidate.

‘Whether or not someone runs against me, I’ll wage the same campaign,’ Seivert said. ‘Because making sure that we’re very aggressive and making sure that we’re reaching out to the students now heeds an easier task later.’

mequalte@syr.edu

Published on October 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm