The woman sitting across from me at her desk in a fuchsia blazer and lipstick to match, last Sunday night, was not the same confused leader who confessed her failures at that very desk several months ago.

Allie Curtis was at the “very bottom” of her college career last March, and emotions consumed her. The Student Association president felt she failed the very organization she loved from her first day at Syracuse University.

Curtis knew SA was in shambles due to poor leadership and intra-organization turmoil. Impeachment proceedings were called upon Curtis by members of the organization for allowing a non-matriculated student to act in a SA leadership position.

Now, in a state of resilient excitement instead of jaded discontent, Curtis realizes her second chance to prove her ability as a leader – an ideal opportunity she must seize now following the summer recess.

Though the number of empty leadership positions due to resignations is alarming, Curtis is correct in assuring it is actually the “release of tensions” SA so desperately needs.

A governing body requires a group of competent and committed individuals to maintain efficiency. Though the previous chairs reflected these qualities, the inability to successfully communicate discrepancies lead to last semester’s temporary organizational demise and proved problem areas did not lie exclusively in the presidency.

At Monday’s general assembly meeting, Curtis said candidates have already been selected for several committees. These chairs, to be confirmed by the assembly at next week’s meeting, must understand the pitfalls of the session thus far to be able to focus completely on serving the students and keep organizational discontent to a minimum.

Charging directly into concrete initiatives and legislation is extremely important at the start of the fall semester for the student government, as the presidential — and this year, for the first time, vice presidential — elections consume much of the latter portion.
Curtis confirms that the resignation of chairs will not hinder the organization’s ability and newfound enthusiasm to start making progress this first week, as all committees are still meeting to begin assigning tasks and projects.

Filling the vacancy of the Judicial Review Board chair must also be a priority for the organization in the coming weeks, as last semester’s near presidential impeachment signifies.

Low overall membership within SA is another opportunity for the organization to refocus. There are 27 open representative seats within the assembly. Recruiting fresh faces with not only their own distinct ideas, but also enthusiasm for working as a team – a trait lacking last semester – will only benefit SA. Creating a cohesive body is a task new Chief of Staff Sean Dinan is confident in accomplishing.

Students can count on fiscal effectiveness from SA as Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo enters his fourth semester as the organization’s financial leader. DeSalvo has already written several bills to be approved by the assembly at the next meeting.

Though confidence can be held yet again in a monetary sense, DeSalvo said outside the Finance Board, all change SA makes is mainly through committees. This reinforces the organization’s need to build leadership and membership in each facet of the organization.
DeSalvo calls the events of the spring semester a wake-up call for the organization and hopes to see the “playing of politics” by many members come to an end. Following Curtis’ incident, DeSalvo said he reemphasized the need for open communication with the members of the Finance Board.

“We are here to do one job, and that is to help the students,” DeSalvo said. “If anything, that just became more apparent than it already was. And a leader needs to be tapped in to make the right decisions.”

That assessment, DeSalvo, is spot on.

Rachael Barillari is a senior political science and Middle Eastern studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at rebarill@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @R_Barillari.

Published on August 29, 2013 at 2:35 am