Brian Choplick
By Kassondra Granata
“When I take on a task, I don’t just try to fulfill responsibilities. I try to improve upon them and find new ways that we can affect people,” says Brian Choplick, a candidate for next year’s President of the Student Government Association.
Choplick, a resident senator, tranfserred over to CCSU in the fall and is currently a Resident Assistant (RA) in Sheridan. Choplick is also a part of the Finance Committee, co-chair on the Internal Affairs Committee, and chair of Club Sports.
“Last January, I decided I wanted to be involved in the decisions that would effect me on a daily basis,” Choplick says.
Sen. Chris Marcelli is supporting Choplick in his campaign, and says that Choplick would “excel” as president.
“He has a knack for reaching compromises by cutting through the noise and figuring out what it is people really want,” Marcelli says. “But he doesn’t just talk, he acts, and he does so with well-founded confidence. He knows how to roll with the punches, he doesn’t buckle under pressure and he doesn’t give up. He has the focus and the work ethic to make things happen on this campus.”
Choplick is majoring in MIS and says he plans to be in Higher Education as a career. He says he wants to be a president of a university.
Since elementary school, Choplick’s grandmother has told him that he was “never going to leave school” and that stuck with him throughout his career.
“I didn’t realize up until this year what she really meant by that and what capacity that really affected me,” Choplick says. “She always jokes that in high school I was the first one into the school and I closed it down at the end of the day. I love being around students, it is a great environment, a great culture that I constantly want to be around.”
If Choplick were elected, he says that he would take the same route that current SGA President Eric Bergenn has been taking.
“At the same time I would want to do different things,” says Choplick. “I think at some times, there are people who feel excluded from leadership on this campus. I want to reach out and not only hear what they have to say but get them involved in some way. It’s important to diversify the leadership on this campus.”
Choplick wants to continue with the Weekend Central initiative as well as diversifying types of events. Choplick says that although SGA isn’t a programming board, there are ways that the organization can collaborate with different clubs and boards on campus.
Choplick, who just attended COSGA, says that a certain quote from a keynote struck him and he is using that quote to motivate his campaign,
“If you build it they probably won’t come, if they build it, they will come and they will bring their friends.”
“We represent these people; but at the same time if we want something and we’re doing it, maybe it’s not what everyone else wants,” Choplick says.
As a co-chair on the Internal Affairs Committee, Choplick is working on different projects. The Internal Affairs Committee is in charge of reviewing bylaw changes and constitutional changes.
“It’s the stuff that makes SGA run, nothing to do with the public,” Choplick says. He is currently working on a dress code initiative as well as an endowment plan. Choplick hopes to alter scholarships as a senator or as president.
“I am looking to work out a plan that adds more money from whatever is left over in the year into the endowment so that the money we are investing into scholarships will not only affect the people this year but those every single year,” Choplick says.
Another part of his campaign is continuting to work on the night life shuttle. Although it has been shut down by the University, Choplick says that there are still things that the SGA can look into.
“It is very important to diversify the types of events that are going on on campus,” says Choplick. “Some students don’t find it effective. I think that this is an original idea that we don’t really offer right now and students were very interested in it when it first came out.”
Bergenn has announced his endorsement for Sen. Choplick during the first campaign week.
“Both of the candidates are good friends of mine who I have a great deal of respect for but, when it comes down to it, I think Brian is currently better prepared for the job,” Bergenn says. “He tends to have a good grasp on everything he’s involved with, and I think is more apt to deal with the pressure the presidency entails. They both have good ideas, and are both good leaders at CCSU already. I see the ideas that Brian wants to work on as more geared toward what a larger number of students want to see happen. I sincerely wish them both the best of luck.”
