By Kassondra Granata
Throughout the next two weeks, senators such as Kory Mills and Javier Fernandez are scrambling to different outlets in order to campaign for their desired position, the next Treasurer of the Student Government Association.
“I really think that CCSU should invest more in their clubs,” said Kory Mills, a junior and two-year senator. Mills is double majoring in International Studies with a focus in Latin America and History.
Mills says he has been on the SGA Finance Committee ever since he has joined. According to Mills, he originally joined senate because the club he was part of did not receive any funding and he wanted to “see what it was all about.”
“We didn’t get a budget that year because we didn’t have any information in the request,” Mills said. “I really just want to make sure that all of the clubs at CCSU understand how our process works and I really want to spell out in black and white what gives other clubs money and what doesn’t.”
Since he has been on senate, Mills has also been a main voice of the Finance Committee.
“I help with all of the base budgets and do some audits,” Mills said. “Over the winter retreat we [SGA Finance Committee] decided that we were going to go over the budgets. Hopefully this semester we can spread everything equally with the new budgets now.”
Mills said that because he has been a large part of the committee, he is the best person for treasurer.
“I have been on finance for two years and I am one of the very few members of the senate returning to the committee,” Mills said. “I really enjoy finance, I get what I am doing. I am such a better public speaker and I have learned so much about myself as a leader. It [SGA] is a really great outlet.”
Mills has also been the treasurer for LASO (Latin American Student Organization) and the Spanish Club.
If Mills was elected treasurer, he says he would expand on what the current SGA Treasurer Nick Alaimo has done.
“I really like transparency,” Mills said.
Javier Fernández is a fifth-year senior and is also running for the Treasurer spot. Fernández is majoring in Economics and minoring in Management. Fernández says that he wants to go into Higher Education.
Fernández has been a senator for the past four years and this is the second time that he has campaigned for an executive board position. He joined his freshman year after hearing about the senate in his FYE class.
“I just got hooked and ever sine then I never really looked back,” said Fernández.
Throughout his four years, Fernández has been on Finance Committee, Promotion Committee, and Public Affairs. He was the co-founder of Man Enough Initiative and collaborated with SALD and launched the Diversity Advocates. He also said that he enjoys to work with the youth.
“I try to give students, particularly at risk students an opportunity to see something different,” said Fernández. “I am a person of color so they can relate to me in that manner. You don’t have to be a basketball player or a rapper to be successful.
Fernández said that because he has been on senate for so long, he has a good idea as to how the finance aspect works.
“I enjoy finance committee the most out of all of the committees,” Fernández said. “I love working hand-in-hand with the student clubs on campus and I think being treasurer would help me continue that.”
If Fernández was elected, he said he would look for different opportunities for organizations to get funded, especially those who are underrepresented. There are a lot of ways he said he would do this, such as improving activity fees.
“I can deal with these issues as well as the day-to-day responsibilities of being treasurer,” said Fernández. “I am very dedicated and I love what I do and I take campus life more seriously than I do with academics.”