Outgoing Students’ Association president and senior Pete Nabozny expressed his confidence in the strength of the SA while delivering his “State of the SA” address to administrators, staff and students on April 15.
“The SA has two primary functions – internal management and external advocacy,” Nabozny said. “We’ve never done a stronger job with the internal matters. With the ratification of the new constitution, [we] have made the structural changes necessary to become an efficient and representative advocate for the student body. We also have a new set of bylaws to regulate ourselves by, and my hat is off to [Chief of Staff and sophomore] Alex Pearlman for managing and completing that monumental task,” Nabozny said.
Nabozny listed several of the other accomplishments that he is most proud of achieving with his administration, including enhancing communication within government and working together to accomplish greater goals.
“[Senator and sophomore] Emily Zametkin has transformed the Policy Committee and group-creating process by working so closely with the Student Activities Office and her committee,” he said. “The Policy Committee also worked closely with the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee to identify struggling groups.”
Other accomplishments he cited included work with SAAC in building a re-vamped budget.
“Ultimately, this expansion of supplemental funding will result in better programming on campus and more opportunities for students to make use of their activities fee,” he said.
Nabozny continued to discuss some of the external matters that he hopes future SA leaders will take up.
“[Speaker of the Senate and senior Tom] Hayes has been outspoken on the need for a Performing Arts Center,” he said. “It would serve as the cultural center of campus life, which doesn’t currently exist.”
Nabozny applauded recent efforts to build community among students on campus.
He used his spotlight to pitch a few dining changes.
“Students are savvy customers, we compare costs on airline tickets and half gallons of milk,” he said. “If prices were lower, a lot of student animosity toward Dining Services would be diminished.”
Nabozny also addressed Greek life on campus. “The administration needs to listen to and respond to the concerns of Greeks,” he said.
Staff, administrators and fellow student leaders applauded Nabozny’s accomplishments and efforts.
“It took years to ratify a new constitution and fix the structural issues within the SA and Pete really made it a priority,” Director of Student Activities Anne-Marie Algier said. “I am very thankful for all of his hard work.” Algier presented Nabozny and the heads of the other branches with a framed copy of the document officially ratifying the new constitution.
“Pete understated himself – he’s had awesome accomplishments during his term,” Dean of Students Jody Asbury said. “Among other things, I’ve never seen a transparent budget like the one just approved. This is something that we can bring to and share with other groups to show in a clear way how decisions were made.”
ARAMARK District Manager Brad Bingaman agreed with Asbury’s sentiment. “Pete made himself aware of the many challenges and purposes of Dining Services,” he said. “He’s played a big role and helped us communicate more effectively with students.”
“I believe we have left the internal state of the SA in tremendous shape,” Hayes said. “With the passing of the new constitution and bylaws, along with developing a fast and efficient way to approve groups as well as give them help when they are struggling, we now have a solid framework in place.
Continuing, he said, “[Nabozny] has been a great leader and it has been my pleasure to work alongside him. I believe we showed what we can accomplish when the senate and president work together to achieve common goals.”
Looking back, Nabozny is very proud and satisfied with his accomplishments.
“I’ve learned a great deal and understand and appreciate the complexities of both student life at UR and the commitment of administrators,” Nabozny said. “I would absolutely do this again. Serving as SA President was a great time and an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience.”
Among his favorite perks of the job were participating in Convocation, sitting at the High Table during the Boar’s Head Dinner and attending Trustee dinners.
Nabozny also had some advice for his successor.
“I hope that president-elect Goldblatt will surround himself with other strong leaders,” he said. “He should keep his eye on his goal throughout the year – it is easy to get distracted. He was elected to improve social life, so he needs to focus on that and continue to bring more people into the SA government and provide more opportunities for students overall.”
Keesing can be reached at jkeesing@campustimes.org.
