UPDATED: Aug. 29, 2017 at 1:24 a.m.

Seniors James Franco and Angie Pati, the Syracuse University Student Association’s 61st Session president and vice president, respectively, plan to increase transparency within SA and push for a Euclid neighborhood shuttle plan.

Franco and Pati, longtime friends, are keeping in mind former President Eric Evangelista’s SA bylaw violations from last semester.

Evangelista attempted to nominate an individual for the position of public relations co-chair without opening applications to the student body.

The former president also lied about the nominee’s status on the cabinet and the nomination process and mistakenly sent an email about the investigation to the entire campus community. Due to these violations, some of Evangelista’s abilities were restricted for the rest of the semester.

As a result, when people think of SA, they either don’t know what the organization is or if they do, in the past year alone, they think of a lot of the violations that happened, Pati said.

Working on rebranding Student Association as the “people’s government” might be a significant challenge, but it’s something the team is excited about, Pati said.

“When SA is viewed in a positive light, it ultimately helps the students,” she added.

To strengthen SA’s image during the upcoming school year, Franco and Pati will work on publicizing initiatives and improving communication and transparency, so students will know what SA has accomplished, Pati said.

They also plan to have a “listening tour” throughout the academic year, Franco said.

The listening tour will include SA members developing connections with student organizations by attending their meetings, getting to know general and executive board members, Pati said.

Franco and Pati also have several other initiatives planned for the 2017-18 school year.

SA is working to organize a shuttle that would operate from campus to the Euclid neighborhood. The shuttle would have an approximate 15-minute round trip. Franco said this plan is in its preliminary stages.

The organization is also looking to partner with ride-hailing service companies this year to show students that it is a safe way to get home once shuttles stop running at night, Franco said.

During the academic year, SA will also make strides in regards to student mental health, Franco and Pati said.

Groundwork is being laid for a peer listening service, and there’s also potential for partnerships between SA and the Crisis Text Line as well as Woebot, a service designed to help young adults improve mental health through therapeutic conversations, Franco and Pati said.

“If two students are chosen to represent the student body, they are going to represent the entire student body, not pick and choose,” said Pati, adding that SA also plans to focus on diversity and representation this year. “We’re going to fight the good fight for the good people.”

Franco and Pati have been best friends since freshman year when they lived on the same floor in Sadler Hall. Franco added her as a friend on Facebook before the school year started, but Pati rejected the request, thinking it was a prank page setup mimicking the actor James Franco.

Not only did he share a name with a celebrity, but his profile picture looked like Ellen DeGeneres, Pati said. She only realized it was not a prank during their floor meeting introductions.

Pati became focused on organizations such as OrangeSeeds, Love Your Melon, Syracuse University Ambulance and the Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity before her SA vice presidential bid.

Franco, previously the SA Academic Affairs committee chair, joined SA during his freshman year to help improve the student experience at SU, he said.

“(SA) jurisdiction is so broad that you can have an impact on something like mental health and then safety,” he said.

Franco is active in other student organizations, involving SUA and being an orientation leader.

The combination of Franco’s involvement in SA and Pati’s work for other student organizations fits together well, the vice president said.

“We have a great working relationship,” Pati said. “We’re best friends who respect each other’s opinions.”

The story has been updated with appropriate style.

Published on August 28, 2017 at 11:46 pm

Contact Sandhya: ssiyer@syr.edu