Ben Mehic, Managing News Editor

President of SUNY Polytechnic Institute Alain Kaloyeros is one of several people with significant power in Upstate New York who have been investigated for corruption.

According to a September Wall Street Journal article, Kaloyeros was charged with bid rigging by the New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Kaloyeros is accused of pushing state contracts to two companies that had sent kickbacks to a SUNY Poly consultant. Kaloyeros has since been suspended without pay.

“The charges filed today outline a blatant and brazen abuse of taxpayer dollars and the public trust,” said Schneiderman in a press realease. “This self-serving scheme alleged in the complaint was particularly egregious because it was aimed at enriching powerful people at the expense of the state’s public university system. We will continue to hold public officials accountable and ensure that all officials are held to the same high standard of integrity that New Yorkers deserve.”

The reports of the investigation have surprised many students attending Utica College, who are still waiting for the investigation to play out before jumping to conclusions.

“I was surprised because as the president of a college, you should have certain responsibilities. You’re supposed to be a role model for everybody in the community,” freshman Sarah Mirza said. “He’s setting a bad example.”

Nursing Major Samantha Warner echoed similar sentiments.

“For somebody as high up as him to do something like that, it’s a very poor reflection of his character,” Warner said.

Warner, though, wasn’t as surprised as Mirza, noting how regularly people with power get involved with activities that serve themselves and not the people they’re supposed to be working for.

“Honestly, it’s sad to say, but I’m not surprised that someone with power would do something like that,” Warner said. “Having power inflates your head and makes you more prone to doing things you know you shouldn’t do.”

Ironically, UC recently introduced its new president Laura Casamento just a day after SUNY IT had suspended its figurehead.

Students at UC, like sophomore Brandon Pham, are optimistic that something like that wouldn’t occur at the school.

“I would respond negatively, of course,” Pham said after being asked how he would react if something like that happened at UC. “I know she’s very well versed in the business world. I feel like she has the interest of Utica College and the students in her mind.”

If something like that were to happen on the UC campus students like Warner would consider making serious changes.

“I would lose all respect for her and I would seriously reconsider the institution that I’m attending,” Warner said.