On April 17, the student body elected junior Michael Delia as president of the Student Government Association (SGA) for 2019-2020.

Delia will take for senior Lukus Becker and head a new class of student leaders on campus.

The newly elected SGA president is a construction management major and works in the Office of Admissions as a student ambassador. He is also the current president of the Student Contractors Association.

Delia said he is excited to begin the next part of his journey at UC and that he looks forward to the challenges the new position will bring him. He got involved with SGA at the beginning of this semester as a junior class senator, and from that moment, he wanted to see more change happen.

“There are problems that we have to face as a student body and there are ways to go about them and solve them, but we cannot argue about them because then nothing gets done,” Delia said. “My biggest thing is that there is very little in this world that cannot be solved or at least partly solved with a 25-30 minute conversation.”

Delia said that he received positive feedback from other students who were in those meetings and that he has always had a political backbone in him.

“As the new SGA president, I would like to see this pointless arguing end because it has gotten us nowhere,” Delia said. “I have heard the voices of students on this campus, and I plan on hearing more about their discontent with certain issues. I plan on getting to the bottom of what is frustrating them and seeing how we can move forward and solve these issues.”

Delia said he would like to see a campus that celebrates all faiths and religions.

“I have continually said that we should focus more on what unites us rather than what divides us,” he said.

Delia attended a vigil held by Muslim students to honor the victims of the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand and said that he remembers thinking that “if I had won the election, I would work towards creating a campus where it is easier for students to freely celebrate their faith.”

Delia offered his advice to fellow students, challenging them to find what’s in their heart and to not have the “someone-else-will-do-something” attitude.

“I am eager to get to work and start helping to move this institution forward together,” Delia said. “I cannot do it alone, President Casamento cannot do it alone and the student body itself cannot do it alone. We are all in this together, so let’s strap up and get to work.”

SGA President Lukus Becker is excited about the transition. Becker began his journey with SGA as the treasurer, and shortly after, moved up to be a comptroller. He sought the nomination for president earlier this semester, after the unplanned resignation of Hermina Garic.

Becker said he is looking forward to seeing the growth and future that SGA will have on the UC campus.

Becker said that his biggest accomplishment in the role was continuing the legacy of a previous SGA president, Ann Ciancia.

“She is the individual who really got me involved in Student Government and really believed in me,” Becker said.

Becker said that one of the biggest changes he would like to see after he graduates from UC is stronger involvement from students. He explained that there are countless opportunities to get involved on campus but a lack support from the entire student body.

Becker offered the following advice to incoming SGA presidents: listen, believe and commit.

“Listen because you represent a whole body of people and even the smaller conversations that you might not think are important are actually when you find out some of the most impactful words,” Becker said.  “To believe in yourself and others as it will be difficult and be challenging, but at the end of the day, you can do it. To commit as it will be difficult, it will be hard and it might seem like too much, but everyone depends on you and that is what matters at the end of the day.”