After three years of involvement with USF St. Petersburg’s Student Government, senior Lauren Reilly resigned from her position as Chief Financial Officer. Though Reilly’s decision was driven mostly by the desire to focus on her studies, she also felt her SG position was in jeopardy due to her personal views.
Reilly said she experienced discomfort about the movement of bills and the personal ties she felt drove the organization.
“SG is not the place to gain personal power over other students,” Reilly wrote in her letter of resignation. “We are a group of students working to improve campus life. Yes, hierarchy is important to most effectively function, yet executive leaders don’t even have clear goals for the branch … everyone is so focused on each other that instead they forget that they are representatives for the whole campus.”
Her letter also accused Student Body President Mark Lombardi-Nelson of threatening actions and manipulation of SG members.
“As CFO I feel my job was dangled in front of my face and I was constantly strong armed to not do something I wanted to do. Last September, I was threatened again by Mark Lombardi-Nelson that if I did not support Christa Hegedus or remain neutral when she runs for President in Spring then I would be fired.”
But what Reilly calls manipulation, Lombardi-Nelson describes as mentoring. He said the conversation Reilly referred to was one “that made sure the work being done did not reflect the spring election,” explaining that she wanted to focus on the Department of Sustainable Initiatives over her job as CFO.
Though he is displeased with the stigma that comes from close conversation with bitter senators, he defends his right to have them.
“People who might need guidance come to me for advice,” Lombardi-Nelson said. “If I pull someone aside, I’m not breaking any rules. It is more or less me communicating to any which of my constituents and/or people who I think might need guidance.”
Feeling torn between her duties in SG and the demands of her major, Reilly ultimately chose to trade the SG office for a paleo laboratory during her final semester. Sen. Jozef Gherman will replace her as CFO. Reilly is joined by a handful of SG members who have left recently including Danielle Freeman, Christina Johnson and Graham Reybitz, as well as a few others who are expected to leave this semester.
“Something that’s very, very, common that’s almost expected on an annual (basis) is students joining senate and not coming back,” said Lombardi-Nelson. “You’re trying the water, you’re seeing if it’s a good fit for you. Some students feel it’s not a good fit, so they don’t come back or they leave early.”
With the new semester, up to 20 positions opened up in SG, including volunteer positions in the Supreme Court and the Office of Management and Budget. To fill the spots, SG will rally in front of the University Student Center on Tuesdays to promote the positions to students.
Lombardi-Nelson, a member of SG since 2012, noted the culture of the organization has changed over the past couple of years. What was once a tight group of friends who wrote what they saw fit began to grow into a larger organization within campus, he said.
“The culture of the organization is something I’d really like to improve, because it’s not the way it used to be,” Lombardi-Nelson said. “When you double the size of the organization, you’re going to have conflicting views from person to person. That’s just something we need to learn to grow with, which we haven’t.”
He noted that members of SG form bonds and become a functioning group of friends. In previous years, Lombardi-Nelson noticed SG controlled things effectively and efficiently as one group. As the organization grows, however, more students come in with different perspectives and agendas.
“People are a part of [SG] to have their opinion, though they are serving other causes,” Lombardi-Nelson said. “That’s what they do though. You have to see the toll that takes on the organization.” He explained that members of SG split into factions with different ideas that reflect the student body.
Sunshine Law prohibits discussion of votes outside of meetings, including Board of Trustees and student governments statewide, before the presentation of a bill. But senators continue to lobby support behind spending.
Aspiring and current senators are provided opportunities to explore the organization prior to commitment. Though faltering in the Fall semester, the shadow program developed by then-senator Christa Hegedus allows aspiring senators to attend a senate meeting. After discussing interests, the students were matched to potential committees or projects. Hegedus wanted potential senators to develop interests and mentors before and during involvement in SG.
“We had a lot of senators come and realize that it’s a lot different from what they expected, then they drop out,” Hegedus said. When Hegedus first became senator, she turned to previous president Courtney Parrish for advice to speak in front of senators.
“When you go into SG as a newbie, it’s hard to become a representative because you don’t know the dynamic of SG,” Hegedus said. “You need mentorship within the organization to help you figure out how to get your ideas across, how to be the most effective for the student body.”
Experiences in SG come with bittersweet endings for many senators. Sen. Christina Johnson, a biomedical sciences major, led a committee for campus projects and community service for a year before transferring to USF Tampa.
“My committee was one of the more laid back,” Johnson said. “You’re not going over pieces of legislative work. Most of the projects that I had that came through, I always had tons of volunteers.”
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