The recently elected governor and lieutenant governor, Sean Schrader and Joshua Rampertab, plan to use their experience to achieve sustainability and stability.
Courtesy of Sofía García Vargas | The Crow’s Nest
By Sofía García Vargas
As the University of South Florida adjusts to leadership changes, the Student Government (SG) general elections brought certainty to the student body.
Candidates for the presidential, campus governor and lieutenant governor, campus council and senate positions started campaigning in mid-February, proposing plans of action across the three USF campuses to address concerns about sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring campus identity due to consolidation and more.
For the SG president and vice president positions, two Tampa campus tickets faced off in the election ––Nithin Palyam with Amy Pham and Truong Tran with Rughved Brahman. On March 4, Palyam and Pham were selected to serve as the next SG president and vice president.
On the gubernatorial level, the Tampa and Sarasota-Manatee campuses held one ticket each during the elections, going on an uncontested run at both locations. Tampa’s candidates were Joseph Cipriano and Gabrielle Henry and Sarasota-Manatee’s were Deputy Evelyn De Oliveira and Madison Sosa.
Things ran differently at USF St. Petersburg, as it was the election with the highest number of running tickets since consolidation began in 2020.
In 2021, former USF St. Petersburg governor and lieutenant governor, Veronica Jimenez and Eran Fruehauf, ran an uncontested gubernatorial race, immediately establishing them as campus leaders.
However, this year three tickets contended for the governor and lieutenant governor positions –– Sean Schrader with Joshua Rampertab, Nathan Poinsette with Kaiya Huggins and Kenneth Bright with Zackery Morales.
A total of 308 votes were cast for the gubernatorial tickets, revealing that Poinsette and Huggins received the most votes with 132 (43%), Schrader and Rampertab with 101 votes (33%) and Bright and Morales with 75 (24%).
Since no ticket received the 51% required majority, a winning ticket could not be announced and for the first time as a consolidated university, SG had to hold a runoff election to settle the next campus representatives.
The first two tickets proceeded to the following stage of the election, and on March 8 the student body selected Schrader and Rampertab as the winning pair.
Their experience as community leaders has given them unique insight into the needs of the student body.
Schrader’s extensive experience in the political scene dates back to 2018, when he served as an intern at the Central Pinellas Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, he worked as the campaign manager for Bill Jonson, and from 2019 through 2021 as intern and assistant constituent advocate for Congressman Charlie Crist. In 2021, he was elected as SG senator at USF St. Petersburg.
“The thing I found in a lot of these experiences is that there were never any other students involved. When I would come to USF and talk to students about what I was doing, I couldn’t connect with them,” Schrader said. “So, I thought, if I could bring my knowledge and what I did in the community to [SG], and in the process also get more students aware of local community and politics, that would be a good in between.”
Rampertab, a peer coach, navigator tour guide and president of Harborside Activities Board, is used to the constant collaboration between groups and organizations on campus to plan and carry out activities for students, as well as guide them through their college journey.
“I believe this is the best move for me to stay involved and also learn more of the business side of USF, all the policies, budgeting and other funds. It also gives me opportunities to continue to talk to students,” Rampertab said.
During their campaign, they actively advocated for practicing and promoting sustainability, ensuring every student’s voice is heard and building better relationships across USF and the community.
Schrader and Rampertab constantly collaborate with organizations like the Student Green Energy Fund and the Fresh and Local Greenhouse Project, as sustainability is a pillar of the campus and the city.
“We’re on the water here and we’ve got to protect the environment that is in this place,” Schrader said. “I think more can be done and we can all take simple steps, like promoting recycling and spreading awareness of renewable energy.”
Regarding making voices heard, Rampertab identified students as a strength of the St. Petersburg campus as they voice their concerns when issues arise.
“The student population is very vocal when something is an issue. We all like to voice our opinions and no one is worried about doing so,” Rampertab said.
He continued to explain that constant communication with the students helps them become aware of problems they might not know about, and that feedback can help them in their course of action as leaders of the campus.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought some disconnection between the students and SG, and both Schrader and Rampertab are looking to build that relationship back up.
To do so, Schrader explained that they will launch a campus wide survey where students can provide feedback about the initiatives they proposed and get their take on other issues, including parking, dining and the residence halls.
Schrader and Rampertab expect feedback to be significant to guide them in the process of creating task forces to tackle those issues on campus. They also emphasized the importance of collaboration between different parts of the university to provide an effective response.
“Keeping communication open in terms of what we’re doing and what we’re working on, is very important. Having open relationships with university leadership is exciting because we will make sure to voice student concerns,” Schrader said.
City-wide networking is another important part of their campaign. Schrader and Rampertab want to create lasting relationships with stakeholders in the community to address issues like keeping USF graduates in St. Petersburg after they graduate and the boiling affordable housing crisis happening across Tampa Bay.
When asked about the obstacles they expect to encounter during their time as campus leaders, Rampertab said that getting all the information they need to get started and the current transition in administration leadership will bring challenges they “can learn a lot from.”
An obstacle they hope to overcome are the blurred lines that consolidation has created regarding campus identity.
“It seems like in the past decisions have been made in other areas of the university which St. Pete has had to just kind of go along with it, and we have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Schrader said. “We have to define ourselves as a campus and I think we can do more to incentivize students to stay here, whether that’s more programs, more activities or more degree pathways.”
As their inauguration day of May 9 is fast approaching, Schrader and Rampertab seek to increase their social media presence to bring awareness on their goals and incentivize students to collaborate with them to make the St. Petersburg campus “the place to be.”
