Hey RPI!

So Grand Marshal Week is right around the corner, and therefore, it is the end of my term as the 125th President of the Union. Since next week’s article will be all about GM Week I would like to take this chance to thank all of those people who have made my time in office as amazing as it has been.

First, I would like to thank the wonderful Union Administration office. Thank you, each and every one of you, for answering my countless questions. Thank you to Michelle for always preparing things for the Executive Board meetings every week. Thank you to Jean for dealing with the countless scheduling hassles. Thank you to Holly for all of your work with the wonderful new website and proofreading every speech, press release, announcement, and poster. Thank you to Cameron and Martha for knowing everything about everything and always being available to help me plan and schedule events, as well as appreciate the history and tradition of the Rensselaer Union and each individual club we support. Thank you to Amy for coming in this year and really taking charge with the programming clubs. Thank you to Steve for always supporting me, understanding my athletic-Union life balance, and inspiring me to run in the first place. Thank you to Joe Campo for working with all of our student staff and helping each of us to grow as an employee and as a person. Finally, thank you to Joe Cassidy for putting in the time to attend every Executive Board and Senate meeting, answering the most random questions, even if I asked in a panicked text message on the weekend, but most importantly thank you for being an advisor I can always count on and always having the students here at Rensselaer be your top priority. I would also like to thank Linda McCloskey from the Archer Center for being a wonderful advisor from the very start of campaigning. Linda and Joe have been irreplaceable in the time they have spent helping Kyle and me prepare for all of the Board of Trustee presentations, as well as developing our skills to lead and manage others.

I would also like to thank all of my coaches, especially Leslie DeLano, for being understanding with my hectic schedule which allowed me to participate fully as both a captain of my lacrosse team and as President of the Union. As a coach, she not only helps us become better players, but more importantly helps us grow over our four years to become well rounded, better peopl and we can never thank her enough for that.

Thanks must also be given to my Executive Board members. They have done a lot of great work this year, especially in developing a balanced and fair budget for all students. This year has been more challenging than ones past, but they made it work and I am so proud and so appreciative of all their hard work. Thank you to my committee chairs, especially Nimit Dhulekar, to all of our the Union student workers, and to all the students who have helped make this year as awesome as it has been and for electing me as President last April.

With all the thank yous out of the way, here is some quick, fun information! Relay for Life is coming up fast and if your club or group of friends wants to start a team, you can go to http://relayforlife.org/rpiny and click “Start a Team” to participate! The Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention will be taking place on campus on Saturday, April 11 from 11am-2pm with check-in beginning at 9:30 am. Check out their Facebook event, “RPI Out of The Darkness Walk”. GM week, themed Mardi Gras, is next week so make sure to get out there and vote for the next round of student leaders!

As always, if you have any questions feel free to stop by my office hours (8:30–10:30 am on Wednesdays) or shoot me an email at pu@rpi.edu. Have a great week!