A microphone patiently sat on the top of a table, but Ryan Kelly walked up and opted not to use it.

Instead, Kelly simply turned, faced the audience of about 30 sitting in Hendricks Chapel’s Noble Room and officially announced the start of his campaign for Student Association president Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

‘After obtaining more than 500 signatures and going through all the proper channels, I can now officially say, ‘Hi, I’m Ryan Kelly and I’m running for SA president,” he said.

Kelly, a junior advertising and marketing major, opened his address by stating that he served on the assembly’s 49th session and current 50th session as a student representative and as chief of staff, respectively.

Kelly said he has been part of SA during its two-year transformation from a primarily financial body to a more proactive body that represents SU students’ interests. He said that if elected, he would continue the association’s progress.

‘I have learned from the mistakes and successes of past presidents, and I am ready to step up with new and fresh policy initiatives,’ he said. ‘My experience, my leadership and my concrete ideas for the future are the reasons why I will be an effective SA president.’

Part of his plan, if he is elected, is to revitalize the Schine Underground and make it more accessible to students. Referencing Al Gore’s lecture at the Landmark Theater on Sept. 14, 2006, Kelly said he also wants to continue the partnership between SA and University Union to provide students with more opportunities like Gore’s lecture in the city of Syracuse.

Kelly next mentioned the Connective Corridor, which he dubbed a ‘reality’ that is coming to SU, no matter how students feel about it.

‘The best way to ensure that it benefits the students is to work with the university and the community to promote student needs,’ he said. ‘I will be making it my goal to find out what the students want from the Connective Corridor and will effectively relay that to the university.’

Kelly’s final initiative, he said, is to ensure the safety of every student on campus, since everyone is entitled to enhance their education instead of walking in fear. He said he plans to increase lighting both on and off campus and continue experimenting with ideas such as making late night bus routes a more permanent fixture.

Jessie Fish, Kelly’s campaign manager, spoke admirably about Kelly’s personal attributes and said she is ready to ‘devote her life’ to his campaign.

‘He’s really friendly and willing to listen,’ she said. ‘He listens to you first and then talks. Chief of staff is (a position) where you don’t get a lot of recognition and do so much grunt work. He’s done such a fabulous job and it shows what a great president he will be.’

At this time, Kelly is currently running unopposed, Fish said. Students have picked up petitions to run as a candidate for SA president, but Kelly is the only student that has turned in the petition after fulfilling its requirements. The deadline for filing petitions is Oct. 23.

SA presidential debates begin Nov. 7, with the election period from Nov. 13 to Nov. 16.

‘I’m excited,’ Fish said. ‘It’s going to be a fun campaign season. We have about a month to go. He’s going to be a busy kid.’

Published on October 18, 2006 at 12:00 pm