PRESIDENT
Alec Mettin ’24
(He/Him/His)
Major: international relations
Minors: Spanish, Latin American studies
Student Senator since September 2020
Fun Fact: In grade school, I was voted most likely to win on American Idol.
VICE PRESIDENT
HAWK HILL CAMPUS
Milton O’Brien ’25
(He/Him/His)
Major: international business, marketing
Student Senator since September 2021
Fun Fact: I am originally from El Salvador.
VICE PRESIDENT
UNIVERSITY CITY CAMPUS
Patricia Tanola ’26
(She/Her/Hers)
Major: pharmD
Student Senator since September 2021
Fun Fact: I was born in the Philippines and am fluent in Tagalog.
TREASURER
Chanho Kim ’24
(He/Him/His)
Major: international business, business intelligence analytics
Student Senator since January 2020
Fun Fact: My favorite ice cream flavor is lemon ginger.
What made you decide to run for Student Senate?
Mettin: In the fall of 2020, I decided to run for the Senate because it was one of few options available to me as a first-year student to get involved in a tangible way. Every day, I am thankful that I made that decision to run because the Senate has had an immeasurable effect on my time at SJU. I now run for student body president because I am inspired by the Saint Joseph’s community and I want to continue amplifying student voices and allocating our resources to benefit our students.
O’Brien: In the fall of my freshman year, Father Dan Joyce told me about the opportunity of joining the University Student Senate. It seemed very interesting to me and then I decided to run for the class of 2025 Senator. Going into my junior year, I am looking to run for the vice president of the Student Senate position. Being on the administrative board for the past two years has helped me grow as an individual and has helped me grow with my soft skills and build a network with students and administration. These are exciting times for St. Joe’s, with many projects and mergers happening. I want to be part of those individuals representing the students while these changes are happening and would like to connect with students and see their opinions and reflect that on conversations with the administration.
Tanola: Being on SGA (Student Government Association) — now Student Senate — this year was definitely a big transition for all of us in terms of where we stood within both the campuses. A meeting with Beth [Hagovsky] and Dean [Mark] Bullock in the spring semester propelled us to the right direction. And since then, I have made a couple of changes on our campus. I learned a lot about who I am and who I want to be as a leader, and being the VP of University City will give me the room to grow even more.
Kim: Ever since grade school, I was always passionate and interested in how things run. I held leadership positions in SGA and other clubs such as Investing Club and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) in high school. I would like to believe that my passion carried over to Saint Joseph’s University. I joined USS (University Student Senate) at the end of my freshman year, and ever since then, I worked closely with students and administrators to facilitate changes on campus.
What change will you prioritize if you are elected?
Mettin: The issue of effective communication is pervasive. It results in a great loss of potential knowledge, and it leads to frustrations on all sides. I hope to continue the work done this year by the 22nd USS to enact creative solutions and broaden communication efforts — both as a Senate and throughout the university — to reach students where they are. This is especially important as it relates to measures of Public Safety, and if given the opportunity as student body president, I aim to work with students, staff and faculty to prioritize the safety and security of our campus and our community.
O’Brien: Some of the things that I would like to highlight and that I would like to prioritize if I were elected vice president are community, communication, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), efficiency and cooperation. These five things are crucial for the Student Senate’s success and for us to successfully express the concerns of students to the administration. I am an individual who is open to any ideas and open to listening to anybody’s concerns about things they would like to see better at St. Joe’s. Therefore, I encourage anybody to contact me at any point if there’s something that they think we should be prioritizing at St. Joe’s as a community.
Tanola: I will prioritize increasing the involvement of our campus to events over in Hawk Hill. Students [from UCity] have been discouraged to go to events in Hawk Hill due to transportation and feeling as if they would not belong. I will organize a plan to take advantage of the shuttle and have incentives for them to go over so that the two campuses can feel more unified despite them being 30 minutes away from each other. However, if an urgent concern comes from my campus that needs more of my attention, I may prioritize that before increasing involvement.
Kim: My main goal as the treasurer will be to raise awareness of both SBAC and Senate. Both organizations are there to serve the student body and make Saint Joseph’s University a community for everyone. With this goal in mind, I desire to get more students trained to work with the budget. Not only is this an essential experience for many students, it provides SBAC more visibility and decreases the stigma surrounding what we do. My goal as your treasurer is to encourage students to host events so together we can strive to build a healthy and vibrant college campus.
Voting will run from 12 a.m. April 26 – 5 p.m. April 27 on The Nest.