Regret is a not a word to describe Osarumwense Wisdom Pat-Osagie’s campaign for the 2013 Student Association Comptroller.

Slight shock was the initial reaction Pat-Osagie had upon receiving the news of the election results while with friends in his house on Euclid Avenue.

Osarumwense Wisdom Pat-Osagie, a junior double finance and emerging enterprises and entrepreneurship major, lost the SA Comptroller election to incumbent Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo.  The election results were announced at 12 a.m. Friday morning.

Pat-Osagie received 31.4 percent of the vote, or 1,058 votes. DeSalvo received 65.5 percent of the vote, or 2,208 votes.

“I didn’t think I’d have a landslide victory but I knew that it was close race,” he said. “I had a lot of support.”

Comptroller is the main influencer in allocating the student activity fee to student organizations on campus. He leads the SA finance board in making those decisions.

“I have no hard feelings,” Pat-Osaige said. “I hope he does do a great job and fills out his term properly.”

Taking the time to listen to complaints from student organizations and respond to feedback is something DeSalvo should emphasize in his term, he said.

As a member of SA since spring 2011, Pat-Osagie announced his campaign after witnessing the denial of funding for student organizations for technicalities that could have been easily fixed.

His platform focused on bridging this gap between the student organization and the finance board.

To combat this problem Pat-Osiage said he would develop an event advisory board to assist student organizations in the budgetary process along with planning and marketing their specific event.

As a member of various organizations on campus such as the African Student Union, the National Association of Black Accountants and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Pat-Osaige said he can relate to the issues organization face when applying for funding.

Another major aspect of his platform is the promotion of the diversity on campus. Pat-Osaige was born in Nigeria and is passionate about educating the Syracuse University student body about the rich cultural history of their classmates.

After this election, Pat-Osaige said he is still considering his future role in SA.

“I have a lot of interests in the organization,” he said. “There are a lot of things I agree with- but there are also some valid issues.”

Besides receiving more positive news coverage, Pat-Osagie said he has no regrets over the campaign.

“I got my message out there,” he said. “I’m not going to be crying over it.”

For now, he is focusing on his various involvements on campus and deciding his future role in SA.

“There will winners and losers in every race,” he said. “Someone has to win and someone has to lose.”

 

Published on November 16, 2012 at 1:57 am

Contact Jen: jbundy@syr.edu