As the semester comes to a close, Ramapo’s Student Government Association (SGA) has officially elected new leadership for the 2025-2026 academic year. Election ballots were made public to Ramapo students via email on Monday, April 14 and closed on Thursday, April 17, official results posted on Friday, April 18.
Openings for president and vice president, secretary, treasurer, 10 senator-at-large positions and five school senator positions were up for election on this year’s ballot.
Currently serving as the chief justice, rising senior Elizabeth Mendicino has been elected as president for the upcoming school year. For Mendicino, being president is more than just a title.
“For me, being elected president is a huge point of pride…It means being able to lead an organization I have been a part of for the past three years, and serve a community that I love so deeply,” said Mendicino over email to The Ramapo News.
Mendicino hopes to be a steady and reliable advocate for the student body, and many of her plans include initiative to bridge any gaps between the student body and the organization, and ultimately be the voice of Ramapo’s students.
“At my core, I want to leave the college a better place than I found it,” stated Mendicino.
As vice president, James Pascal is looking forward to implementing the initiatives he and Mendicino have been working on such as “building more community on campus and promoting our diverse organizations on campus,” he shared in an email.
Pascal is currently the secretary of governmental affairs for SGA, and reflected on the adjustments being in an administrative role demand.
“I have been in the SGA for 3 years and I know the organization inside-out. But, being in an administrative role means that I have different responsibilities to make sure the org runs smoothly,” Pascal said. “I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow SGA members and ensuring that the SGA remains productive yet is a fun and active environment that fosters community and support.”
Newly elected as secretary, social work major Melissa Alvarez-Vazquez plans to prioritize representation and support for the student body. She also shared how her time working with the Center for Health and Counseling services highlighted the importance of allowing student voices to be heard, and providing the resources they need to make their college experience as seamless as possible.
“As a first-generation student, I understand how overwhelming college life can be at times, especially when you don’t know where to turn for support. My goal is to help create a space where students feel seen, supported, and empowered to speak up, get involved, and feel like they truly belong,” Alvarez-Vazquez stated in an email.
In her second year as treasurer, accounting major Nicole Cohen hopes to build upon her previous experiences to ensure the continued success of the organization’s financial operations.
“Next year, I hope to accomplish more efficient processes for checks and balances and work more toward advising how funds can be utilized throughout the year so that the budget is utilized fully and remains sufficient throughout the year without depleting too early on,” said Cohen in an email.
A core component of SGA’s senate is the school senators, elected to work closely with the dean of each school as a spokesperson to the interests of the students within their respective schools.
In their second term as senator for the School of Humanities and Global Studies (HGS), Lane Evers looks forward to working on the Dean’s Advisory Council to cater to the needs of HGS students. Evers also hopes to promote HGS’ curriculum.
“My goals are mostly centered around the language program in HGS, but mainly focused on the ASL portion of language,” said Evers in an email. “It is a very useful subject and I hope to work that into the Gen Ed curriculum.”
As senator of the School of Social Sciences and Human Services (SSHS), El Sharo aims to be a resource to SSHS students, should they need any help.
“As for specifically the SSHS senator, I am keeping an open mind. I want to be in the moment and think on my feet in hopes that whatever I work on will be more directly applicable to what the students need,” Sharo said over email.
Julia Rowan, recently elected to one of the senator-at-large positions, has plans to make Ramapo campus a more inclusive environment, “I hope to get a bill passed regarding creating additional gender neutral bathrooms throughout campus.”
Ahead of the 2025-2026 academic year, SGA’s new leadership is energized to be sounding boards for the student body, and help to ease their time spent at Ramapo.
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Liz Mendicino
