Venice Montanaro and Kiera Conrad were elected as the president and vice president of the University of Connecticut’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) on March 24. The two spoke to The Daily Campus about the cornerstones of their campaign: quality of life, affordability and accessibility.
Conrad, a fourth-semester political science and economics major, said the administration is looking to work on reforming the bus system and app, issues with lighting on campus after dark and snow clearing.
“We want to make the little things less annoying,” Montanaro said.
Montanaro, a sixth-semester political science and sociology major with a minor in Latino studies, talked about the recent success of the parking initiative to donate food for unpaid parking tickets and the PeriodBox giveaways.
“We really want to continue these initiatives. Students loved them — PeriodBox had 123 people in 15 minutes,” Montanaro said. “These initiatives make student’s lives easier.”
Conrad spoke about the expansion of the dining plan, mentioning potential expansion of flex passes to accommodate more students with dietary restrictions.
“This potential expansion will allow students to take better advantage of their dining plan,” Conrad said.
Montanaro mentioned the legal services initiative that USG has been working on, which provides legal help on issues, such as immigration, and housing assistance to students. She also spoke about students not being able to use amplifications, like megaphones, during protests.
“We want to keep these initiatives going and work on expanding student rights,” Montanaro said.
The two decided to run together after making a list of their positions and seeing they were aligned on most of them, Montanaro said.
The pair intend to hit the ground running with the hiring of their staff and team, Montanaro said.
“We want a good team with similar and different ideas,” she said. “The office has been disconnected in the past, so we want to emphasize bringing people together as everyone has student interests at heart.”
The team will work over the summer, Conrad said.
“We want to meet with the staff and directors to touch base on the expectations and culture of the office,” she said. “My job is more internal; a good office culture will make the transition phase smoother.”
Conrad said the administration has a large emphasis on internal affairs.
“We want all our members to feel included, from paid positions to senators, with deputies and directors having good relationships,” she said. “This will allow better completion of our initiatives with everyone on the same page.”
The new administration ran with the slogan “Your Concerns. Our Actions.”
“Everyone is paying to be here, and all deserve the best experience,” Conrad said. “The student body elected us, so we have the responsibility to use our position in the right way for the right reasons on behalf of the students.”
Montanaro said they went to clubs and organizations to find out what was most important to students.
“Even small things, like potentially putting shovels in parking lots to shovel out cars, have a big impact,” Montaro said. “This is a great position to connect with administration to make this happen.”
Montanaro was excited to receive news of the election results earlier than she expected.
“We got the email early — I didn’t expect it for another day,” Montanaro said. “I was on the phone with my mom and sister at the time which made it more special.”
Conrad felt “relief and accomplishment” at the results.
“At the end of the day we wouldn’t have run if we didn’t think that we were capable,” Conrad said.
According to Montanaro, both her and Conrad have served as senators and joined committees without previous experience on them. Being in these different roles has allowed them to understand “the full circle of life of the USG,” which she said will help bridge relationships and form connections.
“Being a student is hard. I work three jobs and am involved in organizations and clubs,” Montanaro said. “Students being busy makes it hard to know and use the resources we already have — like I just learned about pet therapy on campus. We want to work on making these more accessible and expand awareness.”
Montanaro and Conrad stressed the importance of providing feedback on their administration and getting involved in student government.
“Reach out,” Conrad said. “We are open to hearing anything. We care about the UConn student and want feedback on how to best do our jobs for you.”
“Anyone thinking about joining the student government, you are more than welcome to, Montanaro said. “Some of my best college experiences and greatest friends have come from this organization. If you’re thinking about it, 1,000 percent do it.”
The new administration will be sworn in on April 8 during the last USG Senate meeting of the semester.