Alyssa Decker elected Freshman Class President

Julio Rodriguez
Editor-in-Chief

Alyssa Decker, the newly elected freshman class president, won the election with 66 and beat opponent Nia Giwa, who raked in 25.

“I put some effort into the election,” Decker said. “I printed out fliers and hung them all around campus. I passed them around campus, too. I was telling people my point of view and what I wanted to do. I’m glad it was received well by the student body.”

During high school, Decker was the treasurer for Key Club and her school’s Student Board of Finance. Once she reached Hudson Valley, she was encouraged to join Student Senate and decided she had nothing to lose if she ran for freshman class president.

“I wanted to give back to the community and help make it a better place,” she said. “One of my friends was the student class president for Student Senate, so he said ‘Oh, come to a meeting.’ I did, and I found out about elections. I decided to give it my all. Even if I didn’t win, I could still be a part of Student Senate, so I thought ‘Why not try?’”

Decker was elected in with less than 1 percent of the eligible votership. Out of 7,806 eligible students, 66 voted.

As freshman class president, Decker looks to tackle the lack of student involvement on campus.
“I work 30 to 40 hours a week at a job in addition to going to school full time, which is a lot,” she said. “If people have the incentive to be a part of the Hudson Valley community, then they will. I want to find a way to provide that incentive to them and amp up the social life of the campus.”

In her position, Decker hopes to increase involvement and participation by way of the Senate.
“I think informing the student body is really important as well,” she said. “If anyone has a club or event they’d like, there are ways to get that approved. The Student Activities office is right down the hall, and they can help with that.”

Decker concluded by sharing how students can become involved on campus and make changes.
“If students take an hour of their time, we have Student Senate meetings on Mondays — usually at 2:00 p.m. — and they usually only run about 20 to 30 minutes,” she said.

Decker continued, “There is a section for public comment. If you have anything that you do want to change and you’re not sure how to go about it, you can come to a meeting and receive guidance from our advisers, and from us as well, to try and make that change a reality.”