Student Association Profile: Marcelo Chasipanta, Vice President of Activities Marcelo Chasipanta is the recently elected Vice President of Activities for the Student Association. A graduate of Middletown High School, and current biology major, Chasipanta oversees the day to day nuances of the Student Association Board of Activities.
Chasipanta articulated his pleasure concerning the first events he oversaw as Vice President of Activities.
“We had opening day weekend which was my first experience as VP of Activities. It went great in terms of everything running smoothly, we we got positive feedback on the events we had that day,” he said.
Opening day weekend in Plattsburgh saw a visit from comedian Jay Black, a prevalent young comedian, formerly a high school English teacher, Black has appeared on various late night shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“The night we had comedian Jay Black, we were worried about attendance because of past history, but it actually turned out great, we filled out most of the seats we had available which I believe was 200. We were able to get the word out with short notice,” Chasipanta said, “Jay Black put on a great show, he was really funny.”
Of the impending events on the schedule that Chasipanta was anticipating the most, the performance by professional juggler Chad Taylor, AKA “Mad Chad,” tops the list. In 2003, Taylor set the World Record for most consecutive juggles, 78, of three chainsaws with chains engaged. This feat was verified by the Guinness World Record organization. Taylor performed Thursday, September 15 at 8 p.m. in the Warren Ballroom.
“He (Chasipanta) is filling in for Brendan Huston and I think he is doing just as good of a job as Brendan, he was a really good mentor,” Executive Council Vice President Isabella Sofia said.
Chasipanta said he plans on increasing awareness of campus events through several new initiatives.
“Brendan, the VP last year created promotions committee which wasn’t pushed as much, all the committees didn’t know it was there, that it was a resource. This semester, this was my first push. I named a co chair, Raeanna Levenson, and introduced her to everyone,” Chasipanta said, “Now everyone knows she is there so other committees don’t have to worry so much about trying to promote, they can worry about making the event itself really great.”
VP Chasipanta said he understands the utility social media has in regards to promotional value.
“For the Montreal trip I posted in the Facebook page of classes 17-20. Over the weekend I kept getting emails from people out the trip, some asking why they couldn’t get tickets online. I assumed it was a problem with the website itself.,” he said, “Come Monday I find out it was already sold out. Social media helped get the word out of it, word of m mouth is always the best way.”
Student Association President Michael Kimmer has been working closely with Chasipanta since his arrival to the Executive Council.
“He has been an absolutely crucial asset to the team thus far and he has really hit the ground running in his position” Kimmer said. “The series of events that he is overseeing for this semester should get the student body to the proper level of interest that they both need and deserve.”
Email Cardinal Points at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
