Who they are: Presidential candidate Alex Coccia is a junior from Columbus, Ohio, who resides in Siegfried Hall. An Africana studies and peace studies major, Coccia serves as co-president of the Progressive Student Alliance and was a founding member of the 4-to-5 Movement on campus. Vice presidential candidate Nancy Joyce, a junior resident of Welsh Family Hall, is an Akron, Ohio, native studying Arabic and economics. She currently serves as Arabic Club vice president and is a member of Junior Class Council.
First priority: Joyce said she and Coccia will immediately focus on "smaller but more concrete" platform items relevant to daily life, such as installing a Redbox on campus.
Top priority: Institutionalizing a student town hall forum every month to foster communication between students and the administration.
Best idea: Creating a new Director of National Engagement and Outreach position on the Executive Cabinet to promote relationships with peer institutions across the country, create benchmarks for student government and respond to national issues from a Notre Dame perspective.
Worst idea: Instituting an on-campus bike rental system. While many students choose to use bikes to get around, they aren't absolutely necessary on a campus the size of Notre Dame's.
Most feasible: Coccia and Joyce propose "Student Government Night Out" events to connect student government with the rest of the Notre Dame community in the vein of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg's "Mayor's Night Out" events.
Least feasible: Coccia and Joyce plan to advocate for the inclusion of medical amnesty, Good Samaritan and emergency clauses in official University policies, but these changes could not be accomplished in a year in which du Lac is not eligible for revision.
Fun facts: Coccia has bungee jumped on the Nile River. Joyce's great-grandfather was one of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.
Notable quote: "I think student government as a whole was created as an advocacy organization, and I don't think it's reached its potential to be that yet and to be the voice for the students to the administration." - Coccia, on the role of student government in campus life
Bottom line: The relationships Coccia has formed as a driver of GLBTQ inclusion would provide an invaluable head start toward the ticket's long-term goals through communication and collaboration with University administration. The Coccia-Joyce vision is comprehensive but does not necessarily include any truly groundbreaking ideas.
