The start of the new school year marks the beginning of new Student Body President Dean Millard and Vice President Aleko Zeppos’ 2024-2025 academic year term. Embarking on their service in the midst of a presidential year, both sat down with The Villanovan to share their agenda plans, as well as to share opportunities for students to engage with SGA on campus.
Millard entered his senior year this fall as the University’s first Black Student Body President and is eager to continue much of the work he contributed as the 2023-2024 Student Body Vice President.
“Increasing DEI understanding, creating scholarship opportunities for students and continuing the free menstrual product program implemented in Dougherty Hall last year [are some of my main agenda items],” Millard said.
Zeppos said that the foundation of the two’s agenda is representing the opinions of the student body as a whole and maintaining connections with individuals, as well as organizations.
“Feedback, feedback, feedback,” Zeppos said was pivotal to the strides that can be made this year in regards to policy students want to see on campus.
Villanova’s campus is positioned in one of the most pivotal states in the upcoming presidential election. Both Millard and Zeppos stressed the importance of accessible voting opportunities for students, as well as encouraging civic participation.
“SGA is apolitical,” Millard said, explaining how crucial it is for student involvement in elections, as well as highlighting the first on-campus polling place located in the Mullen Center.
The University has undergone several noticeable changes since the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. The most prominent are the new Textbook Access Program and the implementation of Starbucks in the Connelly Center. Both alterations have stirred commotion from students, producing a range of mixed opinions.
Both Millard and Zeppos concurred that the Textbook Access Program is a pilot program, and that following this year, assessments will be made in evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks it provides for students.
In regards to the Starbucks on campus, the two also affirmed they have received feedback from students and are working with dining to represent the opinions of the student body.
“We want to acknowledge both sides,” Millard said. “It’s more advantageous to some and disadvantageous to others. We see and hear students.”
While SGA currently has around 60 members, both Millard and Zeppos stressed the vitality of student body participation as a whole. Whether it be through attendance or participation during a general body meeting, visiting during their office hours on the second floor of Dougherty Hall or just reaching out on their own means, Millard and Zeppos urge the community to provide information or feedback on policy they want to see implemented.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Zeppos said, reaffirming a key goal of the term: increasing student engagement with SGA.
“We have general body meetings, senate meetings and idea sessions that students can come to speak in order to guide our work,” Millard said, explaining the multitude of ways students are able to engage with their student government. Both went on to add that students will be able to then understand the process of creating policy and addressing concerns, and actually see the course of action.
“We definitely want to have a bigger social media presence or even a newsletter,” Zeppos said. “Overall, we just want to hear from students.”
Millard and Zeppos have both spent much of their time at Villanova deeply dedicated to SGA. For Student Body President Millard, representing people’s voices has always been a passion.
In high school, Millard shared that he had lost various elections for student government.
“You either win or you learn,” Millard said, reflecting on his political journey thus far. “We are passionate about the people and Villanova’s community.”
Upon coming to Villanova and getting involved with SGA, he felt the need to use his platform to help people.
Zeppos started as a freshman class senator with a specific interest in dining opportunities on campus and that paved the way to his current seat as vice president. He went on to share that Millard had previously invited him to a meeting with Dining Services, where he presented his own blueprint, one that reaffirmed his passion for dining options on campus and helped prepare him for his role this year.
Both Millard and Zeppos are confident in their plans for the year ahead, and are excited to serve the Villanova student body.
“This is a loving community where we lean on one another when things are going well and when things are not going well,” Millard said, describing Villanova as simply “unparalleled.”
