Savannah Pennington
Staff Writer
FSC’s Student Government Association (SGA) has announced its executive board for the 2025-26 academic year.
Lexi Lapore-Paternostro has been elected student body president; Ben Ruby executive vice president; Michael Desrosiers administrative vice president. Garrett Hultman vice president of finance; and Katrina Machado vice president of communications.
Lapore-Paternostro will serve as the 99th student body president. Lapore-Paternostro previously served as SGA’s Administrative Vice President and the Honors Program Senator. Lapore-Paternostro is also a Presidential Ambassador, a Southern Ambassador, the Ritual Chair for FSC’s improv group, StudioBox and an anchor and writer for the FSCTV Studio.
“I’ve been interested in running for student body president for over a year now,” Lapore-Paternostro said. “My junior year I said, ‘This is something I’d like to work up to.’ I saw how much I enjoyed the school, and how much other people did, but I also saw how much other people didn’t. I really wanted to make sure that we encourage those who did, and then find a way to fix the problems for those who didn’t enjoy the school. I wanted to make sure everyone could make the most of their four years here.”
As the SGA Administrative Vice President, Lapore-Paternostro trained and managed 30 senators, organized the senator class project, planned socials and the end-of-year celebration and helped to facilitate communication with upper administration. Now, as Student Body President, Lapore-Paternostro plans to increase transparency.
“I’ve seen firsthand that the administration here cares so deeply about the student body, but it’s not always seen because we’re not having that communication,” Lapore-Paternostro said. “If we increase the transparency and make sure that there is a connection between staff and the students, I can be the leader I want and need to be.”
Newly elected Executive Vice President Ben Ruby is a rising senior majoring in communications with a minor in music.
“I’ve always just been really passionate about leading and helping others,” Ruby said. “I chose not to take an executive role here at Florida Southern until my junior year, but I was very involved around the on-campus ministries. I was an orientation leader every year, I’ve worked with Southern Select, Lux12, FSCTV and worked for The Southern a few times. I’ve just been really involved, and I’ve gotten to see kind of the wishes of the student body through that, and to make valuable connections, which I think will serve me well.”
Ruby has previously served as an SGA Senator, the Honors Program Events Coordinator and Southern Select Executive Board Member.
FSC’s SGA serves as the official voice of the student body, advocating for student interests and enhancing campus life through various initiatives and events. As the Executive Vice President, Ruby has three main goals he plans to implement.
“I want to preserve the visions that Sophie Grace, and Ruby Silver before her, had,” Ruby said. “They did a really good job of setting up the current tier system. So I want to continue with that vision. I want to better define what it means to be an SGA-recognized organization … right now there’s like a lot of rules and regulations, but it’s not too clear unless you’re reading through the bylaws.
Additionally, I want to make SGA Executives feel more like students. I want us to feel more approachable. I feel like a lot of times students have complaints and they don’t necessarily know where they can say them. I feel like better communication with the student body and being approachable is necessary.”
The newly elected executive board will be inducted on April 24 at the Student Life Awards hosted in the Thrift Alumni Building at 4 p.m.
