Saxbys new SCEO leads with ‘trusting personality’

By Jasmine White

BORN to two immigrant parents from Colombia, junior marketing major Felipe Ramirez was born and raised in what he described as “the land of opportunity,” seizing every chance to further his education, career and network adding to his already lengthy resume. This semester, he will take on the position of Rider Saxbys Student Chief Executive Officer.

Ramirez was introduced into the Rider community through the Multicultural Student Leadership institute program, which is now the All Broncs Belong program through the Center of Community and Belonging.

“I was very involved with the [Center of Community and Belonging] and that spiraled into all these opportunities for me from the start like Latinos in College and [Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity],” Ramirez said.

Ramirez explained how having great character and leadership qualities play significant roles in being the head of a large team of student workers. Though this is his first time in a SCEO position, he makes it his business to be integrative and interactive with all of his fellow employees.

“The real requirement is that you have a trusting personality because [Saxbys at Rider] is not looking for someone who ran businesses in the past,” Ramirez said. “You’re a college student who has never run a business before, so this is your first step into that world.”

Saxbys SCEO is in charge of inventory counts, curating schedules and overseeing the financial inputs and outputs every week. Essentially, there is no set schedule and works more as a ‘“clockwork” ordeal as described by Ramirez. 

Entering the position, Ramirez learned how to manage his time, plan ahead and be prepared to tackle unexpected circumstances to ensure that the business runs smoothly regardless of potential setbacks.

Leila Johnson, senior accounting major and Saxbys SCEO in fall 2024, met Ramirez in his freshman year, during the All Broncs Belong Program. 

“I was a peer leader my sophomore year and he was one the students [during] his freshman year,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen him grow into a young leader on campus and it’s really shown throughout his term.”

According to Johnson, Ramirez is a very hands-on SCEO, despite being an outside hire that did not have the employee experience prior to taking on his lead role. Ramirez handles all the technical work and still compartmentalizes his time to be interactive with his team and day-to-day tasks.

“It’s a lot to learn being a new hire on the team instead of being someone who started in the cafe and worked their way up,” Johnson said. “It’s really rough being thrown into the deep end like that, but he’s been doing great.”

Ramirez joined Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity during his freshman year and became vice president of communication from Nov. 2024 to April 2025, where he ran its social media page, helping him gain marketing experience early on.

Senior finance major Sean Lacy is one of Ramirez’s fraternity brothers. Lacy and Ramirez were neighbors in their dormitories last year, and Lacy highlighted how whenever Ramirez was around, he was “this ball of energy that you just naturally are attracted to every time you see him.”

Lacy said, “He is always doing things more behind the scenes, but I feel like that’s a really core thing we need within our [fraternity’s] chapter.” 

Outside of Saxbys and Sigma Phi Epsilon, Ramirez is active throughout the surrounding communities, volunteering at Trenton Area Soup Kitchen during the winter months for community service. 

“It’s particularly to help the homeless and help the community,” Ramirez said.

The hands-on experience allowed Ramirez to acclimate to what it takes to run and care for a business. He encourages the next elected SCEO to be active with the Saxbys team members because “they are the heart” of the cafe.

“If you don’t have a close relationship with your team, then you won’t be able to respect one another, enjoy one another and be able to delegate tasks,” Ramirez said. “It’s important to have a close network of people.”