The Rider News endorses Lizbeth Ortiz for SGA President

By Caroline Haviland and Grace Bertrand

As Rider is currently pulling its way out of a dire financial crisis, student morale has taken a punch amid the uncertainty of what the future holds for the university. Electing a student body president for Rider’s Student Government Association that will prioritize the welfare of the student population is a priority now more than ever. Voters have a choice between two candidates to take on the role: junior political science major Jaiden David and junior human resource management major Lizbeth Ortiz. 

After holding interviews with both candidates on March 30, The Rider News’ editorial board endorses Ortiz as the next SGA student body president. 

Ortiz brings a plethora of experiences to the table as a leader and member of multiple sectors on campus. She started in SGA during her freshman year as a member of the academic affairs committee and eventually transitioned to the student organizations and clubs committee. Her history within the organization is a vital factor of understanding how to navigate the student body president position. 

In addition to SGA, Ortiz is a part of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc., an Educational Opportunity Program scholar, a former member of All Broncs BELONG Alliance and a resident assistant in Lincoln Hall. 

She also founded and is president of Rider DominiRicans, a club that represents Hispanic unity and her own Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage. 

These pieces of her background share a common factor of making people feel they have a space on campus, and The Rider News’ editorial board felt her experience made her prepared to amplify this effect as the student body president. 

A big part of Ortiz’s campaign surrounds student engagement, which she felt has dwindled since the reality of Rider’s financial situation took a drastic turn in the past academic year. One way she plans to uplift the student experience is by creating collaborations with different clubs and organizations to ensure the Rider community feels connected.

Marissa Dingess, one of the social media editors, said, “We’re coming up on a big time for Rider and [Ortiz] had a lot of great ideas for student morale.” 

As the university slowly gets back on firm financial footing, Ortiz said she wants to bring back some of her favorite campus traditions that have dissipated in the past year, such as Cranberry Wednesdays and Food Truck Fridays, while also creating new events like Rider Connect Nights for faculty and students and Thriving Thursdays for students to socialize after SGA’s weekly senate meetings. These initiatives not only offer a place for students to connect, but for Ortiz to meet the student body, specifying that she wants people to view her as a friend. 

Design Manager Gail Demeraski, who transferred to Rider in 2024 and did not get to experience many of Rider’s former staple events, said that hearing about Ortiz’s love for Rider made her seem like the perfect person to inspire the student body.

“That’s the kind of environment that I wish I would come into and hearing [Ortiz] talk about it so passionately … just kind of showed me how passionate and driven she’s going to be if she were to win,” Demeraski said. 

In The Rider News’ interview with Ortiz on March 30, she mentioned that she has wanted the position of SGA student body president since her sophomore year, and the editorial board agreed that her presidential vision puts her personal ambitions aside and centers on the students and their Rider experience. 

With a diverse background in helping others and her solid ideas for campus initiatives, it is clear that Ortiz wants students to feel a sense of belonging and pride about attending Rider amid a time of low morale. 

“I think that is something students really need right now, and that really stuck with me,” Opinion Editor Libby D’Orvilliers said. 

The legacy Ortiz said she plans to leave behind, if elected as student body president, is one of authenticity, and to be known as someone who made others feel empowered to stay true to themselves. 

Her adherence to lifting the campus’ spirit and making a change to the Rider student experience seems to be a passionate goal, and The Rider News endorses her efforts to return hope to the campus community. 

This editorial expresses the collective opinion of The Rider News’ editorial board. This week’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Caroline Haviland and Executive Editor Grace Bertrand.

Journey New is a social media editor for The Rider News and a member of SGA. They had no part in the writing or editing of this piece.