Meet this week’s campus celebrity, Joseph Benigno. He was so kind to reach out to Her Campus TAMU and share his story with us.
Joseph is a Finance major, Class of 2016. While currently serving as SGA Executive Vice President under current Student Body President, Kyle Kelly, Joseph is now campaigning to take over as the new Student Body President for the 2015-2016 school year.
Growing up with a Longhorn mother and an Aggie father, Joseph was pulled in both directions of the traditional Texas “house-divided” as a young boy. It was later on in life that he really felt a connection with Texas A&M, and he realized the men he wanted to grow up to emulate were all Aggies. When he came to visit the campus while his sister was in school, his memories consist of how nice everyone was and how the atmosphere felt just right, and he knew A&M was the place for him.
Joseph grew up going to a small Christian school with a graduating class of 55 students. He played football, basketball, and tennis and enjoyed spending time with his friends, who he is still close with today. As a freshman at A&M, Joseph joined Fish Aids, a student government freshman leadership organization, and was placed on the student senate finance committee. It was participating on this committee where he decided to run for student senate mid-way through freshman year. He served on senate his sophomore year while continuing to be active in other organizations such as Brotherhood of Christian Aggies. Joseph’s faith is extremely important to him.
JB: “You can’t really get to know who I am without understanding [my faith] because that totally defines and shapes all my actions and defines who I am.”
His entire freshman experience was so significant and really helped strengthen his love for this University.
Joseph is excited to get a chance to give back to this University because he feels that A&M has given him so many opportunities that have helped him grow beyond measure. Being a part of student government just feels comfortable for Joseph. From being on the SGA Legislative Research Lobbying Team to being selected to be a delegate for the Abbott Family Leadership Conference, everything was in preparation for when he got the call from Kyle Kelly to be a part of his campaign team for Student Body President. After a successful campaign and Kyle winning, Joseph applied and was elected to serve as SGA Executive Vice President. The most rewarding experiences Joseph has had while serving as VP this past year was representing Texas A&M at the SEC Exchange Conference and getting a chance to talk to and share why A&M is such a great University to Michael Young, who would later be named this University’s new President.
“Preserving the best of our past and promoting the best of our future.” That’s Joseph vision for his candidacy. To preserve the best of our past, Joseph wants to continue to strengthen our traditions and core values. To promote the best of our future, Joseph has some new ideas to bring to the table to help improve the student body and Aggie family as a whole. Some ideas Joseph has are to add a new executive cabinet position as an official student representative to the College Station City Council. Also revamping the TAMU Mobile app will help students stay connected on campus and use the resources that most students don’t know about.
Texas A&M is at a major transition point, and the future of the Aggies is looking bright, so if you want the Texas A&M community to continue to shine, Joseph Benigno is the right candidate.
Come with Spirit. Leave a Legacy. Go with Joe.
You can learn more about Joseph Benigno at his website gowithjoeforsbp.com, on Facebook at Go With Joe For SBP, and Twitter @GoWithJoeForSBP.