This semester, Pace University welcomes Madia Bestman as the new Student Government Association president. Bestman is a junior marketing major with a self-described “passion for fashion”.

In her free time, she enjoys buying clothes from thrift stores to fix up with her own personal touches. After college, she hopes to enter the business side of the fashion industry as a buyer or a director and has a dream of one day working for Vogue.

Those who know her well describe her as fun and easy to talk to with a wide array of interests and knowledge.

SGA faculty coordinator, Shawn Livingston recounted a time when he complained about feeling sick in front of Bestman, and later that day found soup, cough drops, and a get well note on his desk.

“She’s kind and respectful on a whole new level,” Livingston said. “Whereas other students would just say ‘Hope you feel better’, she went the extra mile. She’s someone who will always brighten your day. I think her unofficial motto is to leave things better than the way they were before she encountered them.”

This is exactly what Bestman is setting out to do for the Pace community.

As SGA president, it is her job to delegate the eboard and the leadership team and be someone that the general student body can approach. One of her main responsibilities is to discern what issues students are facing and decide on solutions that will benefit the community as a whole. Bestman stated that she looks forward to observing the community to get a feel for its concerns and can’t wait to see what the students bring to her and what she can bring to them.

She also has a few interesting ideas of her own, such as bringing compost bins to campus and getting syllabi posted over the summer so that students can feel more prepared. She also wants to encourage more school spirit.

“Over the past few years, I’ve seen how Pace has evolved,” Bestman said. “Students should take pride in what it’s becoming and work to make their own changes that will benefit the school. I wish students were more aware of the SGA. It’s a huge resource for them. I want them to know that they can come to us for any problem, big or small, to make a solution possible.”

Bestman’s apparent enthusiasm and people-oriented attitude was reinforced by Shawn Livingston’s statements about her. He described her as being the glue of the SGA, having an incredible positive energy and a unique talent for bringing groups together, helping them set goals, and creating a positive team atmosphere. She seeks not only to lead others, but to foster leadership within them so that they can reach their full potential.

She thinks her choices are thought out, don’t waste time, and always have a specific vision in mind. Whereas in the past, student representatives have made promises that they never followed through on, Livingston believes that, based on Madia’s previous work with the SGA finance team, this won’t be a problem for her. Madia was never one to leave unfinished business on the table, and just last year she helped push the finance team to make changes that they’d been talking about for years.

It seems safe to say that with a full year ahead of us, both the SGA and Pace community will have a lot to look forward to from President Madia Bestman.