During his freshman year of high school, Julio Burgos wasn’t sure he could afford a college education. 

Burgos attended a Miami high school where many students lived near or below the poverty line. And his own financial limitations, he feared, would prevent him from pursuing higher education.

“We didn’t have the best resources,” Burgos said. “It’s not something in your head, that you’d automatically think that you’re going to college.”

Burgos reached where he is today — a junior studying economics and strategic management at Syracuse University — thanks to the guidance of his high school mentors, he said. Now, as the sole candidate for Student Association comptroller, he hopes to make SA’s financial resources more accessible by forging similar relationships with underrepresented student organizations on campus. 

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As a high school freshman, Burgos learned about the Posse foundation, an organization that offers students of diverse backgrounds full-tuition scholarships to universities across the country. Burgos reached out to a former member of his high school wrestling team who had also attended SU through the Posse program to learn how to stand out as a candidate for the scholarship.

The mentorship of Burgos’ former teammate — and other organizations, such as Teach For America — paid off, Burgos said. After several rounds of interviews and a highly-competitive application process, Burgos earned a full-tuition scholarship to SU through the Posse program.

“(Posse) allowed me to have experiences that shaped the person I am today,” Burgos said.

Burgos entered SU as an international relations major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs but switched his major after taking an introductory course in economics. He later picked up a strategic management minor in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. 

After graduating from SU, Burgos hopes to parlay his education into a career with financial media giant Bloomberg. Burgos planned on interning with the company this summer in New York City, but the internship will likely become remote as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“I like the idea of just seeing the world, or just the way our system works, my community works,” Burgos said. “I think everything has to do with economics. That’s what’s fascinating about it.”

Burgos’ experience in economics and finance has helped prepare him to serve as SA comptroller, he said. The comptroller oversees SA’s Finance Board, which allocates the university’s student activity fee to the 300-plus registered student organizations on campus. 

As the only candidate for the position, Burgos will presumably take over the role for the 2020-21 academic year. He has previously worked with the SA Finance Board as the finance officer for Renegade Magazine.

As comptroller, Burgos strives to make the process of applying for SA funding more accessible to student organizations who haven’t traditionally received financial support.

“In my position on campus, especially in the Black and Spanish community, a lot of our peers and colleagues tend to think the process of getting funding is kind of rigged against them,” Burgos said. “The reason why they believe that is because they don’t know the in and outs of the process of applying for funding. And it’s not their fault.”

When SA unveiled their semester allocations in a recent Assembly meeting, Burgos saw how many organizations were declined funding for failing to properly complete their applications. Several organizations had their applications revoked for failing to attend fiscal agent training or provide proof of cost, he said.

Burgos wants to help RSOs avoid similar mistakes in the future by working hands-on with their fiscal agents. When student organizations can’t receive funding for their events, the entire campus community suffers, he said.

“I want to be able to have these conversations with these orgs in order for me to help them,” Burgos said. “If they don’t have the money to have their events, to meet their mission, I feel like the community that they’re representing on campus are not having the best experience.”

Burgos has also pledged to ensure SA’s financial allocations are clear and transparent. He has said he will offer a comprehensive analysis of SA’s budget and individual consultations for student organizations.  

As comptroller, Burgos may inherit the controversy surrounding the Finance Board’s recent decision to allocate $39,000 to the College Republicans for a speaking event featuring conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. At a debate hosted by The Daily Orange and Citrus TV on April 7, candidates for SA president and vice president labeled Shapiro a white supremacist. 

Burgos said during the debate he believes the Finance Board had acted objectively and in accordance with SA’s finance codes. The decision to allow or deny Shapiro’s invitation to campus on the grounds of student safety falls to the university and the Department of Public Safety, he said.

But after an academic year that has seen SU beleaguered with hate incidents, Burgos urged students to focus on unity rather than division. 

“I think there’s more that unites us as a campus than there is that divides us,” he said.

Voting for SA’s president, vice president and comptroller begins Monday on MySlice and continues until 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

Published on April 13, 2020 at 1:05 am

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu