A first-year psychology student became the Student Government Association’s new vice president of finance in February, replacing an executive board member who resigned in January.

Matt Bacho replaced Kojo Thompson, who was the second vice president to step down since the SGA’s executive board formed last semester. Former Vice President of Campus Activities Vanessa Cardozo, a third-year student, cited mental health reasons for her decision to drop out of school in November.

Thompson did not respond to Campus Current’s request for an interview.

Bacho said the vice president role is “an opportunity that I’ve never had before.”

Serving as an SGA officer “has given me lots of opportunities I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t in the SGA,” Bacho said. “Opportunities to meet new people, seeing from the back end of a lot of events. Being part of the planning process for the stuff around campus. It’s not something I’m used to doing very often, but it’s an interesting experience.”

SGA President Zack Buster, said he is happy Bacho volunteered for the job.

“When someone resigns from SGA, of course, the first thought is, ‘Oh, no, what am I going to do without this person?’” Buster, a third-year communications student, said. “The more [we talked with Matt] about it, the more we’re like, ‘This is this guy,’ you know?’ And so it was just really awesome to have Matt … really step right up.”

Bacho said he is encouraging other students to get involved with campus organizations.

“There’s so much more to do around here than people think,” Bacho said. “There’s all sorts of stuff to do here. Even if you just landed here out of high school, you know, you could become VP. You never know what could happen.”