News Article

Two Edison State College Students Running for FCSSGA State Office

Mar 26, 2013

March 26, 2013 – Campaigning is under way and April 13 could be an especially proud day for Edison State College students. Two of their fellow students are running for state offices in the Florida College System Student Government Association (FCSSGA). Edison sophomore Jacob Winge is running for FCSSGA President and sophomore Joe Garita is running for FCSSGA Vice President.

On April 13, student delegates representing all of the Florida College System’s 28 state and community colleges will join together in Orlando to vote on the candidate they feel will represent their needs the best. If elected, Winge and Garita will make Edison State College history as the first Edison students to hold president and vice president positions.

FCSSGA represents the nearly one million students enrolled in the Florida College System's 28 colleges. It promotes legislative advocacy and training, leadership development, service learning, promotion of campus activities, and strong citizenship. The organization was created to unify the member colleges in order to best attend to the appropriate concerns of the students of the Florida Community College system and serve as a vehicle to communicate these concerns to the Florida Legislative Body.

If elected, Winge will focus on issues that directly affect students in the Florida College System.

“The Florida College System has 860,000 students,” Winge said. “That’s more than Florida’s university system. The economy isn’t great right now, and we need to keep the cost of tuition and textbooks low and college funding higher. If higher education is not affordable, we can’t develop future professionals.”

“We also need education reform to move away from bureaucracy in education,” he said. “What works for one college might not work for another, so we need to give colleges and local counties the freedom to make decisions for themselves.”

Winge currently serves as president of the Collier Campus’ Student Government Association (SGA) as well as the College-Wide SGA Chair. He is also active within Collier County, serving as secretary of the Collier Republican Club, is a member of the Tea Party Leadership Club, and was a member of the Collier County Museum Board of Directors for six years. He currently interns for State Representative Kathleen Passidomo. Winge is a Public Administration major and plans to earn his Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Management and Supervision from Edison State College.

“I believe I have the experience that can drive us forward,” Winge said. “As students in the Florida College System, we all have to stand together to be one voice.”

Joe Garita is running for Vice President of FCSSGA. Garita is an international student from Costa Rica and believes this allows him to see the Florida College System from a different perspective. “Being here is a blessing,” he said. “We are lucky to be in this great system, and it’s important that there are varied points of view that allow us to have a more critical opinion of the issues.”

Garita will focus on keeping tuition and textbook costs low. He also wants to help improve graduation rates at Florida’s state and community colleges and wants to create a more united college system.

“It’s important that the system and the students work together to keep the Florida College System strong,” he said. “It’s our education, so as students, we should be concerned about the decisions that will affect us.”

Garita serves as president of Edison’s chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK), where his leadership has helped double its membership and made it the second most active club on the Collier Campus. He is an SGA Senator, serves as District 1 Legislative Liaison for FCSSGA, and is also highly active in student activities as a member of the Creative Expressive Club, the Film Club, and the Multicultural Club. He has also served as a tutor at the Academic Success Center and a student assistant for full-time faculty at the Collier Campus. He plans to earn his Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Management and Supervision from Edison State College then move on to graduate school and earn his master’s degree in fine arts.

“If we are elected, it will be positive for the college and for students,” Winge said. “It will prove to our community as well as the rest of the state what our students already know – that Edison State College produces leaders.”

Last Updated: March 26, 2013