Student Rep Candidate Interviews: Gianmaria Amodeo

Gianmaria Amodeo

Interviewed by Floriane Graignic

What motivated you to run for the Student Rep position?

When I decided to run, I asked myself: “What does a student rep usually do?”, and I tried to settle this question in the context of this school in particular. I came to the conclusion that a student rep is important in the process of making the campus grow and tries to intervene when something doesn’t work well in the community. We have associations, student initiatives that work well with the administration itself, and the student representative is the guardian of this process. I wanted to get involved in this role in order to know the school dynamic better, to be helpful and to really enjoy this atmosphere of self-adjusting and self-growing environment of the school.

Do you have any previous experience, relevant to the Student Rep position…Or not, as you prefer, that you would like to share with us?

When I was studying in Italy, when I was 15 or 16, I was in the school committee and we were in charge of organizing events and coordinating with class representatives, and the administration. Even though we were an assembly, it wasn’t the same thing than being a student representative here.

What challenges are you expecting to overcome as a student rep?

I expect to overcome the daily life challenges of the students in Sciences Po. One the features that I think characterizes my program is the caring attention I give to the issues of the students in Sciences Po. I really want to stress this point, as I think that sometimes people don’t enjoy college or don’t enjoy fully the environment of this campus because they are burdened with problems they cannot solve on their own. So I think a Student Rep has to be here to help them. Therefore, one of my goals would be to overcome issues of bureaucracy, problems regarding people individually, academic concerns… And all of this is really explained in the attention I want to give students.

What do you think about the Student Rep campaigning process?

I think it’s really exciting. It leaves room to have an intellectual confrontation, which is important because it makes politics something more than propaganda. But propaganda is also an important point as well, and I noticed that many other candidates use different propaganda sides, even though one of the most important means of propaganda nowadays is Facebook – I think most of this election process was made thanks to Facebook. It leaves room to have fun as well. For instance, there are parody groups that make fun of the student representatives, which I think is really enjoyable.

What is unique about your platform?

I start from a really clear idea of what I can give to the school. I start with the idea of the community in Sciences Po, and therefore my program aims at improving the school while following the dynamics of the school itself. It’s a program that is reliable, simple and straightforward. It doesn’t promise the stars, because politically, it would be a failure to just promise the stars and be elected and not do what I promised. My program aims at delivering the services I’m promising, delivering the points I am talking about. And it really focuses on the needs of the students themselves. My first point focuses on the academic concerns. My second point focus on daily life concerns of the students, by creating a special body dedicated to daily life, bureaucracy, medical help, and French assistance for non-French speakers. And my third point focuses on the reality of multiculturalism on campus. It’s an important feature that Sciences Po is offering us and a great lesson we can draw from this school. So I think it has to be supported and encouraged.

In three words, what is the role of a Student Rep?

Guardian, Attentive, Caring.

Miscellaneous question: what are you the proudest of in your hometown?

I come from Siena, which is near Florence in Italy. It’s a Middle Ages city, with really particular cultural traditions so I’m proud of them. I’m proud of how Siena is intact in history, in its culture, in its tradition.