Greg Strompolos seeks role of SBP

Greg Strompolos has been a soccer player, a skateboarder, a chess club president, a sculptor, a break dancer and a freestyle rapper.

Now he wants to add one more role to the list — student body president.

A man of many talents, the junior from Denver, Colo., said that his diverse experiences and talents would help make him a good representative for the entire student body.

“I feel like I’m uniquely qualified,” Strompolos said. “I just have a wide range of interests and talents, and because of that I’ve been able to meet a wide range of people.

Strompolos, an international studies major, speaks five languages, including Chinese, Greek and Portuguese.

He transferred to UNC from Temple University in Philadelphia after his freshman year to participate in a better varsity soccer program. While he played with the UNC varsity team in the spring of his sophomore year, he did not make the official roster.

He said he fell in love with the learning environment and the spirit of UNC when he arrived.

“I’ve learned so much here. I want to recycle all these talents and put them back into the University,” Strompolos said.

But the transfer student is running on a relatively simple platform that consists of only five points. He stands in stark contrast to his opponents, who have more traditional platforms that address a wide variety of issues on campus.

Strompolos’ platform stresses the need for a technological revolution that would encourage broader use of Google applications — such as Gmail and Google Calendar — by the student body.

He also wants to streamline the professor-rating system to allow students to easily access course and professor reviews during the registration period.

Strompolos said he believes the benefits that would come from these changes would greatly outweigh logistical concerns regarding their feasibility and cost.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable a little bit, getting used to it, but that’s how we proceed, that’s how we progress,” Strompolos said.

Those who know Strompolos said he is defined by his genuine interest in people.

“He always wants to know what people are about. He’s really genuinely interested in the people he meets,” said Caitlin Williams, a junior and friend of Strompolos.

Sam Jacobson, Strompolos’ campaign manager, said the candidate has a keen ability to know people.

“Greg is able to connect with more people than anyone I’ve ever met,” Jacobson said.

This ability is helped, Strompolos said, by a commitment to be active.

“I’ve always disrespected sleep,” he said. “That might be one thing.”

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.