SUNY Old Westbury's New Director of Clubs and Organizations

Joshua Bouchard, or Josh is the Director of Clubs and Organizations of the Student Government Association (SGA) at SUNY Old Westbury. Initially, Bouchard was the representative for the LGBTQIA+ community, he got elected at a general assembly meeting right before last semester ended. 

Over this past winter break, no one applied for the position of Director of Clubs and Organizations. On January 7, several calls went out and one went to Bouchard, explaining that the SGA needs a new Director of Clubs and Organizations and that the position can’t be empty. On the call was Billy Armour who told Bouchard that he recommended him to Amira Crystal, the president. He said, “I’m going to keep recommending you because I know that you’re ambitious and I know that you’re very responsible.” 

Bouchard said he and Armour are really close and Armour is the person that really pushed him to go after the position. With the recommendation from Armour and an essay, Bouchard was appointed to the new Director of Clubs and Organizations.

As the Director of Clubs and Organizations, Bouchard’s job is to make sure that the clubs and organizations on campus are managed properly. He makes sure that they have the right person(s) supporting them and having their back when they try to hold events or get adequate funding. 

Hailing from Plattsburgh, New York, Bouchard commutes seven hours everyday to and from school and home. The Computer Information Science major (CIS) starts his mornings at around 9 am, on campus, where he usually goes to the cafe to meet up with friends. He then heads to class and for the rest of his day, he stays in the SGA office from 1 to 2:30 pm.

During his office hours, Bouchard meets with people who are struggling and need direction. Bouchard said some of his favorite things about his position is getting to meet with people who want to bring more activities to campus. Together they brainstorm ideas that celebrate life and make college feel less stressful for students. 

Prior to his role as the Director of Clubs and Organizations, Bouchard served as a student ambassador for the school. Last semester he did a lot of tour guides and sent out admission folders and flyers for people who were accepted to the college.

Bouchard said he once gave a tour to a family who fell in love with the campus. The family’s daughter applied to Old Westbury and got accepted. Recently, Bouchard saw her in the hallway and she told him, “Your tour is the reason why I’m here.” Bouchard said, “that’s the craziest feeling in the world.” He explained it’s especially crazy because he’s a freshman who just started and is managing to get people to come to Old Westbury. 

Bouchard said his role as a sous chef at Olive Ridleys helped him adjust to his current position. There he had to learn the menu down to the placement of the food on the plate. He explained that doing that while learning how to make the menu items from scratch in a timely manner set him up for success and taught him how to deal with high level stress. At this job, Bouchard also dealt with people yelling at him, he said that although not everyone can handle this, it taught him how to disconnect his feelings from the situation and focus on his goals. 

Bouchard said, “It really boils um things down to how can we get from A to B? How can we get this food from the cooler that has been in a brine for three months, to a person’s plate, looking spectacular with cilantro and everything else that comes with that?” 

Outside of school, Bouchard works at Stewarts in Plattsburgh which is an ice cream parlor combined with a gas station and a restaurant. There, he works as a shift supervisor. Bouchard helps people by giving directions, audits and making sure what’s collected in the register is also collected in his work’s safe. 

To manage his time, Bouchard follows a strict schedule, even if that means spending most of his time poring over emails and studying math. A lot of his friends get upset at him because of his schedule because he doesn’t hang out with them as much as they’d like him to. Bouchard explained that his friends sometimes propose hanging out at the mall, but he tells them, "Actually, I have to go sit down and write these 70, 65 emails to these colleges so I know what guidelines to do so we can bring these fundraisers to campus and it can stay that way." 

As the new Director of Clubs and Organizations, Bouchard hopes to bring activities to campus and make it inspirational, so that students want to do the same thing. As for his personal goals, Bouchard hopes to find a good job in his field, travel the world, and become “super duper rich” to support his lifestyle.