By Aimee Bulger
Staff Writer
Andrew LoMonte, a sophomore political science major, adds to the ranks of impressive students here at the College. LoMonte holds positions in student government, as well as an elected position in his hometown of Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Since a young age, LoMonte has been interested in history and community service. However, he became interested in politics during 2020.
“I saw in 2020, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement, it was led by young people. There were young people on the front lines,” LoMonte said. “And to me, that was really inspiring because I saw something that was bigger than any one person…And that's a fight I wanted to be a part of because there's a lot of issues that are very prevalent right now that I care a lot about.”
LoMonte is an elected district leader, representing Ward 2, District 1 on the Essex County Democratic Committee. He was elected this past June.
According to LoMonte, every party, democratic or republican, has their own committee within each county that make decisions to support specific candidates, party fundraising, town and county updates and assist all candidates within their party when up for election.
At the College, LoMonte currently serves as a senator for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. During his freshman year, he served as president of the class of 2027, as well as holding several other internal committee roles.
Having the opportunity to represent every aspect of both the College and Bloomfield, in order to hear and meet the concerns of who he is representing, is important to LoMonte.
“I think the most important thing in both positions I have in student government and in real elected politics is just listening to the people around you,” LoMonte said. “And I feel like their issues really inspired me to go out and find those solutions.”
During his time as president of the class of 2027, LoMonte recalls his accomplishments with pride. He specifically is proud of being able to bring about more opportunities for freshman bonding, events, fundraisers and activities for the weekends. Some events spearheaded by LoMonte include a holiday festival during finals week, as well as a workshop on PAWS at the start of the year.
LoMonte has also ventured to the New Jersey State House in Trenton to speak with legislators about getting more funding and support for the College from the state.
During his campaign in Bloomfield, LoMonte ran against a seasoned candidate, a councilwoman with about 10 years of experience and a Ph.D. LoMonte put in the work, knocking on every door in his district, making phone calls and even standing outside of the voting center for the entire duration of voting to talk more with his community.
Being a young name on the ballot, LoMonte holds this win with pride and gratitude for those within his community.
“Being elected and seeing my name on the ballot as a young person was something that felt really, really cool because it's hard being the first,” LoMonte said. “It's not easy being the first when you look around you and you see a committee of people with the average age of like 55, 60. And before Joe Biden dropped out of the race with two presidential candidates being over 75, it's not very encouraging for young people to get involved.”
With both a full course load and extracurriculars of great importance, LoMonte is no stranger to developing a sense of balance in his life.
“The entire burden is not on you if you're planning an event or wanting to fundraise or wanting to pursue an initiative,” he said. “You have a team for a reason…so really rely on the team, because not everything is on you.”
Having the additional support and understanding of his assemblyman and community on the workload a college student has, LoMonte is able to maintain a healthy balance between the two.
LoMonte also advocates for taking advantage of resources here at the College, such as the Center for Student Success or the Tutoring Center.
In the future, LoMonte hopes to be able to continue his political career, climbing the ladder and being able to give back to his hometown and community as much as he can.
LoMonte outlined the amount of opportunities political science majors or those interested in politics at the College have available to them by simply getting involved with the school. He stated that if political science is the path a student is looking to take, they should not be afraid to get involved and make their voice heard.
“I always believe that if you want change to happen, sometimes you just got to stand up yourself and let your voice be known.”
