Alessio Manti said he has always seen himself entering politics somewhere in the amorphous future of post-collegiate life. Until he began his race for Associated Student Government president. A week into his campaign and a career in politics is out of the question, he said.
“It completely eliminated any desire to run for public office,” he said. “It takes a really particular kind of individual … the time commitment and the emotional commitment.”
The SESP sophomore said his ASG campaign, while marking the end of his long-term political ambitions, has in no way jaded his impression of Northwestern or diminished his desire to serve its community.
“I have been going to so much really interesting programming I didn’t even know existed,” he said. “It’s a shame to always hear that our community is divided. But it is great to see how vibrant all the different parts are.”
Last week, Manti attended the Black-Jewish Freedom Seder, said his running mate, Adam Thompson-Harvey.
“He’s very proactive,” Thompson-Harvey said. “He’s made it a priority to go out and meet people he hasn’t met before.”
Sunday was a long day for Manti. At 6:30 p.m., having just finished a meeting with multicultural student leaders at the Black House, he was squeezing in a quick dinner at Burger King-a No. 6 with cheese and bacon, no lettuce or tomato, before heading up to Sigma Phi Epsilon to stump at their chapter meeting.
Though he remarked how tired he was, Manti is not new to jumping around. His own childhood spanned from Milan to Connecticut to New York. High school was split as well: He spent his freshman and sophomore years at Bronxville High School in Bronxville, N.Y. before transferring to boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut.
When it came to choosing colleges, Manti went with his gut, a rule of thumb he tends to follow, he said.
“When I got the big purple packet (after other college acceptances) it was the first time I was excited about getting in somewhere,” he said.
Manti, who now lives in an apartment in downtown Chicago, first met Thompson-Harvey freshman year through a friend who lived down the hall from Manti in Hinman Lincoln.
Thompson-Harvey said his first distinct memory of Manti was his booming voice. “We met New Student Week,” he said. “And I remember hearing this big, ‘What’s up man?’ And I was like, ‘Whoa.’ He just has that presence.”
Manti asked Thompson-Harvey to be his running mate about three and a half months ago after inviting him to sit down to talk about what he perceived as the biggest issues at NU.
Manti’s first campaign experience was for Barack Obama in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the summer of 2008, prior to which he said he had never been south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Last spring, he worked on Bill Pulte’s ASG presidential campaign. Both Pulte and Manti are members of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
During his freshman year, Manti helped found MyCat Enterprises, the campus business best known for creating the Deuce Caboose.
Campaign manager Maya Bhardwaj said Manti’s entrepreneurial nature and his cross-campus connections are the greatest assets of his presidential bid.
“Alessio has a unique sort of vision. He has an ability to see how things should function,” she said. “He’s already met with ASG and other people within the administration, including (University President Morton O.) Schapiro. He’s already starting to get things in motion.”
Thompson-Harvey said Manti is in his element speaking to groups, while he sees himself as more of a sit-down type of person. But ultimately, he said, the two have hit the stride of their campaign by knocking on doors and meeting people.
“One thing I didn’t really know about Alessio until we teamed up is he’s a real goofy dude,” he said. “Which is great when we meet people-that they see he’s not just a campaign candidate.”
