Lawrence King, whose name often causes him to be mistaken for the famous CNN journalist, has a similar notoriety on the St. John’s campus. As treasurer of Student Government, Inc., and brother of national fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, King’s main goal is to help better the St. John’s community. This year, and the future, is all about progression.

A fourth-year pharmacy student, King has made an effort to become actively involved on campus and add a voice to the student body. Although King did not join Student Government until his sophomore year, his drive and dedication have provided him with the skills and motivation to continue lending a helping hand to other organizations on campus.

“As a freshman, the student life on campus was still very much developing and there wasn’t always as much to do as an everyday student,” King explained. “After talking to several different people, I was encouraged to become involved with as many different organizations as possible. I decided that the best way to really get involved was to join a fraternity. After looking at all the different organizations I decided that [TKE] would be the best fit for me.

“As for Student Government,” King continued, “I started out looking to provide a strong Greek voice on the floor of SGI and from there it evolved into becoming the budget chair and now as treasurer.”

King and his colleagues have worked vigorously to improve the student body through their work with committee chairs to increase attendance at events, but most importantly, to make Student Government a go-to organization once again.

“Together as an executive board as well as with the help of our many committee chairs we have been able to greatly improve on the attendance and participation in all St. John’s Athletics events and hosted another successful winter carnival,” he said. “But to me, the most important change is that we have begun to add more accountability fiscally to our organizations with the implementation of the merit-based program.”

The Ogdenburg, N.Y., native has tried to follow the path of past SGI executive boards, improving the student body one person at a time, and gets by with a little help from his mentors.
“Obviously my parents have been enormously influential in my life,” he said. “They have always been there to support my every move throughout school and especially as I have taken on leadership positions on this campus.”

King also points out that St. John’s administrators have also inspired him to be active on campus.

“As for people at St. John’s University who have been influential in my life, I look towards the past executive boards of SGI,” King said. I can remember seeing people like Louis Saavedra who continue to provide insight as well as push the government and me to be the best we can be. I also frequently look to administrators who have always been loyal to government such as Mary Pelkowski as well as our current advisers to let me know when were we are doing things right. More importantly, who are also true to me by telling me when I am out of line or need to change my perspective on different issues.”

King’s future goals wishes are to become involved in the field of pharmacy and possibly pursue his passion in politics. In some facet, he said, he wants to contribute significantly to society.

While King still holds his position as treasurer, it is too soon to say for sure if he will run for SGI president next year. Regardless, Lawrence King has proved to be an important asset to the St. John’s community.

“No matter what my decision is in regards to the presidency next year, I do plan on maintaining an active role in government,” King said, “in order to help maintain and continue the progress that we have had over the course of this past year.”