Chen Elected 2015 Class President

After the polls closed on Tuesday, Student Council revealed that the Academy’s student body voted in uppers Stephanie Chen, Jad Seligman and Paul Lei as the 2014-2015 senior class president, vice president and treasurer, respectively.In addition, lowers Antonio Guanaes, David Larar and Jun Park were chosen as upper reps, while preps Sarah Brown, Joel Lotzkar and Issay Matsumoto were elected next year’s lower reps.Even though only four candidates ran for the coveted position of senior class president, the competition was stiff, as all contestants had ample Student Council experience, creative ideas and catchy campaigns under their belt.Now that the trio has been chosen, rising seniors are looking forward to a fantastic year.“I am excited to work with the senior rep team next year,” upper Benj Cohen, current StuCo secretary and president-elect, said.“They are a great mix of fun, hard working people, and will certainly make seniors on this campus happier through the events and projects they work on.”Others agreed, noting their impressive experience, which is imperative to lead the senior class in the right direction. “They all actively seek out ways to better our grade, our school experience, and the community as a whole,” upper Nick Diao said.Classmates of the new senior representatives hope that the trio will make senior year as great as it can be.“They will be essentially representing the whole senior class, which is a huge deal, but these three are up to the task, because they are all reputable and will do a very good job,” upper Jonathan Regenold said. “They can affect senior year by making changes and just being as liberal as possible. There are many problems with the status quo that they can collectively work on to fix.”Lower Rebecca Ju, a co-head of the StuCo Recreational Committee, added,“Senior year is one the most stressful years, but also the most special, as it’s their last year here. The events planned by the reps should be stress-relieving and memorable, and I think this team can do that.”As well as their effective leadership skills, the newly elected senior representatives all possess a genial nature that is well-known by their classmates.“Stephanie is by far one of the most kind hearted and genuine people I know. I have never seen her without a smile on her face and her laugh is infectious,” upper Callan Malone, Chen’s dormmate in McConnell Hall, said.Other uppers also thought highly of next year’s class representatives. Student Council Vice President-elect upper Robert Conner touched upon Chen’s leadership, warm charisma and laugh, aspects that make her well respected in the Exeter community.“She will bring a sense of greatness to the role of senior class president as she will provide a balance between seriousness and humor, and while doing so, she will make everyone in the class and greater alumni community respect her and think even more highly about Exeter,” Conner said.Additionally, Exonians were just as excited to also have Seligman and Lei as their senior vice president and secretary, respectively.“For Jad and Paul, both of whom are friends of mine, from previous experience, I believe that they will take their positions seriously, especially since I believe that they care greatly about establishing the best experience for all seniors,” upper Mariano Montori said.A dormmate of Seligman’s mentioned his powerful presence and approachability especially.“Jad has all the qualities needed to become a good VP. He has friends throughout campus, and is willing to take initiative when nobody is willing to step up and get a task accomplished,” upper Yusuke Agata said.The new representatives themselves are as excited as the student body to begin at their positions.“I am honored to have been elected to represent our class as senior class president,” Chen said.“As senior class president, I would love to continue having great class events. I will also work with the reps to make sure we have an excellent senior skip day, class gift and alumni events.”Seligman was also elated when he heard the news.“I am happy with the results,” Seligman said. “I came into the process without expectations and I am honestly both honored to have been selected and pleased with my co-reps.”Lei added, “I really enjoyed serving the class this year as an upper rep, and I am honored to continue working for the class for the years to come. Next year, Steph and I will bring our StuCo experience to our jobs, which will help Jad's transition.”