Cohen, Conner, Zhen to Hold StuCo Office

The student body recently voted uppers Benjamin Cohen and Robert Conner and lower Kevin Zhen into Student Council office as the new president, vice-president and secretary, respectfully, for the next school year.

After collecting 350 signatures, presenting a speech in front of the entire school and debating amongst the other candidates, the StuCo executive board was chosen from a highly selective group. Even though only two Exonians ran for president, uppers Benjamin Cohen and Emily Lemmerman, three originally ran for vice-president and four for secretary. “Each year always brings something new, and I can say that the candidate pool appeared to be very strong this year,” student council adviser Laura Marshall said.

All three executive board members are lauded as an especially motivated, affable and passionate bunch.

Coincidentally, all three executive board members hail from Cilley Hall. Dormmate and senior Orland Kahan offered some insight into the personalities of the three students. “I'm convinced that Benj, Robert, and Kevin  will not just represent Cilley Hall as capable, respected leaders, but also the entire Academy,” Kahan said. “They are hardworking, likable and committed guys who I am sure will head next year's Student Council with both wisdom and dedication.”

Another senior in Cilley, Charlie Boyd, commented on the character of the new StuCo leaders.

“They are without a doubt some of the most upright individuals at the Academy. Integrity is their hallmark; All three will never resign from a cause that they believe in or care for regardless of the difficulty or price,” Boyd said. “They are also genuine and therefore personable. However, that seems quaint and irrelevant when held up to all of their earnest love for the Academy.”

The trio was also chosen for their innovative ideas, unusual outlooks, and the gift of being able to lead.

“Benj, Robert, and Kevin will all bring fresh perspectives and different relationships with the student body, which will hopefully help move Student Council forward in places where this year it seemed stuck in place,” upper Nick Diao, a member of Student Council, said. “They seem like a cohesive bunch and will be able to work together to produce significant results.”

Prep StuCo Represenative Alejandro Arango shared a similar attitude toward the new board members and praised Robert Conner’s work on StuCo in the past.

“[Conner] is qualified to be the Vice President. I have worked with him before and I can say without a doubt that policies like the extended-Vs proposal will have more success this time around,” Arango said. “Through a second year of pushing the V's policy, we might have more results in getting something passed.”

As the results were announced, the chosen candidates were both thrilled and surprised to hear the good news.

“I am humbled to be voted in as the next StuCo president, but I am so excited to get started on all the initiatives I promised,” Cohen said. “I made these promises with the intentions of coming through on them, and I will start working on that today.”

Zhen agreed, especially after the difficult rivalries subsided.

“I feel proud and pressured,” Zhen said. “The competition was tough this year, for all candidates, and I know that I must do everything I can to help the student community because I was given this privilege.”

Conner added, “I am very excited to be vice-president. The competition was tough.”

Even Cohen, who had two weeks to campaign and did not participate in the primary votes (since only two candidate ran for the presidential position), saw the competitive spirit as especially ubiquitous this year.

“The presidential campaign must have been absurdly close,” Cohen said. “Emily is such an amazing person, a great candidate with great ideas, had equal experience to me, and gave a fantastic speech. I bet the election came down to a few votes.”

But after all the emotions subsided, the triumvirate got to work immediately. The group’s cohesive attitude and strong characteristics have also helped their plans thus far.

“Robert has pretty amazing experience in StuCo, and he offers a lot of insight into class reps, so he will lead them well as an adviser,” Cohen said. “Kevin has a ton of passion for StuCo, after having become a select member, and he is such a hardworking guy, so we should be able to get a lot done this year.”

Even though their tenure as the executive board has not begun yet, the group is already developing action plans and various goals to make next year better than ever.

“I made it pretty clear exactly what I want to do next year. So first, I want to get a cafe in the library, second, make sure we have events every weekend, third, work on a dining hall feedback system, and fourth, start a feedback system on the visitations policy,” Cohen said. “ I plan on writing all those up on the whiteboard in the StuCo office and working towards every single one.”

Not only does the future executive board want to make the 2014-2015 school year as great as it can be, but they are hoping to join forces and form long term objectives that will improve StuCo and Exeter as a whole even after they graduate.

“Having a plan is key to empowering people to do good work,” Cohen said. “We are going to change the culture in StuCo from being a reactionary body to a more proactive group that can impart meaningful change on campus.”