Student Council Reconvenes with New Leadership Trio

After a three month long adjournment, Student Council met once again so that the new executive board could introduce committee heads, answer any members’ questions, and summarize this year’s aims and objectives. The 2014-2015 board, composed of seniors Benjamin Cohen, Robert Connor and upper Kevin Zhen as the president, vice-president and secretary, respectively, developed a comprehensive plan this summer for effecting substantial change in the Exeter community, and this initial meeting allowed them an opportunity to present their strategy to all of StuCo’s constituents.Indeed, the trio is working under a simple philosophy: make changes that ultimately benefit the student body in a positive manner. “This year we brought back assembly committee, which will help choose speakers as well as possibly have a completely student run assembly with interactive discussion on a topic relevant to Exonians,” Zhen said.The assembly committee idea proliferated last year during elections season, when many candidates for the executive board offered the idea as one of their running points. The committee idea was met with much approval from the community due to Exonians’ frequent disappointment in assembly speaker options.“We are also planning on creating an app with functions such as dhall menu ratings, assembly ratings, and basic scheduling as well, which Benj, Robert and I strongly believe will help students,” Zhen said.The hour long conversation was calmer than usual, since many student council members graduated last spring and new students have yet to join, resulting in a less than average attendance.“The first Student Council meeting of this year went very well,” Connor said. “It was productive and each committee outlined their respective goals for the year.”Unlike previous years, the executive board is attempting to minimize its role while also allocating more responsibility to each committee.“We are relying heavily on our committee heads to search for new ways to improve,” Zhen said. “For example, in elections, Montana [St. Pierre] created a new software that makes it easier than ever to vote; for public relations, Hannah [Fuller], Max [Larnerd] and Alex [Weitzman] are working together with sports teams to raise more awareness for games and keep school spirit high.”Zhen continued, noting the new role of the executive board. “It is a group effort, and I like to think of the committee heads as the all-star team that guides StuCo to victory,” he said. “We are really more like the coaches.”With the tasks on hand for the coming year, the committee heads will by all means need to be “the all star team” leading student council to success. The services committee will carry on improving the library cafe, a project that began last spring. The Recreational Committee, which deals with campus activities, is preparing for Speed Dating this weekend, as well as events later in the term, like the Halloween assembly and pep rally. StuCo’s Public Relations is in the process of beginning the Got Ideas Campaign, a new effort to spread information about what student council does through posters and other media; the committee is also working on featuring event schedules on the dining hall TV’s for easy access to students. Lastly, the Policy Committee will begin work on an extensive purge of the StuCo constitution, which features many redundant and outdated rules.Because of all the tasks at hand, it is sure to be a busy year for the council. But with the executive board’s new approach to allocating responsibilities as well as a surge in determination, StuCo will hopefully hit all their targets.