Lower DC Members Elected

Lowers Menat Bahnasy, Chi-Chi Ikpeazu, Winslow MacDonald and Athena Stenor were selected as student representatives of the Discipline Committee (DC) after a two-month evaluation process. They will officially begin serving on the committee next fall and will continue to serve on it until the end of their senior year.

In February, the student body elected 8 out of 28 candidates. Faculty members then submitted recommendations for the final eight candidates. The current committee interviewed and evaluated each student’s qualities and abilities as a potential representative.

The DC placed great emphasis on the ability of the candidates to think carefully and make judgments that would ultimately impact the Exeter community.

According to Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove, the committee looked for students who were willing to listen carefully, express opinions, remain open-minded and fair and display an ability to maintain confidentiality.  “We are confident that the group selected embodies these characteristics and will contribute significantly on this committee,” Cosgrove said.

Science instructor and faculty member of the DC Richard Aaronian emphasized the importance of careful evaluation.

“The new members will continue to add a student perspective which is critical to the decisions made by the Discipline Committee.”

He explained the major qualities he valued in a candidate, especially because he respects the input and opinion of students on the committee and considers every student’s comments for each case carefully.

“Personally, I look for a student who is empathetic, thoughtful, a good listener, able to state their opinion clearly and displays good judgement,” he said.

Upper and current student member of the committee Connie Cai said that she was looking for genuine, warm-hearted, open-minded and level-headed students who wanted to give back to their peers through the DC.

Cai also emphasized that each candidate had incredible support and respect from their peers.

“None of them were doing Discipline Committee for themselves, but they truly wanted to help others,” she said.

Cai noted that the DC could have filled the committee several times over with incredible candidates. “However, I think what made the selected four members stand out was their incredible commitment to the Exeter community,” Cai said.

Another DC member, upper Hillary Aristotle, said that each representative must be someone who understands that the role of the committee is for students to offer their services to the Exeter community. “You don’t have to have stellar grades or whatnot, just an attentive and caring individual, which is what makes the selection process so tough,” she said.

Aristotle also noted that all of the potential candidates were qualified for the position, but since there is limited space on the committee and a set selection process, narrowing down the students was a necessary but difficult task. “We don’t want to make it seem like the kids that didn’t make it didn’t live up to our expectations,” she said.

Cosgrove agreed with Aristotle’s thoughts, thanking all of the candidates for the willingness and enthusiasm that they expressed throughout the selection process. “The pool of candidates was really extraordinary, and the selection process was extremely difficult this year,” he said.

In the upcoming two years, each of the newly selected representatives hopes to utilize his or her personal qualities and views to contribute to the DC process.

Bahnasy explained that her individual experience as an athlete, a dormmate, a student of color and a student who has been abroad gives her a unique perspective. “I wish to bring the voice of many backgrounds and walks of life that I embrace, which I think makes my viewpoint unique,” she said.

Ikpeazu decided to run because she believed that the DC is essential to keeping the community, which includes students, faculty, staff and faculty children, safe. “Many people worked hard to get here and it would be sad to see them go because their story was not recognized or validated,” she said.

Ikpeazu considered her experience as a new lower to be one aspect that makes her viewpoint unique. In order to fairly evaluate cases, she hopes to uphold an unbiased perspective and an ability to listen to others.

“Coming into Exeter, I wasn’t trying as hard to establish a friend group, which really opened my horizons in terms of getting to know people via classes, sports, orchestra and other clubs, giving me a greater insight into student life and the struggles that we face,” she said.

As part of the committee, Stenor hopes to provide empathetic insight and to help as many people in the community as possible. Additionally, one of Stenor’s driving factors in her motivation to run was the importance of representation. “I wanted younger minority students to see themselves reflected in someone in a position of power,” she said.

Along with many other reasons, MacDonald added that he hopes for students will feel like they are not being judged for their mistakes and that their privacy will be respected. “I want students to feel they are not vulnerable and their voices are accounted for. I will be relentless in sharing my opinion,” he said.

Although serving on the DC requires commitment, Stenor said that she believes that the transition will not be intimidating. “I am willing to put in the effort and of course, I have planned how I will manage my schoolwork with this new responsibility. I’m just going to try to speak my truth,” she said.

Later in the spring, the newly selected students will sit in on a case and observe the process and the conversation between all of the members on the committee, who have experienced the process for one or more years now.

The four new members will be held to the same level of confidentiality, but this case will be their opportunity to see firsthand how the DC works and learn the thought process that they should undertake very soon when they officially weigh in on cases next fall.

After evaluating the students under such a selective process, Aaronian expressed confidence in the future members of the committee.  “Those students who served this year have my utmost respect, and the new members will continue to add a student perspective which is critical to the decisions made by the Discipline Committee,” he said.