Dimen Represents PEA Class of ’19 After Revote

After a week of campaigning, preps Seth Amofa, May Chen and Drew Smith and lowers Beez Dentzer, Justin Li and Tise Okeremi were elected on Tuesday, Apr. 3 as the new Student Council representatives for the Classes of 2021 and 2020, respectively. Voter turnout was relatively low compared to last year, standing at 37 percent for uppers, 39 percent for lowers and 54 percent for preps.

A re-election was held for senior class representatives on Wednesday; upper Janeva Dimen will serve as senior class president, alongside upper Dylan Yin as vice president and upper Adrian Venzon as treasurer.

The Elections Committee announced the senior class re-vote at Tuesday’s Student Council meeting after naming the lower and upper class representatives. “There was a mistake made in the creation of ballots. Key information was left off of the ballot that was necessary to make it a fair vote. We’re doing it again with the proper information on the ballot,” Student Council co-adviser Carol Cahalane said.

It was later revealed that the senior class president ballot had withheld important information detailing which candidates would be absent on terms abroad next year.

Lower and elections committee member Sam Lew discredited concerns that the error had stemmed from the online voting system, which Student Council has been using for the first time this year.

“I can confirm that the problem wasn’t the online system at all. Nothing in the system malfunctioned; it was just our fault. We didn’t fulfill our responsibilities as the Elections Committee, and we’re trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said, adding that online voting has proven to be a safer and more efficient method of managing elections since its introduction this year.

Elections Committee co-head senior Brian Bae voiced on Tuesday that the re-vote should not affect the fairness of the election. “I think it’ll be fine. All the candidates have been given the same extra time, though even that is minimal since we’re starting the election at 8 a.m. tomorrow,” he said. The re-election was held from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, while Tuesday elections were held from 10:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.

Dimen expressed her excitement and anticipation for the work ahead. “I am incredibly grateful to my class for supporting and believing in me. I am so excited to represent the Class of 2019 and work with Dylan and Adrian. Being great friends, we have amazing chemistry,” she said. “Next year, I hope to incentivize class unity by having an event each term. I will utilize our class Facebook page by posting StuCo updates every week and promoting different games/events that our classmates are part of. The Class of 2019 works so hard—I want to recognize our effort and increase our support of each other.”

The senior class president is responsible for maintaining contact with the senior class, even after graduation. “Our connection does not stop after graduation. With my experience in the Alumni/ae Office, I will plan events and fun reunions to keep us connected,” Dimen continued.

The newly-elected lower and upper class representatives harbor a similar dedication to strengthening class bonds. “I want to organize events to make new lowers and returning lowers feel comfortable with one another and foster a great class environment,” Amofa said. “Harkness and collaboration is everything here.”

Chen agreed with Amofa’s sentiments about inclusion, and said, “Coming in as a new student can be intimidating, seeing everyone else already in friend groups. I want to see more social events at the start of lower year where we can actually get to know people. I also want to foster a more supportive vibe, maybe through an official social media account.” She also suggested the use of social media as a platform for Student Council updates and anonymous student compliments.

In addition to organizing more class activities, the new upper representatives plan to improve class gear. Okeremi proposed a design competition that would allow current lowers to offer direct input, while Li shared his own designs on social media prior to the election.

Dentzer expressed excitement for the year ahead with her fellow representatives. “I think Justin and Tise are both interested in organizing class gear and events, so we’ll be able to work on that together. It’s going to be a really great group,” she said.