StuCo Vice President-Elect: Anna Holtz ‘25
Anna Holtz poses on the Academy Building steps Photo Courtesy of Roxane Park
By ERIN HAN
On a usual Saturday afternoon, you may hear the distant sounds of a vibrant playlist and the whir of a vacuum sounding from one of the rooms in Dunbar Hall. Inside, a student joyfully vacuums her room, pausing occasionally to dance to the music that fills the space. This is upper and vice president-elect Anna Holtz, who, together with the next Executive Board of the Student Council, will assume office in the second week of the spring term.
While cleaning to a staple playlist is one of Holtz’s favorite pastimes, on-campus, Holtz is involved with a full plate of activities. In addition to her involvement with the Student Council, she serves as a member of The Exonian’s business board, one of the step dance teams on campus, Precision, and Health’s Angels, a club dedicated to promote and educate students on positive health behaviors and attitudes. She is also a member of the varsity volleyball and junior varsity lacrosse teams.
Born and raised in Portland, OR, Holtz came to Exeter as a prep, and walked onto campus with the goal of forming strong friendships and easing into the Academy’s academic rigor. “During prep fall I focused on meeting people and developing strong friendships. The friends I made prep year I am still very close with to this day.” She added, “Academically, the transition was not easy, especially in math, but now funnily enough math is my favorite subject at Exeter. So I’m glad I was patient and gave it a chance to grow on me.”
Holtz also shared a prep year memory that still endures in her memory today—of an icy slip, “I remember it was icy lower winter and, while I was walking down the steps to Grill, I slipped and summersalted down the stairs, and my backpack catapulted over my head in a circle. I was a little prep and the people around were all older kids, and so it was slightly embarrassing— but hilarious.”
Reflecting on the past two and a half years, Holtz explained her gratitude toward the Academy, both for pushing her to the best of her ability in academic settings, and for providing a remarkable community. “Exeter has pushed me in a way I am so grateful for. I have improved my time management, organizational, and leadership skills through challenges at Exeter. Additionally, the people here are unmatched and I am so grateful to be surrounded by such incredibly kind and talented people.” She added, “I can actually picture my close friends and me having reunions in 20 years. I know I have already built some long-lasting friendships that I consider family.”
Prior to her run for vice president, Holtz began her involvement with the Student Council in her prep year, and served as a co-head of the Recreation committee for two years. During that time, her work included the organization of a mentalist’s visit to campus, various events including dances, dodgeball tournaments, pep rallys, and pep assemblies, and—most recently—the Casino Night held in the Thompson Gym on Feb. 10.
As a part of her campaign, Holtz emphasized her gained experience from serving as a committee cohead for two consecutive years. “I tried to emphasize the experience I have had on Student Council as a reason to vote for me, which brought benefits including the connections, skills, and knowledge of Student Council I have gained … Additionally, [I explained that this] experience would allow for a smooth transition into the role of VP.”
Holtz also took the logistical aspects into her hands, putting up numerous posters across campus, and even setting a color scheme to her campaign. She elaborated, “I put up a bunch of posters…[and also] tried to use yellow as my marketing color since I already had a bright yellow coat that I wore everywhere. Basically, wearing the coat was a kind of campaigning without campaigning.”
However at the core of Holtz’s successful campaign were two main objectives that she spelled out clearly in both her initial statement and candidate speech: 1. A happier and healthier campus, and 2. Increased efficiency of student council committees.
She elaborated, “My campaign was in two parts. [The first part was] ‘A happier and healthier campus’: happier as in events and student life, and then healthier as in mental health and focus. I want to focus on increased CAPS transparency, so that more students can feel comfortable talking to adults, and knowing explicitly what they can and can not say. I understand much of it was very legal and complicated, but I will do what I can to have productive conversations with CAPS, health instructors, and other adults on campus to come up with a clear way for students to understand what the school legally has to report.”
She continued, “[The] focus [of the second part of my campaign was] on increasing the efficiency of student council committees. [I proposed that]...smaller goals be distributed amongst committees. For example, berries in the dining hall, and more smoothies are Student Life goals.”
In addition to advancing her plans, Holtz also shared that she hoped to become a familiar and approachable figure for students during her tenure. “I also just want to be an accessible person on campus, that is a familiar face for all students. I am super open to hearing students’ ideas about what they want from Student Council.”
Holtz, with the same enthusiasm that she showed tossing candy into an applauding crowd at the end of her candidate speech, expressed her excitement for what is at hand for the next executive board. “I am so excited and so grateful to be vice president, and am so excited to work with Cam, Kyle, and Lauren. We are gonna be a great team, and I am so ready to get started.” She concluded, “I won’t let anyone down! I’m ready to get to work!”
