Gracie Aziabor ’26 and Philip Meng ’26 were elected on April 11 to be the 2025-2026 Student Body Co-Presidents, hours after the final debate at All-School Meeting (ASM). Throughout Spring Term and over the summer, 2024-2025 Co-Presidents Saraya Angbazo ’25 and Nate Liang ’25 will help the pair transition into their new roles.
Aziabor and Meng initially worked together as Student Representatives during their Junior year. Meng noted how their shared experience offered the pair a unique perspective into the inner workings of Andover, proving valuable as they now begin their tenure.
“[Being a Junior] class representative was really beneficial for me. I got to meet Gracie [who] has become one of my closest friends. Junior class representative really gave me an insight [into] how the school runs and how to work with the administration. Then, we took these two years off to really explore our interests. Now, we’re back, and we have the necessary means to get the things that we’re envisioning done,” said Meng.
Beginning in January, the co-presidential race unfolded over multiple months, including crafting a platform, multiple rounds of voting, and a final debate. Reflecting on this long process, Meng highlighted the dedication and time that went into their campaign.
“Gracie and I have been really putting in so much work for this since the beginning, honestly, there have been many nights where we’ve stayed up until 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. just getting ready and thinking about the things we were going to do. We are so excited to get started on all of this,” said Meng.
Throughout their campaign, the pair focused on four initiatives: a digitized Add/Drop process, Equity, Balance, and Inclusion (EBI) reform for Juniors and Lowers, a club budget and handbook, and Susie’s vouchers on birthdays for students. Aziabor shared her excitement to begin implementing their initiatives, such as the club handbook, which aims to centralize policies about running a club.
“I’m really excited to start working on the club handbook, which I feel like a lot of people would assume is less enticing on our platform. It’s more of behind-the-scenes work. I’m excited to really get going, and that’s one of those things that I know we can hit the ground running on and start thinking about what we want to include. I’m so honored to be chosen for this, and I want to start as soon as possible,” said Aziabor.
Angbazo pointed out her favorite initiatives from the pair’s platform, applauding their ability to build upon the work of Co-Presidents before them.
“[Their club budget and handbook initiative is] such an amazing way to build on what Nate, Mr. [Christopher] Capano, [Director of Student Activities], the Student Activities Office, and I did this year with ClubHub. As Co-Presidents, it’s a big skill to be able to work with what is already existing at Andover and just to refine them and make it even better. And I think that is like a great example of great Co-President work,” said Angbazo.
From their experience of being the 2024-2025 Student Body Co-Presidents, the outgoing pair offered a few words of advice for how Aziabor and Meng could achieve success during their tenure. Angbazo emphasized the need to accept rejection, as there are a large number of factors that are required for each proposed initiative, while Liang pushed the pair to begin advocating for change immediately.
“I’ll say get started early. Even though their terms don’t technically start until the fall [when] people get back to campus in September, [I suggest] just go for it. Especially because Saraya and I are here to get them started on their term and work with them through May, [a piece of advice is] to really start having conversations with different faculty about their ideas as soon as possible because the year goes by fast,” said Liang.
Reflecting on their campaign, Aziabor and Meng expressed their gratitude for the Andover community throughout the election process and shared their eagerness about stepping into their new roles.
“I would like to say thank you to the student body for believing in us and for really riding with us along the whole… The support and love that I’ve felt from the end of the community across these past couple of months really warms my heart, and it makes me so grateful to call myself an Andover student,” said Aziabor.
Meng added, “Thank [you to] all of the people who have supported us along the way: all the students, all of our friends, and all the faculty who have been able to talk to and have helped us walk through our ideas. Most of all, we’re just so excited. There’s so much to do, and there’s so much to get started on.”
Editor’s Note: Philip Meng ’26 is a Business Manager and Gracie Aziabor ’26 is a Layout Editor on The Phillipian, vol. CXLVIII.
