**Photographs courtesy of the six Co-Presidential pairs.**
David Gutierrez ’15 and Rebecca Somer ’15, current Student Body Co-Presidents, released the results of the first round of the 2015 Student Body Co-Presidential election at 10:20 p.m. on Monday night. 903 students voted, representing an overwhelming portion of the student body. The following pairs will proceed to the next round of elections:
Annette Bell ’16 and Theodore Perez ’16 hope to work directly with faculty and administrators to improve students’ livelihoods and “make sure that no one falls through the cracks and that everyone feels they are a part of the community,” according to their platform. They want to host optional monthly dinners in which participants are seated randomly with other members of the community, build a network of student support systems, promote flexibility in the athletic curriculum, expand campus discussions on mental health and put an ATM in Susie’s.
Will Bergstein ’16 and Arzu Singh ’16 stood out by running their platform by Paul Murphy, Dean of Students, and ensuring that their ideas were feasible. They want to offer Freshman Seminars, small discussion groups in which incoming Juniors to meet weekly to “streamline their transition into the community,” according to their platform. Bergstein and Singh also hope to improve the advising system, extend food delivery hours by 30 minutes, implement a peer counseling program and add student voices to various faculty committees and open Student Council Meetings to the Andover community.
Sayer Devlin ’16 and Sadie Holmes ’16 would make their main goal to create clear communication between students and adults on campus to “promote happiness and community inclusivity,” according to their platform. They want to host more Student Congresses to get the perspective of more students, reduce workload and grading disparities, create a balance between academics, clubs and sports, offer more student parking and bring an ATM to Susie’s.
Brandon Girard ’16 and Mihika Sridhar ’16 hope to increase mental health initiatives in Graham House by establishing a student advisory board to help counselors. They also want to establish a Blue Card sign-in system on campus, integrate new students into the community before the start of school, increase fruit options, put paper towels in dormitories, add more weights to the Athletic Center and widen the athletic requirement to include extracurricular commitments, according to their platform.
Nathaniel Redding ’16 and Sloane Sambuco ’16 plan to focus on “Making Andover Your Andover.” Their goals are rooted in the tenets of “community, inclusivity and happiness,” according to their platform. Redding and Sambuco plan to promote a sense of community by tailoring the advising system to individual students and creating a comprehensive student mentorship program. Similarly, the pair plans to foster inclusivity by continuing the conversations of social justice that have stemmed from CAMD.
Marcello Rossi ’16 and Caroline Shipley ’16 created a platform that hinges on three main objectives, the first of which is to create effective communication between the student body and a more transparent administration so students are not blind-sided by sudden changes in policy. Another objective is the creation of an internship program in conjunction with the alumni network to give Andover students greater access to learning experiences in potential fields of interest. Additionally, the pair hopes to focus on giving students more activities and opportunities for fun, like having a Color Run or hosting more dances.
