Newly elected student body Co-Presidents Saraya Angbazo ’25 and Nate Liang ’25.
Following the Co-Presidential debate during the All-School Meeting (ASM) on March 22, Nate Liang ’25 and Saraya Angbazo ’25 were elected to be the 2024-2025 Student Body Co-Presidents. Throughout Spring Term, they will transition into their roles as the previous Co-Presidents, Eleanor DeHoog ’24 and Ryan Lam ’24, complete their tenure.
The pair initially met on registration day during their Junior Year. Over the years they found their own paths through Andover, before deciding to run for Co-President together in Upper Year. Liang noted how their different experiences have helped shape their platform and campaign.
“We met each other on the first day, on registration day, and we went off to do different things [Junior] and Lower Year. But when it came down to figuring out who to run with, we realized we each have done so many different things and met so many different people. [We have] the perspectives that Andover is looking for and the drive to get done what we say we will,” said Liang.
During their campaign, the pair met with faculty and students to discuss their four initiatives: creating recreational spaces, ASM reform , sleepover visitations, and introducing a club bulletin. A week after the election, the pair has already begun to plan the upcoming year. Looking forward, Liang highlighted the importance of planning and building connections.
“Our first plan as co-presidents is to establish a timeline and foster strong, open relationships with the deans/faculty team that we will be working with in our tenure. We want to maximize the time we can put towards our initiatives, so we will begin setting up meetings and creating a timeline for them in the coming days. We know that ASMs are planned months in advance, so it is our goal to meet with the ASM committee this spring in order to ensure the feasibility of ASM Reform. Club Bulletin and Rec Spaces are two of our smaller initiatives, so we hope to push those as well during our meetings so that they are ready for September. We see Sleepover Visitations as a long-term goal, which is why we’ll tackle this later next year. Right now, we can’t wait to kick off class rep elections in forming the 2024-2025 Student Council!” said Liang in an email to The Phillipian.
Angbazo continued, “We’ve achieved our first accomplishment: meeting with Nor and Ryan to hear feedback and better understand the role of co-presidents ahead of us! In our meeting, we discussed takeaways from the 23-24 school year and goals for the 24-25 school year, regarding specific initiative work, student council and deans team collaboration, and the general, day-to-day tasks.”
The 2023-2024 Student Body Co-Presidents, DeHoog and Lam, emphasized their excitement to see the pair transition into the role, and their confidence in Angbazo and Liang’s platform. DeHoog noted the pair’s ability to listen and incorporate student feedback throughout their campaign, as well as their thoughtfulness during the Co-Presidential debate.
“One of the things they did really well was listening to student feedback, in terms of gauging what it is that other people at the school are looking for. A specific moment that stuck out to me was during today’s debate, Nate and Saraya handled themselves really well, specifically when answering questions, using that as an opportunity to really showcase the ideas that they have and highlight elements of their platform,” said DeHoog.
In parting, Lam provided advice for the newly elected pair, encouraging them to continue forming connections with people and spaces all throughout campus.
“I found the interpersonal connections that you make with people [super important]. I am so excited and I know that they will be able to connect with students from all different corners of campus, whether they have never met them before,” said Lam.
Directly after receiving the news about being elected Co-Presidents, Angbazo and Liang reflected on the campaign process and shared their gratitude for all of the support throughout their election.
“When we found out we felt so in awe and so lucky and appreciative of the Andover community and our friends who, throughout this process, have stuck by us and supported us and rooted for us, and ultimately helped bring us to where we are,” said Angbazo.
Liang continued, “Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. We are so grateful that you have given us the opportunity to make Andover a better place. We have met so many of you throughout the process, and we are so happy that we will be getting to work with the rest of the student council, but more specifically with every single one of you to address the things you think need to be addressed at Andover.”
Editor’s Note: Nate Liang is a Digital Editor for The Phillipian
