The Class of 2025 will only have two Class Representatives in the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. In an email to the class, Student Body Co-Presidents Nate Liang ’25 and Saraya Angbazo ’25 announced that Ozochi Onunaku ’25 and Nadia Vargas ’25 would occupy the position without any formal election procedures.
Angbazo explained the reasoning behind the decision, citing heightened representation of Seniors in the student council as a whole. She highlighted maintaining a fair application process as the primary justification for skipping the election process.
“We set deadlines for the election process and, unfortunately, some candidates were not able to meet the deadlines, and to uphold equity and make it fair to the others that were able to submit their platforms on time, we decided to terminate the election. We also realized that, yes, there would only be two candidates for the election, but given the fact that student council already has so many Senior representatives on it with the Cluster Co-Presidents and the [Student Body] Co-Presidents, we figured that having just two class reps would be okay,” said Angbazo.
In the original email announcing the timeline for class representative campaigns, submission of an intent to run letter by Friday, April 19 and a platform by Monday, April 22 were listed as strict requirements to run. Angbazo mentioned how the Co-Presidents had considered accepting late submissions, but ultimately decided not to.
“At first, in the morning, after realizing not all the candidates submitted their platforms at 8:00 a.m., the initial deadline, we extended the deadline to 2:50 p.m. And, [as a result] some of the applicants were able to turn them in, but, in hindsight, in realizing and discussing whether we should have done this in the first place or not, we realized that it was only fair to the others to rule out the extended deadline that we had imposed,” said Angbazo.
According to Aya Murata, Assistant Dean of Students and Residential Life, only Onunaku and Vargas had submitted the requisite materials by the original deadline. She emphasized the importance of timeliness in pursuing a position in student council.
“Deadlines are important and meeting those deadlines reflect dedication and desire to serve in the role and the organization and punctuality to follow through. We did not feel it was necessary or warranted to extend the deadline in search of a third rep. We felt that if students were truly interested, they would have submitted their materials/completed the steps by the deadline,” wrote Murata in an email to The Phillipian.
After serving as a Class Representative for three years, Onunaku expressed his surprise toward the decision, but pointed out that increased administrative support could alleviate increased responsibilities brought on by the lack of a third representative.
“I was definitely shocked. This is an unprecedented sort of situation that I haven’t seen in my three years of being on campus as a Class Rep since Freshman year. I’ve seen the slow moving changes in Senior Reps in terms of who is Senior Rep, but I’ve never seen a case where it was just only two Senior Class representatives; it was always three Senior Class Reps, no matter how many people were running for the position,” said Onunaku.
He continued, “The administration already does so many events for Seniors in general that it lifts the workload off of Senior Class Representatives… Sure, my workload might increase depending on what we plan to do as Senior class reps, or it might stay relatively the same, as now the administration is able to take a few weights off of our backs as we enter into college season and then the rest of Senior year. I don’t really foresee any major changes to what I currently do right now.”
Vargas, who will be serving as a Class Representative for the first time, voiced her optimism toward working with Onunaku. She indicated the pair’s goals for the Class of 2025 moving forward.
“Ozochi and I already have a great relationship and a well-organized duo can be more efficient than a trio in communications, decision-making, and scheduling. Hopefully we can consider a variety of perspectives that satisfies the class of ’25… I’ve gotten to know most of my grade and made friends with people whose paths I never would have crossed otherwise. I want to make the last year for class of ’25 as fun as possible, as well as savor the last year we have with one another,” wrote Vargas in an email to The Phillipian.
Several students who had publicly announced their intent to run for the position declined to comment on the situation.
