Candidates Forum 4/24/17:

Traditions 

Sarah Gu: My name is Sarah, class of 2020. I’m majoring possibly in biochemistry. I use she/her pronouns.

Britt Van der Poel: Hi everyone, my name is Brit Van Der Poel, class of 2019, she/her pronouns, I am a cities major.

Leah baker: Hi everyone, my name is Leah Baker, class of 2019, she her pronouns, Math and Physics major.

Q: We wanted to ask about emotional problems relating to people complaining on social media . Some things are very harsh and can traumatize you. How prepared are you for that and are you going to be able to get back up after that?

BVP: I totally see that and I think what’s important is that you just know that you’re doing the best that you can and that you’re fostering hope and communication within the community. And to address it in a mature way as to not get entirely involved in it and exacerbate the issue.

SG: I totally understand what you guys are coming from and I definitely feel that. I feel that there are conflicts that are directed towards me directly or you guys there could be some way to separate yourself from it and know that you guys are just doing your job and

Q: How are you going to prepare and manage your time as traditions mistress and what other activities will you be doing that will be taking up your time?

LB: Leah Baker, Class of 2019, Brit and I have talked about this, um, so one example is for myself I’m taking the summer off I’m not doing a very intensive summer internship, so I can prepare myself and make sure my schedule is handled, I also work at New Dorm dining hall so I have my hours there, and I’m also in Pulso Latino, but that I see as like a self-care, so it would give me a chance to kind of take my mind of the things that are going on with traditions. And Brit also works in the campus center but we’ve also talked about how to manage our time so we are fully prepared for the time that traditions will take out of our schedules.

SG: Sarah, Class of 2020, I am a student athlete so I’ll be in season this spring, the good thing is that most of the traditions for the first years are mostly in the fall semester beside may day and wtf week. I’m also going to be customs on Pem East First, so that will be also taking up a lot of my time but I will also be able to manage my time as well so that I can get to the meetings that will be held and I think it will be good for my customs babies and other first years as well to know the traditions that will be held especially if I am going to be the traditions mistress I’ll be able to educate them and like prepare them well for what’s to come.

Q: Can each of you please name all of the traditions that you will be in charge of?

BVP: Lantern Night, Parade Night, WTF Week, Mayday.

SG: Probably all of them, Lantern Night, Parade Night, WTF Week and Mayday.

Q: You’re missing the mugging tradition. So you guys have to come in early for that as well.

Q: Sarah, traditionally this position is held by rising juniors, why is this position important to you, and why do you think as a rising sophomore you will be able to do this.

SG: I wasn’t aware that it was traditionally held by just juniors because I was nominated for it, but I believe I will do well in this position because I loved going through all the traditions, it was so much fun, and like to manage it well I’ll be hopefully talking to the traditions mistresses right now and hopefully do my best.

Q: If you could make any changes to a specific tradition, which one and how/what would you change about it?

BVP: I don’t think this pertains to a specific tradition, but I think we talked about perhaps holding a forum to encourage more communication between the community see if there’s any issues that pertain to specific traditions or the position in general that we need to address.

SG: Class of 2020, I believe that all the traditions as of right now don’t need any, I don’t see any problems as of right now, I definitely agree with them that a forum would be nice for the community to voice any problems, and I actually do think that not many people stay for the sing song steps so I believe that it would be nice to encourage more people to stay for it as it brings the whole community together.

Q: Why do you want this position?

BVP: Leah and I both came to Bryn Mawr primarily, well not really, but one of the biggest reasons was the traditions and we want to extend another year of amazing traditions for the entire community, and we want to make it amazing for everyone.

SG: Class of 2020, I couldn’t agree anymore, being a 1st year, and going into Bryn Mawr I definitely thought the traditions attracted me to Bryn Mawr and participating in the traditions definitely made me want it to be more prominent for the next coming first years and for the community as a whole.

Q: To what extent have you spoken with the current traditions mistresses and learned more about the position?

LB: Leah Baker, Class of 2019, So Brit and I have talked about this so I feel like I can speak about this on her behalf as well, so Brit is Bunza’s hell child, one of the traditions mistresses, so she’s been able to see a lot of what Bunza’s had to do this year through that, and for me I’ve talked to Bunza for what, two hours, talking about it, learning all about what traditions takes, what things you have to deal with the whole entire year.

SG: Sarah, Class of 2020, I remember talking to Tori who’s my customs mom and she told me that her hell mom is the traditions mistress Bunza and she told me a little about it and she told I did not directly talk to Bunza about it and I think (inaudible) about it, and I remember I was talking to Jasmine about it and she did tell me it was a lot of work and I feel that I will be able to do that .

Q: What work or positions have you all held in the past that you believe will help you in fulfilling this role.

SG: I haven’t held many positions here at Bryn Mawr but in high school I held many leadership roles, in my (admissions?) and my own SGA so I think with those leadership roles and just learning from the current traditions mistress, I feel I will be able to learn as the process goes but also just have the skill to be able to take on the role.

LB: Leah Baker, Class of 2019, So Brit works as a conferences events assistant in the campus center, where she is required to work daily without hovering supervision she’s in charge of making sure she gets what she needs to done, and she’s also in charge of like planning events she works with the adult adults that work on this campus. As for myself I work in New Dorm Dining Hall, I’m the assistant student manager, which means I’m in charge of a listserv of over 160 people. I’ve done trainings with these people, during customs week, I have to communicate primarily with first years, because that’s the main class year that students are in the dining halls. This past year I was the showcase coordinator for pulso Latino which means I was responsible for setting up events, reserving spaces, coordinating things between the bi-co, Even we had Penn, a group from Penn we had to coordinate with, yeah I had to reserve Goodhart like a year in advance, so that’s an example of long term planning.

Q: Could you please describe what members of the Bryn Mawr administration you’d be in charge of working with?

BVD: primarily, Mary Beth Horvath, student activities, professors, PSafe, Lisa Zernike (inaudible) who is my boss, probably other people but I think those are at the forefront, people who are on charge of landscaping, glitter, facilities.

SG: Definitely all of those people, I was also thinking of president Kim Cassidy, any of the dorm presidents, facilities, PSafe, but yeah, but probably many others as well.

Q: So we also work very closely with the dean of the college, so right now it’s dean Walters.

Residence Council Heads

Michelle Fleuriot: Hi my name is Michelle, Class 2018, I use she her pronouns.

Courtney Given: Hi my name is Courtney, class of 2019, I use she her pronouns.

Q: What positions have you guys currently or previously held that would prepare you for this position?

MF: Both Courtney and I have been on the Customs committee team, so we helped to plan Customs week, for the first years this past year. And personally I have been on the (Picasso?) Eboard, I work at Erdman, and I have worked in the writing center in the part and I have worked as a coordinator for Adelante.

Q: Why do you want this position?

CG: Class of 2019, Michelle and I have both been involved in dorm leadership in the past and speaking for myself I really want to be involved in SGA, and that’s something that I want to be more involved in in my senior year, so just being a representative and working closely with the dorm presidents.

Q: Have you consulted with the current Res Co heads, and if so, what do you anticipate your duties to be, and if so, what members of the administration do you anticipate you’ll be working with?

MF: We actually have, Keira Siegel was on the customs committee with us and we’ve talked to her and she works with Bridget and she’s talked to us about what this position will entail. And we’re going to work most closely with Angie Sheets and we expect to be a liaison between the dorm presidents, and the res co.

Social Committee Heads

Jessica “Jubs” Breet: Jessica Breet, “Jubs”, Class of 2018, she/her pronouns.

Q: What does your position do?

JB: So, Social committee is responsible for holding dry parties as alternatives to any of the campus wide events and the big wet parties that happen on campus, there’s always one that happens in the campus center. The thing is it doesn’t always have to be “dry” just because it’s dry, you know what I mean? So (inaudible) hosting bomb ass parties, so that is the biggest part of the position, so in addition to that, coordinating the paid bouncers team, on campus, working a lot with public safety, with facilities, and it’s a member of the representative council, so going to SGA every week, being an active member of SGA.

Q: There’s a Social committee on campus, so how do you plan to interact with that committee?

JB: So I would be head of that committee, so I would be working very closely with the people on that committee, act as a liaison between them and the admin, make sure that we’re meeting regularly and to facilitate conversation within the committee itself and with the greater campus as a whole, making sure that we’re fulfilling the duties that we need to do.

Q: I know that you guys are in charge of the Halloween party and the spring formal. I know that the spring formal didn’t happen this year because they ran out of time, how will you fix it so that this coming year that doesn’t happen?

JB: So this is where I have to admit my faults as a person. I am continuously having to work on my time management skills, and organizational skills, not only because as a person you should keep working at things, but also because it has been one of my weak points in the past, but having the committee to help with that, and I think engaging in well thought out and positive delegation of  planning parties can be a pretty seamless process, especially with something as established as social committee and with these events that have taken place for years now.

Q: You said you had stuff you wanted to say, what was that stuff?

JB: Why thank you, So I am actually running for two other positions today and was hoping to run for this one in the event that I don’t get 2018 class president along with Lydia Sanchez because I have currently been a member of the Representative council and it has currently been a big part of my experience at Bryn Mawr this year and being active in SGA has meant a lot to me and I would like to keep doing that and I also like to plan bomb ass parties, so this would allow me to do that , and be on Rep Co in the event that first choice doesn’t pan out, because I just really want to be involved.

Songs Mistress 2018

Paige Weber: Hi I’m Paige Weber Class of 2018.

Jessica Breet: Jessica Breet, Class of 2018, she her pronouns.

Q: Why are you running?

PW: I am the current class of 2018 songs mistress, I really enjoy it I think it’s fun, I always have a good time during step sing, because I always think it’s nice for classes to get together and enjoy the end of sometimes stressful traditions, I just have a good time with it, and I’d like to do it again, and I’d like to help run lantern night as well, because I know Senior Songs Mistress helps run the swingers and the runners.

JB: Sorry, can’t get over that word, swingers. Also Paige can sing which is definitely in her favor. When I was a frosh coming in in customs week, I tried out for songs mistress. Honestly that was the beginning of my infamy, at Bryn Mawr, I did get into the last two people and then I think it was rigged, okay. I said a comment that was taken very badly, by the judges because I am from South Africa, and the other finalist, Sarah Juma is from Nigeria, and I was like ‘look at the people from Africa! Whoo-hoo!’ And then everyone thought I was being super racist, because they didn’t know I was from South Africa, and then they voted against me, but they didn’t know I was from South Africa. But Sarah was incredible so it was totally fine. It was really funny because also at the same time all of the 2nd year customs people thought my accent was fake, it was a good time. Honestly I’m really good at keeping people up, I like singing even though I do it badly.

Nolan Julien: I am running for songs mistress because it is something I have wanted to do since freshman year.  I have a passion for moving and working with crowds as every year I get so excited to sing my class song with my fellow classmates.  As a senior, it would mean a lot to have this final experience with my class.

Head of Student Curriculum Committee
Dezirae Gomez: Hi my name is Dezirae Gomez, class of 2020, and my intended majors are Anthropology and Sociology.
Q: What does your job do?

DG: At first when I was nominated, I thought it was more working with students but it’s more of meetings with professors who have curriculums and I am there as a voice. so my job is to speak with students and makes sure that the plans that professors want to put forth is accessible and equitable to all.

Q: what positions have you had in the past that you think will benefit you for this position?

DG: Currently, in my college career, I don’t have any positions that would directly affect this position but my goal in life is to be an education lawyer and work with education equity so over the past summer and in high school I did a lot of work with education and teaching kids and working with organizations that help kids from underserviced communities go to college. I am on Posse so that helps me look at everything from a stand back approach than from a self-point of view and I think it helps me get different perspectives from different students.

Q: Since Bryn Mawr has a diverse student body, how do you think you are equipped to advocate for the student body knowing the varying levels of accessibility, diversity, and the different needs that the students have.

DG: Everyone’s different so I don’t think I can honestly advocate for everybody. but I think having meetings or open forums where people can come talk to me is important. I want more input from students. one of my goals for next year is to talk to more people so that I can get their perspective on class. something brought to my attention is that these meetings are confidential so I would only have to talk to others in hypotheticals perhaps so I think that getting conversations started is important. obviously I can’t speak on the behalf of every individual but I want to make an effort to be able to learn more.

Class of 2018 President:

Connie Lam and Ann Tran: she/her pronouns.
Jessica “Jubbs” Breet and Lydia Sanchez: She/her pronouns.

Farida Ilboudo and Anita Ntem: she/her pronouns.

Q: what experience do you have that equips you to deal with this position?

CL: Annie and I have been co-presidents for the past 3 years together so we have had lots of experience. we know a lot of what you’re supposed to do as co-presidents and some of the events that we have thrown were: sibling class socials, sophomore celebration, a lot of different events. We know that we work well together as a team since we have been for 3 years.

JB: I was the dorm president for Erdman this year which meant advocating for 150+ residents. That meant that I was an active member of SGA, went to meetings every week, had to vote as part of RepCo. Lydia has served as the student representative on the board of trustees which means that she has a lot of experience working with administration and advocating for the student body.

AN: that’s a great question. Farida and I have done a lot of separate things which means we maximize things together. For example, Farida is the co-dorm president of the ECC. She’s constantly going to SGA meetings and she always knows the rules and regulations. Farida and I are the co-presidents of Picasso and we have increase participation for events so we know how to throw really good events and advertise. I am a current hall advisor in the ECC and we were both customs persons there. we were both also social culture heads so all we do is throw and manage events. we have managed over $13,000 in the academic school year so we know how to budget effectively. and in terms of planning senior celebrations, we are currently throwing events  for the Picasso seniors and making the experience much more memorable. we know how to talk to administration because Farida has had multiple conversations with the board of trustees. so I think combining this we can maximize each-others potentials even more.

Q: How do you think you can bring something new to SGA to bring change for the better?

AT: We are hoping and we have in the past really tried to  make our events as inclusive as possible. For example, we realized that the only people who could benefit from our events where those who attend so why not reach out to all of the student body by stuffing mailboxes and holding pop-ups and doing things that make everyone in our class feel included. in terms of next year, in this position, we would want to form an unofficial committee to reach out to all members of the class, try to incorporate new ideas, and make sure that everyone’s voices are heard. that being said, we also want to partner with Farida and Anita as vice co-presidents. so  we really want to include new ideas into the mix in a way that makes everyone feel that they’re being heard.

JB: In being a member of the RepCo, I’ve been an active voice in pushing for a lot of the changes that have taken place. I’m on very good standing with the current E-board and I’m a huge advocate for throwing out Roberts Rules of Order. I also have spoken a lot to the current senior class presidents and having learned from them their experience, we’ve found that unlike other positions on campus that are elected positions, there is no guide for this position. so for like traditions mistress there is a guide that tells you the duties you have to follow and how to go through them. and that does not exist for this position and its especially necessary for continued continuity to exist for the senior class president because it is such a large role and far more of an expectation than the underclass presidents. that being said, it is like an anything goes position so holding a town-meeting to help plan the events is something that is totally doable and we would be interested in this. and finding along the way mechanisms that ensure that the community is being served as best as we can.

FI: I always think that we have taken measures in to ensuring that we create a more friendly environment, not only as a senior class but also for SGA overall. We’ve already had meetings with the E-board to figure out how we can include some things that we thought were wrong in the last year. We’ve also been meeting with KCass and we’ve been speaking with the board of trustees on Bryn Mawr’s history and how we can come together and make sure everyone’s voice is represented. something that Anita and I have also been doing, with the help of Ann and Connie as our Vice presidents, we want to bring laughter, joy, energy, and positivity especially with Anita who always brings her cool and calm presence and energy. We have been collecting data with current juniors and seniors on things that they would like to see better and how we as a team could make senior year much more enjoyable and full of love and laughter. the same way carry our position at Picasso and help other affinity groups on campus create a more welcoming and inclusive environment is how we plan on leading the senior class.

Class of 2019 President:
Lillian Oyen Usted and Nikitha Shankar Shakamuri: she/her pronouns

Kamara Simms and Yeidaly Mejia

Q: What experience do you have that will help you fulfill your role?

NS: We were class presidents freshman year and this year. we had a great time being together, running this position together, because we started off freshman year as best friends so we came into this position knowing we could do it. and we’ve stayed together creating amazing events and we’ve had amazing turnouts with our publicizing on Facebook. we had a lot of big events this year we had to coordinate together like: flower dance and the sophomore celebration. we had a great time. everything we do, we put a 100% and it turns out to be great.

YM: We’ve both held leadership positions on campus and been involved with various different departments, so have made many connections. This year, I have worked in different communities such as Zami as Co-President, Mujeres* as the Culture Show Co-Representative, and with the first years as a customs person. Kamara has worked as CDA Co-Head, worked in Dining Services and Admissions, and acted as the Black History Month Coordinator for Sisterhood. She has also previously been a part of SGA as a member of the Appointments Committee.

Q: What do you plan on doing for those who are studying abroad and when they come back and need to adjust?

LOU: Nikki and I came in knowing that we were going to run for this position and not to go abroad in order to hold this position. It’s been something that’s important to us on perspective students weekend. although we are not going abroad, we have many friends who have been and are going abroad and I think that one of the things that we’ve seen the current class of 2018 presidents doing is throwing events regarding writing each other letters. one of the things that people focus on that those that study abroad in the fall but we want to be able to continue those traditions for those that leave in the spring as well. It’s very important that people that are returning their senior fall have the ability and support system to readjust when they come back. one of the things we want to do is to have a going away/welcome back mixer so that our classmates know that we have not forgotten about them so that we can go into senior fall unified.

KS: I’m actually going abroad for the fall semester, so will be a great resource for those who would have been abroad in understanding what it’s like to adjust back into Bryn Mawr. I think it’s important in recognizing the hardships people will be facing when they are back in having missed what happened on campus, and acknowledging that for an entire semester they would have had to adjust to an entirely different environment. That’s why I think I will be useful in this role, because in finding resources for myself, I can also help the group of students coming back from abroad whilst also understanding, to an extent, how they are feeling. Also, Yeidaly will be here for fall semester, so we can work well with one another in regards to filling any gaps, and between us we can be representative of the different experiences people will have in junior year.

Q: How would you continue to and improve on representing people in the current climate of SGA?

NS: We’ve learned from the class of 2020 presidents is that they created a class of 2020 Facebook class president page so that people could post their concerns there without being censored so we like this. We also have office hours but have not publicized it a lot so well work on that and make sure everyone can come and email us.  also we are close to the E-board so looking forward we can connect and work with them to not only focus on what we want to do for our class but the college’s mission in general.

YM: In the current climate of the SGA, the mission of the 2017-2018 eboard is to uplift the voices of people of color and those with marginalized identities. Kamara and I will continue to highlight these voices in our class year. With the community of Bryn Mawr shifting and changing, it is important for the both of us to be as accessible as possible for the junior class. We are both active on social media and answer our emails very quickly if our peers have any concern and want to contact us. In continuation with being accessible, we wanted to have joint and separate office hours in the Campus Center which is central to all the dorms/an open place on campus for students who live off campus. Kamara and I discussed having polls for our class to decide what they want to do for class hangouts. We want to make sure that hangouts are inclusive of everyone in the community and our peers feel like they have a say in the decisions being made.

Class of 2020 Presidents:
Sophia Bokhari: she/her presidents running solo

Lauren Herelle and Juliet Lacey: she/her pronouns

Zainab Saeed and Dilesha Tanna: she/her pronouns
Q: What is your role?

JL: Other than facilitating conversations between the class and SGA, we work closely with the dean’s office. for rising sophomore we would be in charge of the flower dance and also the sophomore celebration.

ZS: apart from the events and mixers, we try to make stuff as smooth as possible for you. like when you’re going into sophomore year, the basic job is to be able to make everything smooth and fun for you.

SB: the most visible things are the mixers but there’s a lot of communication representing the students voices towards administration and showing up to SGA meetings. and making sure to vote in favor of the class.

Q: Can you detail the list of responsibilities that would help you for this position and also what you would be doing to help traditions?

SB: some of the things I do right now for leadership roles: president of law society, a founder of productions of color acting troupe. a lot of that is just planning events and field trips so I’m pretty good at planning events. and that would work well with traditions because my background is with accessibility, I’m also in access service co-coordinator, so making sure that traditions events are as accessible as possible. and my events for my society and club are successful. this makes the process of exploration and going through pre-law as accessible as possible. and the events and those things, monetarily possible. this would help me in this position.

LH: In terms of coordinating with the traditions heads, we would be helping them make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. one of the reasons I want to be co-president is to be more involved in this community. In the past, in high school I was involved in the multi-cultural alliance, blue-key tour guides, the ESL program at my school, and making sure traditions are accessible to as much as the community as possible.

ZS: Dilesha is already class president so she has experience and she was class president in high school as well. I was a consultant program manager for an educating consulting group in Pakistan so I was in charge of hosting nation-wide conferences and events. that involved financial planning, management, and everything that goes along with it. so I’ve done work with NGOs and for business events. When it comes to management, financial planning, publicity, marketing, all of that, both of us have previous experience. what we do plan on bringing and helping with traditions is making sure that we publicize it effectively so that turnout is great. also just making sure we can help you in whatever way possible- marketing or financial planning.

Q: how do you plan on staying organized in this role and who will you be working with in this position?

ZS: Dilesha and I have always been involved in a lot of things at the same time. that has helped us keep our schedules tight to make sure we get everything done on time. when it comes to working: Mary-Beth Horvath, traditions mistresses, deans.

JL: I am obsessive of organization and I am overly-punctual and very good with time management. Lauren and I went to high school together and have been best friends for 5 years now and we were co-president for ESL in high school. We’ve been working together for a while so that is a big plus. we will work with : SGA, deans, and Mary-Beth Horvath, and others.

SB: In terms of organizations and managing stress, I work well under stress and take a lot of initiative as I have many responsibilities and stay organized. another thing would be, not being afraid to ask for help from my community in order to work together and get feedback on how I should proceed with different things. communication wise we would be communicating with: Mary-Beth from student activities, deans for declaring, study abroad coordinators for information, and other parts of administration is terms of accessibility curriculum.

Q: How would you characterize your current relation as a class with the class of 2018 and if elected how open are you willing to host sister class events?

SB: I have a great relationship with the class of 2018. I feel like a lot of our member have a lot of problems in the class of 2018 and so I feel like we’re pretty close. and so I think it’d be great to continue this relationship. as I said before, I’m really great at throwing events because it’s an organizational things and I just know how to get people to come. I know how to make events as accessible as possible and I think my close relationship with 2018, personally and the class, listening to what they have to say about parties would be very helpful.

LH: We all love the class of 2018 and I’m down to host a bunch of parties with them. I’m pretty good at throwing parties, I like my taste in music and others do too. we work really well together and balance each other out and I think that planning events together would go really well. we went to high school together and threw a graduation party that was lit.

ZS: I would describe our relationship as a mentor and mentee relationship because we all look up to you. we look up to you to answer the questions we have. Dilesha’s a dancer and I’m ready to dance so we’re ready and we have some great ideas. well talk about that afterwards.

Class of 2018 Honor Board Representative
Hayley Johnson: She/her pronouns
Meagan Mulkern: She/her pronouns

Q: How do you plan to address the social honor code violations that go up in dorms (theft)?

HJ: this is one of the big ones I think we need to change in respect to the honor code because it’s not just that people are stealing things, I think there are going to be people who don’t abide by the honor code no matter what we do. I think the big issue of it is student  empowerment because the honor code is intentionally written very vaguely so that people are not expected to abide by the letter of the code they’re expected to abide by the spirit of it too. and because it’s so vague people don’t feel like they have a leg to stand on when they want to speak up about something. so I think we recall need to work with reaching out to dorms and dorm president and DLT to work with students and make sure they feel empowered to speak up when they know that someone has done something wrong in the dorm or when they’ve seen something that they don’t think warrants a confrontation. confrontation doesn’t need to be a big conflict or hostile. it needs to be something we practice and get comfortable with so that we can have a healthier and more open community.

MM: and I definetley agree with one of the big thing is that it’s very hard to know what conflict means and how to approach it. It’s definitely part of the honor boards role in community education. but also it goes to the idea that there needs to be more resources available for both students and DLT because there is only so many things you can do with an email. so empowering students as individuals and students who are in leadership roles to take more effective action in terms of the social honor code would be beneficial in curving theft and making it a more functional environment.

Q: why do you want to run for this position?

HJ: I am a current member of the honor board and I’ve been on it for the past year. it has really shaped the way that I view living in an honor bound community. both that in that I take up a lot more seriously and I see the way in which we could all uphold it better. I mentioned that one of the things I wanted to change was student empowerment but the other thing I want to change is institutional memory for the honor board because there’s currently no real mechanism in place to make sure that say people 5 years apart that have committed similar infractions get consistent resolutions on that. there no way to ensure that it’s not drastically different. so one of the things I want to work on for next year is creating some sort of standardization or reference for the honor board to know what has happened in the past and a guide for the future.

MM:  one of the reasons I want to be on the honor board is that the idea of an `honor code and system is one of the things that attracted me to Bryn Mawr. so taking a chance to work actively in forming and making it better than when I got here would be wonderful. also another thing is that I know that the honor board is a very mystified thing and everyone’s afraid of it because there isn’t a lot of communication of what exactly it means. so I want to get involved again in that community education. also I consider myself an expert in the academic side in citation and plagiarism and academic honesty. so I want to bring my knowledge of that to the honor board and to community education to help people understand that citation isn’t a scary thing.

Class of 2019 Honor Board Representative
Sofia Colosimo
Q: What do you want to change about the honor board or the way that it is run?

SC: this past year on honor board, I worked with the Haverford honor council on along hearing. I learned a lot about how Haverford’s honor code works and the processes of honor council and the way they deal with transparency that’s better than here. things are out in the open and there’s a lot of communication between the students and faculty and honor board which I think makes things a lot clearer to the general student body.

Q: how much time can you dedicate to this position?

SC: I currently have a fair number of extracurriculars so time management has been a struggle but I have always found it fairly easy to prioritize on meetings since there isn’t an official schedule and everything is pretty flexible. I found the dean’s office to be fairly understanding when it comes to accommodating everyone’s schedules. so definitely I think that my willingness to be flexible along with the dean’s office understanding makes it pretty easy to get the work done that I need to do.

SGA Archivist
Sasha Rogelberg: class of 2019, they/them pronouns
Q: As a current member of the institutional memory committee, it is very easy to fall flat in this position if you do not maintain a very strong connection with special collections. how do you see yourself able to make a productive professional connection with special collections for this committee to move smoothly in the upcoming academic year.

SR: this position of SGA archivist is an extension of working with the college news as a priority and reserving institutional memory. another huge part of that is making connections and following through with people. I know some people at special collections so that is a great reason to stay connected with them. ultimately it is a question of communication which is something I’m learning more about

Q: how do intend on addressing the more racial history of Bryn Mawr particularly could you see yourself taking role in the potential reading of Thomas?

SR: I remember when that petition was sent out. not necessarily having an explicit conversation about that but I think that starting conversations is really important and a good way to start doing that is to make archives more accessible. I want people to be able to view them and understand them and I know that that’s something this past year’s archivist has worked on doing with SGA record. I would like for people to be able to see what’s happening. Finding out information is the best way of changing.

Q: Do you have any plans to publicize what the SGA institutional memory committee does?

SR: I’m not sure what social media presence you guys have now but I think that that would be the first step. There isn’t a whole lot of information online. So, having an online presence, maybe on Facebook, would be important like special collections book binding folks. doing something akin to that and posting pictures.

LILAC Representative

Dezirae Gomez: Class of 2020, she/her pronouns

Q: What skills sets and past experiences makes you feel prepared for this position?

DG: One of the things I’m good at is being a liaison and that’s the gist of this job. even though I won’t be able to talk to the whole student body, I’m going to take notes and giving information back into the community. I feel like I’m very personable and I think that will help with getting informational about different programs. one of the things that a lot of my peers have expressed concerns about is not knowing about funding opportunities within LILAC and I utilized LILAC a lot by my own finding. a lot of people don’t know all the resources they have like mick interviews. so if I do get this position I would want to make that more known. Bryn mawr has a lot of money that isn’t utilized but you just have to go for it so I want to make it more known and accessible so people get funding.

Q: How does CPD and LILAC overlap?

DG: We will at the meetings and Wyndham but I think we advertise separately as a double team. I think career peers do more with working one on one with students while I would help with advertising.

Committee on Public Safety
Phoebe Dopulos: Class of 2019, she/her pronouns
Q: How do you plan on working with PubSafety to limit the number of people smoking in dorms?

PD: This is the most infuriating thing on my side because I am a customs person and we have had this problem a ton. I have come to the HA and PSafe will come and they are not permitted to know on everyone’s door. I really want to look at the rules because I don’t think that that’s the best answer and I don’t think that PSafe should be knocking on doors. I think that there could be way better way to go about it. a way  to talk to HAs and customs people about being more comfortable knocking on doors so that they know if it’s someone they can talk to them. having  a way for the HAs and the customs people to find out who it is and report it– nothing really happens if you get in trouble unless it’s a repeat offense. NO one knows the rules well enough and we need to communicate that this is important and this is the process.

Q: The punishment for smoking weed is so lenient as opposed to getting a citation for underage drinking. Do you think that’s fair? if not, do you think that can be lessened by the new EMT group and making it a safer place on campus for people who are drinking?

PD: The Lower Police Department has to deal with many colleges so the citation problem is a clause invented by the Lower Merion PD to target colleges. It is out of PSafe’s control and I disagree with it but you are right that the EMTs can help with calming people down and not sending them to the ER. I was a DP this year so I have a contact with the EMS folks and I think that EMS and PSafe are kind of disjointed now so definitely continuing to build this relationship is a priority for me.

Q: Is there a way to deal with the smoking issue regarding those who aren’t HAs?

PD: I think that there should be a way to anonymously report people in a way that PSafe won’t see except customs people as the start. and if that doesn’t start, it’s their discretion to pass it up the ladder. An anonymous tip bag that could go through the DLT and eventually ResLife so that if there is a call on to PSafe, PSafe can say we’ve heard of this. I know this has many  traps so this could stay within the students. I think that people are uncomfortable ratting others out but I think that there should be a system in place for people who don’t know what to do. If it happens again, there could be some connection in the DLT about what to do about it and then it’ll be moved up.

Q: Back to drinking, is there someone we can put in place that PSafe can call before calling the police?

PD: I have been present at 2 EMS calls with a drunk student where both of them went to the hospital and that was the right move. I would like to talk to EMS to pass on information about general knowledge of alarms so that HAs know specifics they need to call but the line can get very fuzzy. so, having a way for EMS to talk to people about when you definitely need to call EMS for because once EMS calls they air on the safer side and that there’s more effort for underclassman to drink safely. So more information of knowing when someone is in danger so they know when to call and to be quick about it.

Candidates Statements April 2017:

Traditions Misstress/master/mistex

We, Britt van der Poel and Leah Baker, are excited to announce that we will be running for the 2017-2018 Traditions Mistresses positions.
We are both passionate about Bryn Mawr and the significant contribution our traditions make to the character of this college. Our own decision to join this community was undoubtedly influenced by the unique traditions that Bryn Mawr offers. Our own experiences with traditions have been filled with love, support, and a sense of community. We understand the value that traditions hold within the Bryn Mawr community and our goal is to ensure that traditions are enjoyed by all students in their own ways. Traditions have a lasting impact on the students in our community, and we want to make sure that everyone’s experiences are positive and lasting.

In order to foster a community in which traditions are inclusive, we find that it is most important to have open communication within the entire community. Our main priority is to ensure that everyone is enjoying the events that we are organizing. We understand the amount of work this position yields, and we are prepared to provide the student body with another year of special traditions.
We both have experience with event planning and with holding leadership positions. Britt is currently a Conferences and Events assistant, which has provided her with experience in event planning and administrative tasks. Through this opportunity, she has also been able to strengthen professional relationships with her employers, who are at the forefront of planning events on campus. In high school, she was on the Senior Advisors Committee, in which she helped plan and execute her graduating class’ yearbook, senior trip, prom, and various other activities. Leah is the Assistant Student Manager at NDDH, where she is responsible for leading meetings of both supervisors and student workers, facilitating communication between all departments of dining services and student workers, and creating a positive work environment for student workers. This past year she was also the Showcase Coordinator for Pulso Latino in which she was responsible for meeting with staff on campus to plan and reserve performance spaces for their annual Spring Showcase.

Thank you for your time and we hope that you consider us as your Traditions Mistresses!

Class of 2018 President

CLASS OF 2018 CO-PRESIDENTS: CONNIE LAM AND ANN TRAN

Here for you.

We’re here for you, and we always have been. We want to make your senior year amazing, and we’re willing to put in the commitment, creativity, and compassion so that everyone’s needs are met. We have consistently come up with new ideas for the class, gauging support by speaking with peers and figuring out what the people want. We were historically the first co-presidents to question the use SGA Co-Presidency funding solely for events. Instead, they put the money to creating things that everyone would love and benefit from, not just those who could attend socials. We have also listened to your opinions and have helped students navigate how to implement the class song’s change after it was voiced that not everybody identifies with the class song Girl on Fire. We have been your presidents for the past 3 years and would love to be able to make our fourth and final year at Bryn Mawr our best year together!

About.

Connie Lam and Ann Tran have been here for you since before Bryn Mawr, figuring out how to navigate through college together! They met as hopeful attendees of Bryn Mawr College. Living across the hall from each other on Brecon 2nd during the Posse STEM immersion the summer before their first year, they immediately bonded over their love for desserts, their tendency to randomly trip while walking, and their need to fill awkward silences with even more awkward jokes. This position means so much to them because it has been the glue to the friendship, the thing that you can always find them speaking about animatedly. Even though they come from very different majors, they have both found a similarity in the passion that comes with planning and hosting events through the Co-Presidency.

Events that work for everyone.

Since the elections as first-years, they have organized a plethora of events, from Sophomore Celebration, to handfuls of pop-ups, and more. Even if you don’t spend time in SGA or have enough time to attend all out events, we try to make our events reach everyone. That’s why we do mailbox stuffers, tabling, etc.

Ideas/changes for the upcoming year.

Senior year is really important, and they want to make sure that everyone in 2018 has a good time. In order to make events work for everyone, they will form an unofficial committee to hear more fresh perspectives to help come up with more ideas and so that more people can have a say in what happens.

They also want Senior Week to be as transparent and democratic as possible for the upcoming year. They plan on sending out polls to see what events the majority of you guys want to do so that our Senior Week will be what you want to do.

As well, they will definitely host events that have been hits in the past, hoping to carry on the “traditions”. These include the Jazz Night before the Battle of the Bands, more pop-ups, photo-shoots (LinkedIn and Senior Year Robes), and a Bread and Roses sticker.

If you are curious to learn more about our platform, please head to annandconnie.weebly.com.

Hi Class of 2018

Farida Ilboudo & Anita Ntem will be running for class of 2018’s senior class presidents. Farida has the experience of being
Co-dorm president of a dorm and attending- SGA meetings, so she is aware of the bi-laws rules & regulations. Anita is a hall advisor who also knows how to navigate situations as she has been a great resource to her residents. She  is also the co-president of  the Mindfulnes Meditation Club & Business Initiatives Group thus have leadership skills that are equipt & ready for any and everything.

Farida & Anita had been the current social-cultural heads of BACaSO, so they have increased participation of events from 60 people  to over 250 people. Their jobs have the consistency of planning events and getting people excited about celebration and learning and that is what we hope to carry as your presidents!! We have been very efficieny in making sure that over $13,000 in an academic school year has been used to best represent and celebrate members interests.

As active members of the community, not only do we hold memorable and active roles on campus but we are constantly involved in the exchange and updates on what improvements or change we think are mecessary on campus whether that is with the board of trustees or with general walk in hours of administartion. We are adamant about well students feel represented and welcomed into the community.

We have already started creating a database on possible events that would be great for the senior class ! We know how hard it would be to thesis, apply for jobs and grad school, so we want our senior year to be as least stressful as possible.  We have already started creating a database on activities for students to get involved in, we have asked current seniors what they are excited for and what they wish were different. We also asked a few current seniors for their perspectives on what they would like to see and we would use that as a way to guide what our senior year should look like and focus on.

Once again, Farida & Anita have known each ither for years! They have travelled to Ghana and worked on outstanding projects and still continue to do so and thrive. If anyone would be a great candidate to make your senior year amazing it would be Farida & Anita. We would love to live, laugh and love our senior year!

Thank you!

Love,

Anita & Farida
Dear Class of 2018, Hello! Our names are Lydia Sanchez (she/her pronouns) and Jessica “Jubs” Breet (she/her pronouns) and we are running for class presidents. We would like to serve as class presidents to create a memorable and exciting senior year. We are running on a platform of necessary change. These changes include town hall-style meetings regarding senior week, transparency in graduation plans, and a Class Presidents’ Facebook page to encourage open dialogue. This is in addition to the event organization portion of the position – four Senior Cocktails, Senior Week, and smaller hangouts – which we are committed to making enjoyable, memorable occasions that are exciting, helpful, and accessible. As a current member of the Representative Council, Jubs is an active voice at weekly SGA meetings, and works to serve the needs of the greater Bryn Mawr community. She is highly committed to being involved in SGA and working with the new executive board to foster positive, productive change both within the association and on an individual level. Lydia has served as a Student Representative on the Board of Trustees for two years, and is well-versed in the nuances and intricacies of communicating and working with the administration. Lydia’s strengths in organization, planning, and experience working with “higher-ups,” coupled with Jub’s knack for interpersonal connections, enthusiasm, and experience on the SGA RepCo, make us the ultimate complementary “dream team” for the position of Class President. Together, we would have the responsibility to ensure that the feelings of our classmates are voiced and acted upon in ways are the best for us all. As members of varied groups including people of color, queer people, international students, and low-income students, we represent a diverse pool of identities. We are interested in serving as class presidents for a number of reasons and have several key issues that we are committed to. Because of Lydia’s time on the Board of Trustees, going need-blind as an institution has become a high priority and cause for her. High participation in the senior gift is directly related to larger fund raising, and thus financial aid and the ability to admit students solely on academic performance. Jubs loves people, the class, and hosting bombass parties. Thank you for considering our candidacy and we hope to be given the opportunity to lead our class in an unforgettable senior year! Yours, Lydia and Jubs

Class of 2019 President

Hello everyone! Lillian and I are excited to have reached the halfway point of our Bryn Mawr career and would love the opportunity to re-represent our class as Class Presidents for our Junior year! Both of us have grown together as friends and leaders both on and off campus these past two years, and have channeled that positive energy into our positions. Lillian is a double major in Biology and History while I share the same love for the sciences except with a touch of Psychology.

After two full years of being your class presidents, we are excited at the chance to do it again in the upcoming year. From bringing together our class and the rest of the community through bud and roses teas and sister class socials, to celebrating the holidays of different cultures, to coming together to battle finals, Lil and I cannot imagine not being involved in SGA. We know first hand what comes with this position: the budgeting, the planning, working with traditions, and also communicating with the E Board. With us, you get experience and a true love for this position. Our main mission is to bring together the class and try to get each member of the class to at least see each other before senior year! The great thing about Bryn Mawr is having a small class size of 450…so why not make the best of it with the incentive of free food, great music, and a guaranteed good time.

We’ve both had experience managing our course loads, extracurriculars, and jobs with this position. Therefore, Lillian and I can surely handle a third year with this responsibility. Additionally, since we’ll both live in New Dorm next year, communication will be highly effective and accessible to not only each other but to the whole class. We understand that email can sometimes be less personal than a face to face meeting, so if you ever need us, we’ll be in the same location!

Aside from running for this position, we both share a love for country music and sushi! Lillian also is a highly active member in the college; Whether she’s leading the swim team to its next victory or making breakthrough discoveries in her research lab, she’s always ready for the next challenge! I myself, have a passion for Indian classical dance and music, so you’ll usually see me embarrassing myself at a class tea!

We cannot wait to help guide our class through our third year here at Bryn Mawr. Between strengthening our bonds with other classes to creating new friendships with the incoming class and transfer students, the upcoming year has much to give us. We hope to increase attendance to class events while also increasing the number of events we have throughout the year. By an increase in our budget, we hope to increase the opportunities we have in planning. We can’t wait to celebrate the milestones that come with our third year: from writing cards for study abroad students, pre-planning senior cocktails, gaining leadership positions in other clubs, declaring our majors and minors…we hope you’ll ride this amazing journey with us!

-Lillian and Nikki, loyenustad@brynmawr.edu nshakamuri@brynmawr.edu

Kamara Simms & Yeidaly Mejia

ksimms@brynmawr.edu // ymejia@brynmawr.edu

Junior Class Presidents

We are very much trying to carry out an unconventional year as class presidents. We appreciate change and seek to adapt in order to work in the best interests of 2019, which means truly listening to what our class year has to say and making our hangouts representative of our interests. We love the complexity and energy of our class year, and really want to honour that in this role.

It is especially important in junior year to promote cohesiveness and community within our class, because a large majority of our class year will be settling into our majors and/or traveling abroad, so naturally we will be very introspective and self-focused. We want to ensure that we are still enjoying ourselves and feeling supported by one another. Juniors aren’t as directly involved in traditions and college-wide activities, so it is important for us to inspire and uplift each other. We are committed to doing that, and making junior year fun and carefree for us all.

Additionally, it will be our first year being a part of an upperclass sister class. It would be great to engage with the first years and incorporate opportunities to get to know them throughout the year.

Together, we have both worked in or have been closely affiliated with many departments on campus, and will use this experience to be able to direct fellow juniors to resources that will be useful. Along with connecting fellow peers with resources, we can connect and rely on our resources to make our junior year as fun, enjoyable and productive as possible.

We have complicated feelings about Bryn Mawr, but what we both agree on is that we need community in order to thrive and survive here. We want to make sure that holds true in our junior year. We want to be honest and transparent with you, and make sure this feels like a collaborative effort in making our junior year as great as possible. We will strive to exceed your expectations and truly value the confidence you have placed in us.

Class of 2020 Presidents

Zainab Saeed and Dilesha Tanna

zsaeed@bmc and dtanna@bmc

Class of 2020 Co-Presidential Candidates

To begin with, we would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take a look at our candidate statement. We are interested in being Co-Presidents of the Class of 2020 because we feel that we can work to accurately reflect the wishes, concerns, hopes, and ideas of our class.

Sophomore year can be challenging and eventful between declaring majors and the possibility of studying abroad. Our mission is to be there for you and make the process as smooth and fun as possible. We hope to plan events such as ice cream socials, insomnia study breaks, smoothie & juice bars, and therapeutic spa days. We want to serve as the voices for your class and represent you all in the weekly SGA meetings.But, most importantly, being co-president means serving as a resource and friend that students can feel comfortable talking to about anything, whether it is classes, current events, or personal matters.

Dilesha: Being Bryn Mawr Class of 2020 Co-President during the 2016-2017 has been a privilege and has taught me a lot about the school and the amazing people I interact with on a day to day business. Furthermore as a director of the Mayuri Dance team and a board member of Owl Investment, I have worked to bring together groups of students from a variety of backgrounds and create a comfortable space for all of us to thrive. Especially since I went to an all girls’ school for high school, I know what it is like to maintain strong relationships between one another and create that family unit away from home. I have facilitated such a community in high school through my role as Class Vice President in 9th grade and Class President in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Additionally, I worked to foster overall growth in my school as student council treasurer. I have also worked in positions such as student ambassador, member of National Honor Society, Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper, and captain of the Varsity Tennis team that have taught me valuable skills in leadership and bringing everyone together. Furthermore, I know what it takes to be a member of the community both on a local and global scale. I have served over 120 hours in a local hospital, taught dance to kids of all ages for two years and have volunteered at a school for the underprivileged in India. My experience has helped me grow as a person and encouraged me to help others overcome their own struggles.  I want to extend that same sense of community and assistance to all of you during our sophomore year as well.

Zainab: Being an active member of the Bryn Mawr Community has been an amazing experience for me as an international student. Debating against large state schools and Ivy Leagues  a competitive attorney on the Bi-Co mock trial has allowed me to continue my passion for debating. Having been a Debate Head and a private MUN debate trainer has allowed me to travel all over the world and argue policies with people ranging from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. This experience has allowed me to develop my communications, team working and team building skills. Furthermore, having founded TASK, a program that provides a safe space for the street children of Karachi to learn and thrive, and having been the lead volunteer at the Red Crescent Society (Red Cross)  has heightened my need and want to give back to the community that I am blessed to be a part of. When it comes to event planning experience, I have learned a lot about the organization, financial planning and management that goes into events via my work as a consultant and program manager at the School of Leadership, where I was handed the task of organizing and planning nation wide conferences. My work in the professional field and inside the bounds of my school have allowed me to grow as a person and has helped form connections with a range of people. It would be an honor to put form those connections within the Bryn Mawr Community and help people as I have done internationally and in my home country, Pakistan.

In conclusion, it would be a great honor for us to help make your sophomore year as smooth, fun and relaxing as possible. Both of us, will always have your backs and whether it be an academic or personal situation we will always be there to guide you and support you to the best of our abilities.

Hi everyone! Our names are Lauren and Juliet (we both use she/her pronouns) and we are running to be co-presidents of the class of 2020.

Just a little bit of background info about us: although this is our first year of college, we have been best friends since we met during our sophomore year of high school. Knowing one another extremely well is one of the reasons we think we’d make a great pair to represent the class of 2020. Having co-led the English as a Second Language program in high school, we know we can both contribute to a leadership position distinctly, but in equal parts.

Our goals for the upcoming year are simple: to bring a fresh perspective to SGA, represent the interests of our class, ensure that everyone has a voice, and above all, to help you have fun! As the SGA is making efforts to usher in a new era specifically geared towards inclusivity, we hope to contribute to the diversity of thought that will ultimately make SGA more representative of the entire Bryn Mawr community.

As much as this position is about collaborating to improve SGA, our primary responsibility is to help you enjoy your experience at Bryn Mawr. That means working toward improvements on an institutional level, but it also means affecting your day-to-day. We work hard. Let’s repeat that once for emphasis. BRYN MAWR STUDENTS WORK HARD. We see you in lusty at two in the morning, and we know you’re getting ready to declare your major, so let us plan your sophomore celebration and some mixers to help you out.

Let us buy you insomnia, put together a good playlist and help you find your chill.

Hi everyone! My name is Sophia Bokhari (she/her) and I’m in the class of 2020. I am running for class president and you can contact me at ssbokhari@brynmawr.edu. I’m interested in being class president because I was nominated and find the work the presidents do to be very valuable to the Bryn Mawr community. This position requires high levels of organization, leadership, independence, and teamwork as well as the desire to reach out and listen to the Bryn Mawr community. I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of experience relevant to the above. During my time at Bryn Mawr, I have started two different successful organizations and become an officer in other new organizations. My leadership in these activities on campus, as well as my involvement in other activities, require a lot of self-motivation as well as the ability to work cohesively with other members of the Representative Council.

To improve the effectiveness of this position, I would continue to make SGA more accessible. I strongly believe that motivating students to voice their opinions and participate in SGA will come through reaching out to said students and making sure they feel represented. As president, I would implement office hours throughout the semester. This would make myself more accessible to the Bryn Mawr community and make SGA more transparent in that students could inquire about progress and SGA in general throughout the course of the school year. Also, I’d like to better communication between SGA and students by making how I improve SGA and work with administration on behalf of the students clearer through weekly emails and putting students interested and concerned with how things are in touch with myself to communicate at length on how best to represent their concerns at meetings. The Class President’s role on the representative council needs to be emphasized and expanded in being more of a representative voice on campus at SGA meetings concerning issues other than just popups and mixers.

I want to be representative of students’ voices as a leader within SGA. I have been involved in SGA in the form of appointed positions such as Access Services Co-coordinator and Elections Board member. I would like to continue to serve the Bryn Mawr community as a representative and class president. Thanks for your vote!

Residence Council Head

Hi everyone, our names are Michelle Fleuriot ‘18 and Courtney Given ‘18 and we are running for the position of Residence Council Co-Heads!

We have both previously been involved in ResLife through several positions over our time at Bryn Mawr. We were initially introduced to ResLife sophomore year when we were both customs people. Additionally, we were both members of the customs committee for the 2016-2017 school year, which involved training the new customs people for their duties and planning customs week for the incoming first year students. Being on the customs committee gave us valuable experience in working as part of a team, something that will be beneficial as Heads of the Residence Council, and experience planning and running meetings. In this role we also gained experience worked closely with members of the administration.

We would like to be ResCo Heads because we are excited about working closely with the Dorm Presidents over the next year. Additionally, heading into our senior year we are excited to take a more active role in SGA by attending SGA meetings and acting as their representatives to several committees and groups. If elected, we look forward to collaborating with the other members of the Residence Council and acting as liaison between the Dorm Presidents, the Administration, and the rest of SGA.

If you have any questions you can contact us atmfleuriot@brynmawr.edu or cgiven@brynmawr.edu

Representative to the Honor Board from the Class of 2018

My name is Meagan Mulkern and I’m running for a position as a Representative to the Honor Board from the Class of 2018. I’m interested in this position because I see the Honor Code as an integral part of Bryn Mawr and would love the chance to make sure that it functions smoothly in the next academic year. I also value community education and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to learn about and understand the Code and the Honor Board, especially in terms of demystifying the process of being sent to the Board. In terms of credentials, I think I am well-qualified for this position. Having spent close to three years at Bryn Mawr I am familiar with the Honor Code through experience. I also well-versed in the academic side of the Code, particularly in terms of academic honesty and citation. I am confident that I have something to bring to the Honor Board in the coming year. I can be contacted at mmulkern@brynmawr.edu.

My name is Hayley Johnson, and I am running for Class of 2018 Representative to the Honor Board. I have been on the honor board for one year, and it would be a privilege to continue that work. As a student representative on the honor board, I believe my biggest responsibility is to advocate for the student perspective. Each honor board case is unique, and each case requires the board to empathize with the student’s situation as if it were our own. Although faculty do this to the best of their ability, they have been out of college long enough that it is incumbent on student representatives to ensure that the student’s voice is clearly heard.

There are two areas where I see the greatest room for the honor board to grow: institutional memory and student empowerment. Because the members of the honor board cycle in and out every few years, the resolutions upon which the board decides lack standardization. To ensure that students are held fairly and equally accountable throughout the years, it is necessary to establish some sort of institutional memory of honor board cases. Although case abstracts are produced after each trial, these abstracts need to be compiled in a more straightforward and easily accessible way. That way, honor board members have an easy reference guide, and community members can understand what should go to the honor board and what to expect out of a hearing.

The other area where the honor board can aid community growth is in student empowerment, especially with regards to the social honor code. Because the honor code was intentionally written to be vague, many students do not feel justified in speaking up even when they have seen something that warrants confrontation. Confrontation does not need to be a hostile interaction; rather, it is meant to be restorative. Perhaps through outreach to dorms, I want to use this position to help students feel more empowered to speak up both to fellow students and to professors. Confrontation is a healthy and necessary part of living in an honor-bound community. By growing more comfortable with confrontation in our day-to-day lives, this community can hopefully grow to be a healthier and more open place.

Representative to the Honor Board from the Class of 2019

Hi everyone!

My name is Sofia Colosimo (she/her) and I’m running for Junior Representative on the Honor Board. I’m running for this position because I want to continue the work that I started this past year as Sophomore Rep. Serving on the Honor Board has taught me a great deal about how the Honor Board interacts with our daily lives as students not just on paper, but in reality. I am interested in making the Code better fit the realities we face at Bryn Mawr now and work to find solutions to pressing issues like theft in the dorms. Just as many students know, I know that the Honor Code needs reevaluation. I am committed to making the policies and processes of the Honor Board more transparent, more accessible, and more just for all Bryn Mawr students.

Despite juggling multiple extracurriculars this year, I was able to make the Honor Board a priority in my schedule, and I am ready to continue that commitment next year. I look forward to another year of collaborating and learning! If you have any questions, you can email me at scolosimo@brynmawr.edu!

Thanks so much!

Sofia Colosimo ‘19

Representative to the Honor Board Class of 2020

Hi! I am Taylor McClain. I am a first year (she/her) and I am running to be the Class of 2020 Representative to the Honor Board. I want to join the Honor Board because I think the Honor Code is a central part of the Bryn Mawr community. Without the Honor Code, Bryn Mawr would be a less welcoming, less cohesive environment. The Honor Code contributed greatly to my decision to enroll at Bryn Mawr and it has been a major part of my college experience. It is important for me to see that the Honor Code is given the proper respect and acknowledgement. I hope that by joining the Honor Board I would be able to help maintain the integrity and respectability of the Honor Board, that I have known and experienced. I think as students here, we have the potential to take the Honor Code for granted, but it is a privilege that must be respected and upheld with integrity. The Honor Code is one of those things that will forever be a part of Bryn Mawr, but I think that the Honor Code needs to continue to be enforced and students and faculty need to continue to be informed of it.

In high school, I also served on the Honor Board equivalent and it was extremely rewarding experience. I appreciated the opportunity to contribute to the upkeep of the community at my school both while I was there and for future students. The honor code at my school allowed us the freedom to challenge ourselves in a safe environment. Here, the Honor Code has a similar effect. It allows the Bryn Mawr community to thrive and it allows us to challenge ourselves so that we may become independent thinkers and doers. Additionally, I think that I am qualified for this position because I am a great listener and a reciprocative communicator. I hope these qualifications will extend into my future position as a honor board representative on the Bryn Mawr campus.

Sincerely,

Taylor McClain

Class of 2018 Songsmistress/master/mistex

Hello everyone! My name is Paige Weber and I am running for the position of class of 2018 Senior Songs Mistress. I believe I am qualified for this position as I am the class of 2018’s current songs mistress and I am one of the co-pitches in Counterpoint A Cappella. As songs mistress I will work hard in making sure that all classes are enjoying the end of traditions step sings. This includes making sure that the new first years have fun during Parade Night and continue to come to all other step sings. I will also be helping some of the juniors and seniors learn how to swing lanterns for lantern night as well as teaching them Pallas. I believe I am capable of handling this as I have worked with and watched how the current senior songs mistress ran the rehearsals and I feel as though I could run them myself. Over the past year I have really enjoyed being the class of 2018 songs mistress. I enjoyed singing and dancing with everyone and I would be very honored to lead our class in the first singing of Bread and Roses.
Paige

Student Curriculum Committee

My name is Dezirae Gomez and I am a member of Bryn Mawr’s Class of 2020. I am currently looking forward to next school year and opportunities that align with my educational and career goals. I plan on becoming a lawyer and focusing in educational law. My aim is to be involved in education reform, access, and equity.  In high school, I was afforded the opportunity to work with an array of educators and administrators that have solidified my knowledge of the Houston education system, but I know virtually little about that of Philadelphia’s. I want to be a part of the Student Curriculum Committee because I am interested in higher academia and I think I would be a great liaison in the meetings. I am professional, organized, and talk to people in order to be the voice for the students at Bryn Mawr College.

Committee on Public Safety
My name is Phoebe M. Dopulos and I am running for the Public Safety Rep. The relationship between the student body and Public Safety is continually tense. Better channels of communication between students and psafe officers and leadership alike is lacking and can be created with the existing committee. Streamlined questions, increased integration with BMCEMS, and better communication with DLT surrounding dorm issues can and will be achieved in the upcoming year. PSafe is a part of Bryn Mawr’s day to day life, and there is potential to imporve this somewhat fractured relationship.

Thank you for your support.

SGA Archivist

My name is Sasha Rogelberg, and I am running for the position of SGA Archivist. As an editor for *the college news*, I am concerned with institutional memory. The newspaper not only aims to preserve narratives from Bryn Mawr students and community members, but also reflect on changes of this institution through the lens of our publication. I hope to extend my interest and investment in institutional memory to the SGA.

It’s very clear to me that in order to have conversations about Bryn Mawr as a historically and inherently racist and classist institution, we must first understand how this came to be, how it has manifested differently over time, and how racism and classism continue to pervade the experiences of so many here. By making archives more accessible through their digitalization (an initiative that Cassidy Gruber Baruth started and one that I would like to continue), I hope we can begin to learn more about Bryn Mawr as an institution and ways in which Bryn Mawr the institution impacts Bryn Mawr the community.

As far as I know, SGA archives and the Committee for Institutional Memory have little to no online presence. This is a small, but concrete first step to letting the community know that 1) there is information about Bryn Mawr and SGA that need to be uncovered 2) there is a means of uncovering this, and 3) they can access this information. By forming greater connections between the Committee for Institutional Memory and the study body, I hope for more people to gain interest in Bryn Mawr’s history and to the history they are creating as students here.

You can contact me at srogelberg@brynmawr.edu. Thank you!

CPD Representative

Nolan Julien, Class of 2018

Candidates Statements Fall 2016

SGA President 

Hi, everyone! My name is Rachel Bruce ‘18 (she/her pronouns) and I am running for the position of SGA President.

I am running for President because I want to ensure that SGA is a place where students can come together and make their voices heard, regardless of beliefs, background, or class year. Now more than ever, Bryn Mawr students need a body on which they can rely for transparency, representation, a listening ear, and action.

As the current SGA Secretary and a member of the SGA Executive Board I have had the pleasure of advancing these initiatives of transparency and action. This included creating accessible summaries of the minutes sent out each week, the creation of the SGA Snapchat account, updating the SGA website, and getting more student input on the planning of our most successful Plenary yet. As SGA President, I want to take them one step forward ensuring the most optimum SGA experience for Bryn Mawr students. If elected, I plan to help make this possible by:

1. Creating a strong line of communication and transparency between SGA (the students) and the BMC Administration that advocates for the interests of the students and the students alone.
2. Working to diversify SGA’s Representative Council and attendees by meeting face-to-face with affinity/AMO groups, international students, McBride Scholars and newer members of our community (including first-years and transfer students during Customs Week).
3. Hosting weekly office hours to listen to and work to resolve issues facing students.
4. Creating a committee devoted to ensuring communication from the Administration in times of crisis both outside of and within Bryn Mawr.
5. Working with the SGA Webmistress/master/mistex to combine the various SGA websites (Honor Code, Appointments, Elections, etc.) to one accessible center for information on SGA.
6. Hosting events and working with the Assembly on initiatives for the Representative Council to interact more with their constituencies.
7. Creating a hands-on approach to give students the tools they need to become more politically active and confident by starting in a smaller political environment (such as getting speakers and organizing events will have the opportunity to learn ways to become more politically involved).

As a rising senior, I have taken the last two years to reflect on my place in our community and ways we can all work together to improve it. If elected, I promise to do my very best to work alongside the rest of the Executive Board and the community to help SGA reach its full potential as a voice for all students.

I am always reachable by cell phone, email, or Facebook message. If you have any questions about my candidacy, platform, or ideas, please email me at rbruce@brynmawr.edu. Thank you so much for your consideration!

-Rachel

Alisha Clark

My name is Alisha Clark (she/her) and I am running for SGA President. 

As president, I hope to systematically enact change. After speaking with many students, I feel like the foundation of SGA is fundamentally flawed. I want to create a space to include community members who constantly feel outside of it, specifically marginalized identities. I want to change people’s mindsets to feel empowered enough to participate and create a stronger government.

Bryn Mawr has an undercurrent of problems that arise because Bryn Mawr’s issues are outdated. I want to ensure people receive help if they need it. I want to increase accessibility. I want people to believe that they are part of the community in a tangible way.

It is not a one person job. Metaphorically I want to act as a vessel. This is not something to be done alone. Let me be a resource for the student body, to channel the student body, into something positive. 

I have a plethora of higher position for the past few years, from working with Communications, to Dining Services, to communicate actively and acting as a liaison for Pensby, Res Co, Admissions, etc.

Although I have not held an active position in SGA, I believe that this has benefited my own ability to become a leader without the bureaucratic weight, from speaking with directly administration to being a listener of other students’ problems. My work has been local.

-Alisha Clark ’18

Genesis Perez-Melara ’19 (She/her)

Gperezmelara@brynmawr.edu

617-669-4087

Running for SGA President

Hey Guys,

It’s a privilege to be running for SGA president. I see this position as me representing the Bryn Mawr Student Body. I understand that I will be the line of communication between the students voices of concern and need and the administration/faculty. I will use my best judgement to make decisions and push what needs to be done by administration and faculty that will improve the students time here at Bryn Mawr. I have heard many complaints and concerns on social media that must be addressed by the SGA Executive board. I want to make SGA a welcoming presence on campus where every student feels comfortable enough to share what they have to say in person or through electronic communication and know that the input they give will be taken into serious consideration. I have been head of elections for the past year and half. I was thrown into the position not knowing much about SGA. There were individuals who were not supportive of me but I cannot forget the ones who helped me get through every challenge of holding this position. Those supportive individuals were the ones who have shown me what it means to be part of SGA and the power I have as a student on this campus. I want to extend this warmth to incoming students and students who have yet to participate in SGA. I plan to uphold these goals by doing the following:

1. Schedule meetings with AMO groups to discuss about how the executive board can better serve them
2. Holding office hours
3. Discussing with the previous e-board about their goals for the next year and what they have done this past year that work and didn’t work
4. Reach out to underrepresented students in SGA, such as McBride’s and international students
5. Check in periodically with the representative council
6. Have a suggestions box outside my dorm so that students can express concerns anonymously
7. Facilitate discussion about what we can do as a student body regarding the current political turmoil and what we can do to ensure our safety. (I understand that there is a lot of controversy about this but I believe our nations politics has reached to a point where there is a human’s rights crisis)

I have received many criticism in the past regarding my position but I have learned to take them in a positive light where I improve serving the student body. Because of this, I ask that students who have serious concerns and needs regarding radical change within the SGA representative council to contact me. I want to sit down and listen to what you have to say. So please, feel free to send me a text, call or email.

SGA Vice-President 

Hey y’all! My name is Nanda Bhushan, and I am running for SGA Vice President. My previous experience on Social, Plenary, & Appointments Committee has allowed me to recognize the ways in which committees can be used to implement change and give a voice to students. If elected, I hope to make SGA more accessible, politically active, and collaborative. In terms of accessibility, I intend on making the SGA office in the campus center an open space for students to express their complaints and explain visions for future events. Also, considering the political climate of systems and the nation, it is up to SGA to be an active and present participant in conversations and events in the community. Furthermore, there is a distinct separation between AMO groups and SGA, which undermines how people’s identities are personal, and how personal identity is political. To help alleviate this rift, I believe there should collective Hot Topic events and discussions between affinity groups and student government. The vice-president primarily works with appointments and the specific committees that provide a platform for addressing student needs. For example, the Financial Aid Advisory Board could provide a space for students who receive aid to express their concerns, to draw guidance in filling out forms, or to settle misunderstandings of tuition costs. Also, the Health Center Advisory Board could be used to advocate for voiced demands like the need for more counselors of color. My previous experience with being Customs and a co-leader of Zami has allowed me to discuss and understand different viewpoints. Furthermore, being on the Appointments Committee has generated situations in which collaborating with others was critical. Especially when we interviewed potential applicants and were asked to choose not only a good person, but the right person for a certain role. If I am elected, I look forward to using my position to work with other students on demanding what Bryn Mawr needs in order to be a better institution. I also look forward to possibly working with fellow committee members, the representative council, and the rest of the E-board. Thank you for your time and consideration!

– Nanda Bhushan

Hello my name is Delia Landers. I am a current sophomore and I hope to be your SGA vice president for the next year. I believe that I have the qualifications and connections to various aspects of the community to fully act out this role. I previous served as a Member-at –Large my freshman year and then as a member of the Appointments Committee for the past year. As Vice one of my main roles would be to organize the Appointments Committee. I have seen how the outreach and planning process takes part and I am very comfortable with the interview process as well. I hope to increase the amount of people applying for certain appointed positions by publicizing for those which do not often receive many candidates. I think that especially reaching out to majors and clubs that correspond to those areas would be a good way to do so. I think that as a member of Executive Board I would be able to improve SGA. I am a member of the Volleyball team, I hold a couple of jobs on campus as a tour guide, at Pensby center, and at Wyndham. Through these various roles as well as my other experiences on campus I feel that I will be able to reach out to many people on campus and represent them well. I hope that SGA can become a more accessible place and a resource for students on campus. I think that if we had more SGA sponsored workshops and trainings surrounding activism and politics that would help students to feel more comfortable representing themselves at Bryn Mawr and in the world. I hope that we are able to create more open and respectful spaces for dialogue. I really see a lot of potential for SGA to become truly a space for students to lead and have their voices heard. If you have any questions for me please contact me at dlanders@brynmawr.edu.

SGA Secretary

My name is Megan Pemberton (Class of 2020 ; mpemberton@brynmawr.edu), and I would be delighted to serve our SGA as Secretary. Tentatively, I intend on majoring in English and Political Science, and currently act as the secretary of the TEDx initiative at the College. During high school, I also had the privilege of working as the secretary to a state probation office. Suffice it to say, I am no stranger to the duties that befall this role.

Reflecting on my previous experiences, I believe that the skill set that I’ve acquired makes me qualified to fulfill the demands of this position, despite whatever prerequisites I might lack in age. As the secretary of TEDx, I have learned how to take efficient, succinct records of our meetings, disseminate those minutes to other eboard members, and assist the co-presidents with managing schedules and deadlines. The formalities of the position come second nature. My experience working for Corrections taught me office organizational skills, such as coordinating between different government entities, summarizing parolee meetings for officers, compiling summaries of cases, and managing unpredictability. I believe that these are highly applicable to the role of SGA Secretary, whose principle charge is to relay information between the body she helps manage and the individuals she serves.

I view getting involved in SGA as an effective means of dissidence in the era of a highly-authoritarian America. Now more than ever, the future of our country will depend on the actions of the many brave and willing. We can endeavor to do so by engaging with our peers at SGA meetings, Plenary, and various other events. The Secretary has a uniquely special role in uniting the student body with the institutions it has formed to advocate for itself. I will facilitate clear, transparent communication between students and SGA by continuing to include summaries of the minutes in weekly emails, using new platforms to notify students of SGA events, and coordinating with the rest of the eboard to ensure accessibility. Above all else, I promise you that I will listen, that every voice and motion will be recorded and readily available to the students.

It would be my absolute privilege to act as the SGA Secretary. Thank you for your consideration.

SGA Treasurer

Anna (Anran) Huang

    Hey everyone! My name is Anna Huang, and I am in Class of 2019. I am running for SGA treasurer. I didn’t expect I would participate in SGA when I first came here. But one thing happened in my freshman year changed me. I missed my budget interview because I was sick and didn’t hear the alarm clock. I literally cried in front of my hell mom because I thought my club wouldn’t get any money. Though from helps of other upperclassmen, I finally got a make-up interview. But from this experience, I knew how important money is. It supports all our events on campus. Thus I applied to become a member of SFC in my sophomore year. Combining with my experience of participating in 15 clubs during freshman year and running 2 clubs as board members, in SFC, I started to think about the current problems in budget allocation and the feasible improvement. I know that some clubs really need money and some clubs do not spend all their money. This does not mean that they are lazy, but that events are hard to organize. Like in one of my clubs, even if we want to spend money, we can’t find a speaker for it. Even because of the pressure of budget, some clubs tend to spend money at the end of the semester for not well-prepared events. That’s a waste. To allocate the resource of school more efficiently, I think the current system is not flexible enough. Usually after the first application of budgets, the budgets do not change much for the whole semester. Although we have the midterm review and reallocation, that’s not enough. As far as I know, people do not utilize them frequently.  To solve this problem, if I am elected, I will hold weekly office hour to enhance communication and provide guidance for budgeting and reimbursement process. The procedures are not simple and I think the conversation in person is more efficient than email. In the mid of the semester, I think I will email the clubs who do not spend a lot of money to ask if they are willing to give back some money so that I can give it to clubs which have higher expense. Other than that, during the budgeting process, I will consider multiple aspects to allocate the budget. Not just the past budget history of clubs, but also some other factors like leadership teams, daily activities of clubs, etc. I am a math major so I think I am pretty sensitive to numbers and good at analyzing from multiple aspects. Hopefully, I can really serve the community, bring some good changes and help everybody enjoy their college life. If I am elected, I will try to make the budgeting process more human, and focus on everybody’s happiness. If you have any more questions, please contact me via ahuang1@brynmawr.edu.

SGA Archivist

My name is Cassidy Gruber Baruth and I’m running for SGA archivist. Ever since I started at Bryn Mawr, I’ve been fascinated by its history. During the first semester of my freshman year, I would go into Special Collections and look at the scrapbooks of former students. Since the summer after my freshman year, I’ve been working in Special Collections on a variety of projects, including working directly with the college archivist to edit and compile finding aids for the collections. I find the Bryn Mawr collections both informative and fascinating, and I want to share them with the greater Bryn Mawr community. If I become the SGA archivist, my primary goal will be to share as much of the SGA archives as possible with the Bryn Mawr community. I hope to achieve this through a variety of means: through the SGA archives blog begun by Nora Dell and the SGA Archives Committee, an exhibit, and possibly a podcast or video series. Knowledge of Bryn Mawr’s past can aid both SGA and the Bryn Mawr community at large in making more informed decisions that will impact the college’s future. Through a deeper understanding of the past, we can work to improve the future. If you have any questions, you can contact me at cgruberbar@brynmawr.edu.

Best,

Cassidy Gruber Baruth

 Head(s) of Elections

Hi everyone! My name is Sophia Bokhari (she/her) and I’m in the class of 2020. I am running for head of election and you can contact me at ssbokhari@brynmawr.edu. I’m interested in being Head of Election because I am currently on the elections board and find the work the heads do to be very valuable to the Bryn Mawr community. This position requires high levels of organization, leadership, independence, and teamwork as well as the desire to reach out and listen to the Bryn Mawr community. I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of experience relevant to the above. During my time at Bryn Mawr, I have started two different successful organizations and become an officer in other new organizations. My leadership in these activities on campus, as well as my involvement in other activities, require a lot of self-motivation as well as the ability to work cohesively with other members of E-boards.

To improve the effectiveness of this position, I would continue to make elections and SGA more accessible. I strongly believe that motivating students to run for elected positions and participate in SGA will come through reaching out to said students and making sure they feel represented. As head of elections, I would implement office hours throughout the semester. This would make myself more accessible to the Bryn Mawr community and make SGA more transparent in that students could inquire about elected positions and SGA in general throughout the course of the school year. Also, I’d like to better communication between SGA and students by making the role of elected positions more clear on the blog and putting students interested in positions in contact with current officers. I feel that the Head of Election’s role on the representative council needs to be emphasized and expanded in being more of a representative voice on campus at SGA meetings concerning issues other than just elections.

SGA stands for Self-Governance Association and I want to be representative of students’ voices as a leader within the organization. I have been involved in SGA in the form of appointed positions such as Access Services Co-coordinator and Elections Board member, which I strive to make representative of students’ voices. I would like to continue to serve the Bryn Mawr community as a representative and head of elections. Thanks for your vote!

Milan Fredrick mfredrick@bmc

Sophie Goldstein sgoldstei1@bmc

Milan and Sophie are interested in running for the positions of co-heads of elections because we are interested in getting more involved in student government on campus.  We think that the role of head of elections is extremely important for the Bryn Mawr community. The heads of elections hold a vital role in bridging the gap between students and the SGA. The SGA can be a frightening and far-away program for many but the Heads of elections is a good way to let students have a more personal experience with SGA. Milan and Sophie have also held leadership positions in the past, have effective communication skills and a passion for student government. We feel it is important for students to have a voice on campus, and make Bryn Mawr feel like home to them. Milan and Sophie are both dedicated students that have a passion for learning and getting more involved in the Bryn Mawr community.

Member(s) of the Appointment Committee

Ruby Zeng

Rzeng@brynmawr.edu

Members of Appointment Committee

I think I have this dedication and passion to anything I’m doing, like how I did with violin practicing and all the classes I take in Bryn Mawr. I love playing the violin so I always invest about 14 hours every week on it. And even though sometimes the classes are not as I expected, I try to do it well because I feel there’s the sense of responsibility and respect not only for myself but also for the others people and their efforts. I will apply the same mindsets to the SGA work as well.

Also, I like keeping daily routines to make my life more organized and try to have good habits. I believe that being organized is crucial to any kind of work, such as responding emails timely and getting work done on time.

Although I don’t have exactly same experiences or in similar positions but I have been the head monitor of my class all the way till high school. I did mainly the administration and coordination work between the students and teachers, also between the students and the school. I also helped organize some class activities like class trips.

Candidates Forum Fall 2016

NOTE: The last 23 minutes is on stand by…

Presidents:

My name is Rachel Bruce, class of 2018, and I am running for SGA president. I use she/ her pronouns. Hello my name is Genesis Perez-Melara. I used to see/her pronouns, class of 2019, and I’m running for SGA president.

Sophia: class of 2020, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Rachel Bruce: Rachel Bruce class of 2018. I am a junior, and I am currently on the SGA e-board. I’m the secretary. so I am responsible for writing the minutes, writing the summaries, and sending everything out. I have held several SGA positions before. I was a member-at-large freshman year. Members of appointment committee sophomore year. I was a customs person. I am the secretary. It has really been a position that I was honored to have and working with the e-board has been a really great experience. I really care about SGA a lot. Having been on the E board for the last year I see a lot of things that work well and a lot of things that did not work well. I can point out different things that I would like to improve. I am excited to work with the rest of the executive board and representative council to make SGA as good as it can be In terms of working with different groups of people on campus.

Genesis Perez-Melara: Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019. For the past year-and-a-half, I have been the head of the elections. For my freshman year I held the position alone and the second year I held the position with my roommate Mariana. It has been a great experience for me. This is the only position I have ever held but I think it was a great learning experience. I was into the job and the support that I found within the SGA committee was really great. I think that my experience with dealing with things that are unexpected, teaching myself the Constitutions especially the bylaws, going through the plenary resolutions ,and working closely with the e-board for a long time are really helpful .I am really excited to hopefully work with the e-board and hear the student body,  not only taking my opinion on what I think should change but also listening to the student body because I know that there are a lot of opinions out there and there are a lot of desires to change things with SGA. It’s really intimidating for a lot of people and I don’t think it should be that way. We are students and we hold a lot of power at Bryn Mawr. Bryn Mawr advertises SGA as one of its biggest highlights, but it wasn’t like that for me and I really think that should change. I think that being the head of Elections, I had to receive a lot of criticisms and opinions. I didn’t back out because of the backlash. Instead, I saw where I could improve and what could I change. I really look forward to doing that as the SGA president.

Question: How do you plan to increase the transparency within the community as the SGA President?

Rachel Bruce:  Rachel Bruce class of 2018. For the last year, something that I work to do as the secretary was to make sure that the minutes were accessible in terms of summarizing because no one wants to read through a 10-page Verbatim summary. Although there are some great things that people have said, people just see it and kind of want to be done. In terms of increasing transparency, I think that it’s extremely important for the e-board and SGA president to have a straight line of communication. When I was a customs person, something that always stays true was that even if I personally knew the person very well or didn’t, I was their Customs person first, and that was the role I could not take lightly. And one thing that I would do as president to increased transparency is by talking each week at the meeting about what happened each week. The SGA president meets with Kim Cassidy. And I’ll also take feedbacks from the student body, and that is something we did this year and worked really well. Some people were against getting feedbacks from people, because they do not like to hear what they are doing wrong, but I think it’s important. It takes a lot of strength to really admit that you’re doing something wrong and trying to improve that. So that is one thing that I’ll definitely do in terms of improving transparency. I will also try to improve furthermore SGA social media presence and to find other ways of communicating with students on campus.

Genesis Perez-Melara: Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019. So in terms of transparency between Administrations and students, I think that specifically with the students, we are very casual people. I think that one of the things that as head of Elections that I did to make sure the elections were more accessible with transparency to the student body was by emailing the ballots directly to the students instead of having students to go through Moodle and scroll all the way down. It’s really confusing that way. I know that a lot of students do check their emails on a daily basis. That was one way SGA could be more transparent and accessible. To be honest, I have not worked with the administration a lot but as a member of the SGA representative council, I do not hear a lot about what happens within those meetings. Maybe they are private I do not know. I think that if it is allowed, the SGA community/Bryn Mawr community should really know the important details that is going on. I think like what Rachel have said, we need to increase social presence as well, making sure that the student body knows what’s going on in SGA and what they are trying to do. Also, making sure that SGA knows what the students want because we can be as transparent as we want but we also want to make sure that we know what the student body wants and needs. Maybe we can create more transparency in that way.

Question: How do you plan to manage your time as the SGA President

Rachel Bruce: Rachel Bruce class of 2018. Being on the e-board for the last year I understand the kind of time commitment that the SGA president requires. this past year unfortunately I dropped acapella and I cut my hours at work as much as I could to make sure that I can put in as much time as possible for this job. But in terms of being available and being accessible, I, as an uprising senior, understand the time that this requires. I already talked to my major advisor about this and how being SGA president would entail with writing with my thesis, and I’m doing my research over the summer so that can help me to cut down the time when I come back in September.  I am familiar with the time requirement with this position. If I were the SGA president I would do more and put in more time. In short, I would do everything in my power to make sure I devote enough time into this position. I am a federally approved work-study recipient and I have my academics as well but SGA would come first.

Genesis Perez-Melara: Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019. I’m currently the secretary of the UNA-USA Bryn Mawr Club chapter. With that I learned how to deal with many administrative tasks, especially with being the head of the elections as well. I know a lot of people and I know who to contact them if I need to book a room, make posters, or just to find out more information. I learned how to manage my time as the secretary of the UNA Club and also head of elections. I also tutor biochemistry through today’s office and volunteer on Saturdays. I managed to distribute my time equally. There are more things that I would dedicate more time to such as SGA. I think head of Elections is not an e-board position, but it takes a lot of time between me and Mariana. I think I definitely learned especially this semester how to know when it’s enough and when to cut back on things. I was about to take 5 classes this semester and it took a lot for me to just say I can’t do this, and so I only took 4 classes. That was a big learning experience for me to know when I cannot do something and how to prioritize things.  I could have easily taken five classes and just cut back on my extracurricular but I knew that I made a commitment to SGA, the UNA-USA club, and my Saturday volunteering. I think I know how to prioritize my things. I would say that SGA is on the top of my priority list as well.

Time has elapsed→ speaking order

Question: Class of 2018, why do you guys want to run for SGA president but not the other positions?

Rachel Bruce: Rachel Bruce 2018. SGA is something that I really care about and it is something that I did as soon as I came to Bryn Mawr. I was a member at-large and I saw a lot of times people get disheartened by SGA because they think that their voice doesn’t matter, and they think that this is such a waste of time. It is just a bunch of college kids pretending to be politicians. I do not see it like that at all. I really want to make sure that other people don’t see it like that. I want to be SGA president because first, it is something that I set as a goal when I was a freshman. I want people to know at their voices really matter and that’s something that I am really trying my best to do this year as part of the e-board as secretary. We have things that worked really well and we have things did not work as well. We had turnout for plenary that was unbelievable because we listen to the student body and made it at night and got feedback in choosing this theme and make sure that their voices actually mattered. As SGA president, I want to take that same mindset further by reaching out to groups that feel like their voices don’t really matter or groups that are not really represented by the SGA such as international student. This year we had a very low turnout for the international student on the representative council. That was something that I was personally very disappointed about because I thought that they make up a decent part of the student body. Their interest should be represented just as other students. In short, I want to be the SGA president because I want people to know that their voice matters and I want people to know that I will be accessible and will always be there to listen.

Genesis Perez-Melara: Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019. I am going to be very honest. When I first came to Bryn Mawr, I did not go to the SGA meeting first semester. I had no clue what it was consisted of. It wasn’t until I got an email saying that I was nominated for cop’s head that I came to the info session and they asked me to run for the head of Elections. As an eager freshman, I said yeah sure! why not? And then I realized it was so much work, but then I fell in love with the position and with SGA. I realized how much of a voice I have on campus. I’m not trying to pursue politics or anything. It is just something that I think it’s very unique and really amazing about Bryn Mawr because students really do have a say about what they would like to see on campus and what they would like to see in the administrators. I did not come to appreciate that and realize that until I became involved. I think having that kind of experience and having that kind of understanding can help me to reach out to students who are reluctant to getting more involved in SGA.  I think being president I will have a place where I would say, “Hey, I was not into SGA. I did not think that I would really have a voice. I had no interest in it, but things changed and once you get involved and you see how much power you hold at the student.”

Question:  Class of 2019, considering the political climate of the nation, how would you guys ensure that students are involved and different voices are heard?

Rachel Bruce:  Rachel Bruce class of 2018. That’s a really important question.  I believe that now more than ever SGA really needs to be a voice for the students considering the political climate of our government. SGA should make sure that the students are involved and aware. One thing that I would suggest is reaching out to different groups on campus, not just in a sense of tokenism, but actually finding people who genuinely are interested in SGA and finding ways to draw people in by reaching out to people and having food because people always come for food. We also have to ensure that that we give people a reason to want to be involved in SGA, and that also involves making sure that there is transparency within the administration, and that the Administration responses when something happens The e-board doesn’t have to say to the administration, “Cam you say something?”  Because the administration should know. One idea that I have is to create a committee of student that can work to inform the administration if something happens because obviously we all come from different places, and the administrations don’t realize the magnitude of an event and the impact of an event on the student body and what students really want to hear from the school. Also, I want to maintain the sense of self-sufficiency in SGA. One really special thing that I love about SGA is that the students really do have the power to do what they want with the budget in terms of money for clubs and organizations as well as initiatives. I think that maintaining SGA’s role as a force for students and student alone is something that I as president would really make my top priority because that’s what SGA is here for.

Genesis Perez-Melara:Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019. Really good question! That is something I have been really thinking a lot about. In social media you can read a lot about what students are saying about the administration.  We can have the SGA to contact the administration. I think that as with what’s been going on politically, it is really important and critical that SGA reach out to students and ask what can we do as a community? Because the Bryn Mawr community is SGA. We need to make SGA and their representative council more involved in political protest if they feel comfortable enough to do in that.  We need to listen to the student’s ideas about what they need and what they want from the administration and faculty. There are so much that we can do. We can make our own decisions and we can put in our own opinions but that is only our own opinion. I think that’s what’s most important is listening to what the students have to say and what they need, making sure that there’s a forum on the weekend to take questions and opinions student have about what we can do from them.

Question: Do you have any ideas for the student body to get involved in SGA?

Rachel Bruce: Rachel Bruce class of 2018. Yes, one thing that we tried to do this year more was reaching out to multiple affinity groups on campus and reaching out to people who we did not see represented at our meeting, people who we were not really speaking up and who are not coming forward and say what they feel. So I would say definitely creating different forums and ways for people to make their voices heard. For example, have an SGA dinner in the Dorothy Venom Room, just having people come in and talk and having a way that the representative council could get together and actually interact with people. People just elect people and they don’t really hear from them after that aside from the dorm president, and that’s a very valuable role that these people have. I know that they want to do more.  Reaching out to Affinity groups, reaching out to students, reaching out to First Years, and engaging actively and a customs process and Customs week and making sure that freshman, transfers and especially for McBride’s are engaged. I really want to see what SGA can do for them and what they can do for SGA.

Genesis Perez-Melara: Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019.I think that creating a personal touch for SGA is very important. From what I saw as head of Elections is that I could post as many posters and make as many Facebook groups as I can, but still that wouldn’t really affect the voter turnout or how many people come to candidate’s forum or how much people decide to nominate a certain people. From what I saw what’s most effective was direct communications such as seeing a person on the sidewalk and say “hey do you know it’s nominations?” I could also directly message the to come to the candidate’s forum. I think those are what’s most important. Bryn Mawr it’s a community and we have a lot of acquaintances on campus. You have to make sure that you implement that kind of personal touch within the representative council and anybody who comes to the SGA meeting.

Question: How do you think your identity can help you to be successful as the SGA President?

Rachel Bruce:  Rachel Bruce class of 2018. Aside from identifying myself from the student and as a rising senior and as a member of several organizations on this campus, I identify as a religious minority: Jewish. That is something I definitely identifying lot as a person. I experienced bullying and a different treatment just because of who I am regardless of who I am as a person.

I also identify as white and low income; I think that those experiences can help me to better understand the people with two I am working with. There’s no one on this campus that can identify with every single group that is represented on this campus. It is just not possible. Trying to take experiences that you have had and put those forward as a person is really something that makes a lot to me. As SGA president, I would hope to create a very diverse representative council and diverse assembly to make sure that not only students on this campus are represented but also use my own experiences to try and reach out and be there as a person for my peers.

Genesis Perez-Melara: Genesis Perez-Melara class of 2019. I identified as Latina I’m a first generation student. I am a college student. I come from a low income background.  I could keep on the listing things but I think that those are three things that I mainly identify with.  I don’t want to be limited with what I identify as but with how I can help the student body and how I can reach out to different identity groups on campus. yes, I think it will help to relate to person but I think I can only go so far.

Vice Presidents

hi I am Delia Landers, class of 2019, I use she/her pronoun. Hi, I am Nanda Bushan, class of 2019, I use she/her pronounce.

Question: Nora Dell, why do you want to run for SGA vice president?

Delia Landers: I was a member-at-large freshman year and then myself what year I served on the appointments committee so I definitely have seen a real close up by the way Shana doing all the aspect of the appointments committee. I really enjoyed my time with SGA and I kind of feel like I want to…

DL ’19: I want to remain connected to campus Because I live in Batten it kind of makes me feel a little detached from campus so I definitely want to retain that connection that I have and I feel that I would be able to fulfil this role very well I feel that I have good organizational skills I’ve had a lot of chances where I’ve had to interview people not just in the appointments context but also in other aspects of my life is well and so I just feel like this would be a good opportunity to stay connected to campus and also utilize my skills 

NB ’19: so my first year here I served on social and plenary committee  and the second half of my first year and then this year I served on appointments with Shaina Delia Kamara and Anushka  and that amazing experience really  allowed me to realize how appointments can be used to implement change on campus and tell if the various committees on campus are even more publicized can give students even more of a voice  and yeah that’s my main purpose running

DL ’19: so in regards to the appointment committee I know  not this year we’ve had a lot and last year also had a lot of people come out and apply, and that was nice but there’s a lot of committees that are the less exciting ones like campus screening rep  there’s no one that ever so I definitely would want to increase publicity for those particular ones that aren’t necessarily I’m feeling towards there’s a large group with you on campus and try to make them seem more appealing and fun and maybe am them toward certain majors that would kind of relate to those kind types of work Sony this screening cities people would be interested in that kind of wine for it I’m kind of work with that SGA at large I would really like to see the SGA become more politically active I was thinking about the review really interesting ways that we could host different workshops and training for people on campus and see what kind of things people be interested in in that regards and so people could better represent themselves 

NB ’19: so one of my main ideas regarding my possible role as SGA vice president  relate manly to how the main self-governing body that vice president is associated with is appointments so I had a few ideas regarding maybe an event similar to throw it but for the committee’s themselves so that first years really know what the Committees are about their purpose and how they can get involved as she I also thought about the office itself the Campus Center and how can be more accessible to students I think right now it seems exclusive and I think if we open up to the student body and open up the space in general  just come or even their interest regarding what they want to do on campus great way to engage more of the student body and also a possible idea could be creating a bulletin board after various committees kind of similar to the bulletin boards in the dorms right now for DLT we have to which person in their DLT roll so you know if you can contact you have any problems and the same thing for the heads of committees we can take pictures of the heads of committees so that’s no and how they can get involved as Delia was saying as well I like to see SGA more politically active because what is personal is also political  and weather that’s collaborating with ammo groups  because I think that The work of ammo groups and SGA seem very separate right when they’re actually very intertwined so yeah just more collaborating various bodies on campus and publicizing

DL ’19: I believe that the candidates gay very full answers that they have her really comprehensive plan where what they want Bryn Mawr to look like next year and what they want  SGA roll to be  and I’d be really excited to work with either of them and to make SGA more accessible and make it more inclusive and to make it a better program than it is already

NB’19:  I agree as well I think both Jen and Rachel are great candidates and if they are elected it would be very well deserved

DL’19: I was very excited I was nominated for another position but this one definitely felt just much more me and I felt like it really and what I see for myself

NB’19:  I agree I was very excited because the work appointments have done I really enjoy being a part of it I was also a little nervous I think just knowing you kind of question your trust and in the way people trust you to implement change in the system and just knowing that considering that as ga has been around for so long weather group or people of people can really and will not change is nerve-racking but also something I’m willing to take on

DL 19: I know that in public spaces a lot of times it’s really difficult to have those conversations and so but I think they’re really important to have and so I think that first having spaces Western to feel comfortable speaking to members of a CA or how they feel and a smaller context and knowing that it wouldn’t be as face of judgement and Doris was a confrontation would be really important and then those conversations could move into a larger spear when those types of understand things are more so their opinions can kind of be more respected and heard  because it’s important for us to hear other opinions so that we know what other people’s positions are because there’s no other way to grow and that’s kind of what the issue is at Bryn Mawr that a lot of times we we don’t get to hear this those opinions even though they would help us better formulate our own and to understand where people are coming from

NB:  yeah it’s funny when you mention that dynamic I just remember when I first came from to Bryn Mawr so I am from Dallas Texas  and differing opinions are  inevitable  especially and the state like Texas and growing up in that atmosphere I wasnt expecting the Northeast more hostile towards conservative views and I think it’s more about transferring  those experiences that experience in high school just listening and hearing other people’s opinions and then having a respectful conversation regarding why the reasons behind those views and I think that I  that’s something that we definitely has a campus we need more of and whether that’s SGA hosting more Hot Topic or just cohorts and general with conversations what predetermined guidelines as to how soon should listen to each other and respect fully engage and I kind of difficult conversation

MG: SGA Secretary 

MP 20: I’m Meghan Pemberton 9 from the class of 2020

EL 20: I’m Eva Lou  from the class of 2020

MP: I want to run for secretary because it’s kind of what I’ve done for my whole quasi professional life I was a secretary or probation office my sophomore year and High School which is responsible for drafting a lot of course Case descriptions and PSI  warrants and all that stuff and also Im serving as a secretary on the E Board of our  tedx initiative at Bryn Mawr where I coordinate with the presidents and the minutes and type summaries of the meetings 

EL:  I wanted to be secretary because I I’m confident in my organization skills and similarly or something I’ve done in my high school as well like I was the model un secretary and I have been a secretary for 3 different clubs in high school  so I believe that something I’m good at and something I’m confident in that I can help SCA with with my skills so that’s why

MP: what we do for tedx right now that has been largely affected is reaching out to are organized are organizers and the keyboard is what a inside of putting everything in sight a Google doc and making that shareable to anyone who can access the document and I found that process people are more likely to even open it and it’s easily to disseminate your social media through the blocks that SGA utilizes  and all that stuff

EL:  so the way that I did it when I was in high school was we created a form online so students could leave their own opinions so we could see so we can post for all to see or the teachers all the stuff online it’s kind of it’s kind of like Google. Except you don’t have to look into it so it’s like thing that you can always see for my previous experience when I was in high school and not many people were interested in our work that was something son so I’m I would like to somehow make it more tractable to people so that people are more stuff people can understand how to participate in our work and make your life better

MP: I believe in the power of sit down to meetings and informal and formal so I get to know them on a regular basis  that communication is easy and fluid and that regard I’m also a proponent of  emails but not so excessively and it’s boring and annoying I would ensure that there is a lot of face-to-face contact with those people and possible and informally and formally

EL:  so what I was thinking was that you should resource is away is a source of information they should be available when you are solving problems so I believe that any kind of question or problems can be converted into a question of uncertatiny with  infromation when you have  successfully you can help them or they can get your help if they need your help so like I was thinking to like face to face is a good conversation but personally I would prefer email because that’s the way that’s more efficient you don’t waste time with people talking and waiting around

MP:  so I think a lot of people in this room voice frustration with the current political climate in this nation and how our community as a whole has been interacting with that within that frustration intention my frustration stems from the fact that I don’t really believe in the institution of the state any so much anymore and like all that stuff and I really believe in the power of individuals to effect change on a microscopic level which I think in effect turns into macroscopic change and as a freshman here in my second semester this is my home but it hasn’t become completely my home as it has for a lot of people here and I want to get involved at a local student government conversations that need to be had and continue to be developing and pushed out and be a part of something that I really do think that when it comes together is going to meet something in the face of what feels like political Armageddon

EL:  so for me my reasons are personal I believe in the power of change so I believe that every individual has the power to change their surroundings according to what is best for herself and her peers and so SGA  I believe is the best place for me to enlarge that power and  for my previous experience secretary seems to be the most suitable job for me so that’s why 

MP: I think Genesis made a really good point actually earlier on that people on like small levels like on the sidewalk or the street or in class just having conversation about hey what do you think of SGA like what would you do personally to get more involved in speaking to the importance of this only works on We’re In It Together and we can’t do that if we’re not involved in it encourage it on a small personal level and I think again that Facebook is a really good utility in this case and email and above all I really do believe in face-to-face person contact

EL:  in order to applicate our work  I think the best way is to get in touch let them will then personally and by that I mean ssga we should be able to get that information from the school about students and see who my feel that they are not representated enough  and get in touch  individually to ask what do they think about us SGA how would they like to change it and in that way I believe that it’s more likely to get them speaking speaking up because people that generally believed that there voices are not representativequiet down as well and when we send out mass emails saying people who what think they are not represented can just come they would not move so the thing is we have to get to them personally and that way we can make sure that their voices are heard

MP: I would say at this point I mean I mention this earlier but I am Secretary of tedx and we meet once a week and then I am responsible for like I have to compile a minutes and email them out which probably takes like an hour of my time at most in the evening after my classes which Disney especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays almost like eight hours do everything else so I would say that I am willing to put in whatever amount of time is again I am really interested becoming evolved in this Oregon it’s so important especially in this time and will do everything to the best of my ability whatevers asked of me

EL:  because I have no idea what time commitment the SGA secretary would have but I’m assuming from my previous experience what about 10 hours a week so that’s for my previous experience and considering my current schedule as the time commitment that is something I can make but if there’s more time then I will adjust my schedule accordingly

MP:  I think that’s a really good question so you’re right we’re both second semester freshman so what makes us qualifying in the past like I mentioned before I was the Secretary of probation office Wichita cab El which took about 12 hours of my life each week and I was responsible for handling quite a massive caseload to the point where it’s just like oh  if I copy this docket number in correctly then justice is not served  so like to that end I feel that has prepared me to give me so efficient organizational committing skills and taught me how to manage my time and how to coordinate the whole bureaucracy people that I feel like you’re right even though I’m a freshman and that this is  a significant position at our College that I would be able to apply what I learned and that experience to govern now to be on the Eve board of tedx to be this commitment as well

EL: So like she said  especially personally I have not worked nsga out so so I can only imagine that I’m qualified as a for this position based on my past experiences so I can only say as much that If there are people voting for me then people believe I’m qualified and there must be something in me that either see origin sea that will apply to this position because I really have no idea

GP 19: SGA Treasurer

AH 19:nhi my name is Anna Huang and I am in the class of 2019  

AH19: because actually when I was a freshman the pressure of my cloud studied abroad so I so I just suddenly became the treasurer for the clown and at that time because I was sick I missed a budget interview which is really important I felt really frustrated and anxious and I cfied to my home Mom and I said I won’t get any money for my club but that makes me understand how important the money is to come across campus  which makes me to apply for student finance committee I’m a member of soon finance committee now and I gradually learned a lot more about that responsibility as an sua treasure and I’ve seen a lot of that and I learned a lot about our budget so money is very important and the budget can never be perfect and I know that many students when they want her budgets it’s really anxious and they don’t know what to do and because I was really curious and I wanted to learn more about this so I join more than 15 clowns in my freshman years I know that’s kind of crazy so I know how most of the club Ron’s and I know how to summon the club they really need money then others don’t need much but they need to spend all their budget so they have to do an event which they don’t prepare about four so I want to change this

AH 19:  I was treasure for the Tai Chi club for semester but I quit because you know you cant always being 15 clubs so I only have like five clubs actually maybe for so I’m not treasure and now but I’m on the student finance committee  so I’m and in charge of about 17 clubs budget reimbursement and other stuff and so I also I’m the secretary house signing out so so I still have a leadership in clubs still kind of know how to leave them and I’m a math major so it might make me more sensitive to number

AH: I’ve been thinking about it for a long time because I always thought that our budget is not flexible enough but so probably I locals office hours every week because I know that as you transfer our current Treasurer Jocelyn always gets a lot of emails but maybe that’s not the most efficient way to communicate and I know for the budgets there’s a lot of details that you can’t have to make sure because you know money is important we can’t just give it to anyone so probably I will fold office hours every week  so after clubs apply for Budget that usually don’t change their budget much we have mid-term review but I don’t really think that’s enough I know that the 17 clowns only two of them apply for adventure review so maybe I need to find a way to be more flexible about the budget so sometimes that really need budgets won’t get all they want and some clothes maybe they don’t have time for that much events or maybe they just don’t get an opportunity because it’s hard to find speakers and come up with events so maybe I just want to allocate their original budget across campus more efficiently by really communicating with the clubs and tracing their budgets backwards or something