Class of 2024 President

Darpan Chahal 

Hello! My name is Darpan Chahal and I am currently running to be President of the Class of 2024. I am running for this position because I absolutely love Bryn Mawr and I am so grateful for the home I have found here, it would be an honor to be able to represent my peers. I have previous experience that effectively qualifies me for this role. I served as President of the Speech and Debate team and the Theater Arts department at my high school. These positions have shown me that a good leader is able to foster community. It is the duty of an apt leader to be able to create an environment that facilitates positive socialization, open communication, endless support and the production of lifelong memories, which can only be done by maintaining an energy of cheerful readiness, inclusion, and joy.

 

You deserve a leader who will not only speak up for you, but will listen to you. We are living through unprecedented times, all of our needs are vastly different, and it is exceptionally easy to feel disconnected and alone. It is my utmost priority to ensure that every student feels heard and cared for. I would like to take specific and decisive steps to guarantee that whether you are remote, commuting, or on campus you can be involved with the larger Bryn Mawr community. When the future is so uncertain, you need a leader that you are certain you can count on. Thank you!

Abhi Suresh and Lillian Ernst

Hello! Our names are Abhi Suresh and Lillian Ernst and we are running for Co-Presidents of the Class of 2024. You can contact us at lernst@brynmawr.edu and asuresh@brynmawr.edu.

Lillian Ernst grew up in Santa Rosa, CA. In high school she was the president of both the Debate and the Mock Trial team, directly correlating to experience in leading as well as acting as a liaison between students and faculty. Further, she has already been attending SGA meetings and writing reports as a member of the Outreach and Communications Committee.

Abhi Suresh is from right outside of Bryn Mawr (West Chester!). Throughout high school she was involved in House of Hope Charity Concert Planning, Mock Trial, and Science Olympiad. She has fundraised thousands of dollars towards charities, including the Home of the Sparrow and the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware. Abhi led a team of members in creating and distributing a merchandising business. The team donated 51% of profits to suicide prevention advocacy for teens. Currently, she is the Head of the Seven Sisters Committee and is a First-Year Rep for Pembroke West.

Every student at Bryn Mawr is already a member of SGA, and our platform is based upon further reflecting that in the community.

Our goal is to be a voice for the wants and concerns of our class, especially considering how unusual our college experience has been. COVID has made college especially challenging for all of us. Due to this, we will be an open source of communication between our class and rest of the college. We will be here to listen to our class’s concerns no matter how large or small they may be. Particularly, we think it’s essential now more than ever that Bryn Mawr and Haverford have clear communication and unity about classes and policies. We believe these are action items towards strengthening not only our class bond but also the community’s mental health.

We acknowledge and fully understand the impacts COVID and the current political climate are having on our collective mental health. We want to make sure that next semester, if we are not able to have a spring break, that at the very least students have the ability to productively rest. We firmly believe that our mental health both as a class and a student body cannot be overlooked right now.

Finally, we want to lead our class to its goals. While our main objective may be graduation, beyond that lies our dreams and our futures. If the two of us can help make those more achievable as Co-Presidents of our class in any way, shape, or form, we will. In essence, we promise to represent the class of 2024 thoughtfully and effectively.

 Marianela Luna-Torrado

Hello all! My name is Marianela Luna-Torrado (she/her) and I’m running to be your Class of 2024 President. Here’s some information about myself. I’m from Illinois and currently plan to double major in sociology and environmental studies. Some of my extracurriculars include working at the Wyndham Alumnae House and being a member of clubs like Owl Ambassadors and the Pre-Law Society. I’m also a first-year and campus safety representative for my dorm, Rhoads South.

While excited to have been considered for this position, I accepted the nomination because serving as class president would be a unique opportunity. In addition to organizing class functions and voting in Representative Council meetings, I would aim to create a strong sense of community within our class. I know this is easier said than done, as some of us are remote students due to the pandemic, but we have already shown our resilience and passion by choosing to attend Bryn Mawr. Above all, my goal is to be an accessible and effective leader. Know that I value your voice alongside your vote. Feel free to contact me with any thoughts or just to say hello at mlunatorra@brynmawr.edu.

 

Career and Civic Engagement Representative

Abby Fortune

My name is Abby Fortune (she/her) class of 2023 and I am running for Career and Civic Engagement Representative. I am so proud of and impressed by the breadth of programming of our Career and Civic Engagement Center. As a current Career Peer, I practice daily as a liaison between Center staff, values, and programs to students. In the Representative role, I would continue to use the knowledge and skills from my Career Peer position to communicate between the Center staff and the assembly as well as representing the vote for center values and programming at budgetary and SGA rep council meetings.

 

In this position, I will represent the wide array of programming and opportunities the Center has to offer. I believe building relationships with and responsibility for a community is an essential part of life. Covid has brought uncertainty about the future and physical barriers to building relationships with the community. Whether it be volunteering or work experience, networking, or activism, the Center has resources to help students navigate these goals amongst Covid challenges. As a representative, I will use my knowledge as a Career Peer and strong belief in community building to advocate for and connect students’ career and civic goals with the numerous opportunities provided by the Career and Civic Engagement Center.

 

Shi-Chao Tsao

My name is Shi-Chiao Tsao and I am running for the Career and Civic Engagement Representative. I am interested in this position because I have always been a passionate volunteer and an involved member of the community. I have been volunteering at the Paoli Hospital for the past three years and I plan on continuing my contribution to help others. As the current head of Gender Inclusion Committee, president of the Bryn Mawr Community Service

club, and active member of VITA, I have enjoyed sharing ideas and communicate with others regarding their lives in this uncertain time period. I have also noticed some problems people encountered, like how to perform volunteer work during the pandemic, what is allowed to do or where to start in terms of finding more opportunities. When I first entered Bryn Mawr, I really appreciated the wide variety of opportunities and resources there are for students to fully explore their interests and careers. Yet at the same time I was feeling inundated with this huge amount of information in addition to the stress of being in a completely strange and new environment. If I

get the chance to become the liaison between the Career and Civic Engagement Center and the student body, I would start making changes to the way information is given to students. Based on what I personally felt and what I heard from talking with others, receiving a significant amount of emails a day can be overwhelming and it is easy to miss an important email. I hope to organize the important information in a more clear and detailed way. Instead of having to spend extra time and energy to search for opportunities to explore their careers in addition to the already stressful flooding of emails, it would be great to send out information for those who need them. I believe that by making those opportunities and important resources clear so people know where to start and how to fulfill their goals in college, students can feel less stressful and get a chance to enjoy their lives in college. Email: stsao@brynmawr.edu

 

Representative to the Faculty

Matangi Melpakkam

Hi! I’m Matangi Melpakkam (mmelpakkam@brynmawr.edu), and I am running for Representative to the Faculty! I am a part of the class of 2023 and use she/her pronouns. You may know me from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance club, of which I am the on-campus coordinator. If you ask any of my peers, they will tell you about how outspoken I am in the classroom. I am comfortable communicating with faculty and I am attuned to the needs of the student body.

 

I am primarily running for this position of rep to the faculty because I am passionate about reinstating Spring Semester’s CR/NC policy. Even though many students have returned to campus, our lives are far from the normal of pre-pandemic times. We have made many educational concessions, like spending most of our class time on Zoom and giving up many of the resources that we previously had. Our demands for a more forgiving CR/NC policy need to be heard by the faculty, and if elected, I will fight to ensure that they will address our grievances. I hope I can count on your vote!

 

Thanks,

Matangi

 

Head of Committee on Campus Safety

Leo Mediratta

Hello! My name is Leo Mediratta (she/her, class of 2022) and I am running for Head of Campus Safety. Over the last two and half years, I have really gotten to know Campus Safety and learned to appreciate everything they do for this campus. I try to meet as many Bryn Mawr staff members as I can because I feel like it’s important to acknowledge and thank the people who allow us to feel safe and comfortable as college students. During my first year, for example, I had an incident where a flying squirrel found its way into my room. I called P-Safe and they were very responsive. P-Safe went above and beyond, chasing the flying squirrel around until it was finally caught. After P-Safe got it out of my room, we had a chat about how it could’ve possibly found itself there. They were very knowledgeable about the situation, considering that flying squirrels are not native to Pennsylvania and this has not happened before. I really like working with Campus Safety in any way I can, whether at Bryn Mawr or at Haverford. I feel like I can be a good bridge between Campus Safety and the Student Body. However, I also am aware that there are times when P-Safe is very unhelpful. I have seen it both ways, and I want to be a part of the change of making sure P-Safe is the most helpful they can be in your specific situation.