Eight First-Year Senators Elected to the WSA

On Saturday, eight first-year senators were elected to the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA). Their election was announced via a campus-wide email. Later that evening, they were welcomed to the WSA’s first general assembly meeting of the year in the Frank Center for Public Affairs. 

The newly elected senators are Agastya Jolly Jain ’30, Oybek Abdullaev ’30, Adam Grumet ’30, Sahai Scott ’30, Jon Jett ’30, Gabriel Merchan ’30, Aspen Choi ’30, and Jia Lee ’30.

Candidates were required to attend a meeting and submit a candidate statement to the WSA. The election was open to both first-year students and transfer students in their first semester. Voting began on Monday, Sept. 14, and ended on Friday, Sept. 18 with results on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Campaigning by candidates commenced following an email from Mina Aldous ’29, the WSA Chief of Staff, on Monday, Sept. 7. Many candidates ran campaigns focusing on visibility and name recognition by relying on social media, flyers, and word of mouth. 

“I did student government/assembly in high school, and no campaign was ever as fun as this one,” Grumet wrote in an email to The Argus. “[It’s] mainly because, at such a small school like mine, there was no point for any big outreach or social media platform like there is here.”

However, some candidates also commented on their fatigue from the extended campaigning process, citing efforts to gain social media presence as a significant factor.

“I got to meet a lot of new people by approaching them and begging for votes,” Choi said in an email to The Argus. “Putting together my campaign videos and posts was also quite fun, especially since I chose to run a very unserious campaign…. I think the worst part of the campaign was just continuously campaigning for as long as we were.”

“As a freshman, the election was daunting in scale,” Jett commented in an email to The Argus. “Wesleyan is a place where the culture is totally different from home.” 

Jett went on to share his feelings after the campaign period.

“I think WSA is really important to me personally. It puts me in a position to advocate for others and make change. At the end of the day, I just want to help people.” 

Aldous also commented on the increasing usage of social media as a campaigning tool, as opposed to more traditional methods, such as flyering.

“One of the main trends I have seen in campaigning is the large impact of social media,” she wrote in an email to The Argus. “That seems to be the main way candidates get their message out there, especially since there aren’t many physical poster boards on campus where candidates can put up physical flyers.”

Some candidates ran for specific committees that they were interested in. Every new senator is assigned to a committee within the WSA; these include the Academic Affairs Committee, the Community Committee, the Equity and Inclusion Committee, the Student Budget Committee, and the Student Life Committee.

“Seeing that the Wesleyan Student Assembly had [an Equity and Inclusion Committee] is what convinced me to run in the freshman election,” Jain wrote in an email to The Argus. “Being a gay international student of color during a period of political upheaval like this only reinforced my belief in equity and inclusion.”

Aldous shared her excitement to welcome the senators to the WSA, but acknowledged that the institution’s long history can create pressure for new members.

“Any new senator definitely has a unique contribution to WSA,” Aldous wrote. “Obviously the amount of institutional knowledge of returning senators can be daunting, but consistently having new people allows for fresh perspectives on both new and old issues…. But any senator—old or new—definitely has the ability to make a meaningful impact, and I think that the mentorship that happens between committee chairs and new senators is a big part of what makes WSA work well together. WSA creates so many avenues for change, and so it is up to [new senators] to bring the passion and strength to [their] cause.”

The next WSA general assembly meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27 in the Frank Center for Public Affairs.

Sangye Sherpa can be reached at ssherpa@wesleyan.edu.

Akari Ikeda can be reached at aikeda@wesleyan.edu.