In the election of its cabinet members in early September, the Class of 2018 became a part of the College’s system of shared governance. The two first-years elected to the vice presidency and presidency (Max Becker and Josh Lee, respectively) accomplished this feat without using any posters, campaign videos or streamed Facebook posts. Both delivered eloquent and memorable campaign speeches The College Voice sat down with the two students to discuss their plans for the Class of 2018.
TCV: Where were you guys when you found out you had been elected?
JL: I was in New London Hall!
MB: My dorm room.
TCV: How did it feel to know that you had been elected by about 500 people?
MB: I thought it was really awesome. I was surprised just because I felt like some people may have represented themselves a little bit better, but I thought my speech was good. It’s like, you don’t know what’s going to happen because we’ve been here for three weeks, so the rest of our class doesn’t really know us that well and we don’t know all 500 other students; it was just a “woah” moment.
JL: It was surprising given that every other candidate had all of these posters up, so I was very shocked.
TCV: All of the dorms did seem to be covered in posters.
MB: Having a solid speech was the approach that won, not spamming everyone. I didn’t post on election day, I didn’t want to nag anyone because I figured that if they wanted to vote for me they would.
TCV: What stands out in your mind as your most important motivation for running?
MB: I was supposed to play soccer here, and I didn’t end up being able to do that for a multitude of reasons. I realized that I really wanted a group to be a part of – one of the philosophies that drew me to Conn was its value of shared governance, so I thought that it would be really cool to get involved with government. It felt like it would be a great way to contribute to the campus community.
JL: I didn’t come to Conn to play soccer, and I didn’t come to be class president either, but people said that I should run and I am always looking for ways to help out. It wasn’t an premeditative decision or anything
TCV: What do you think was the main reason you won?
MB: I think the “normal guy” approach worked really well!
TCV: Now that you’ve won, what are you most excited to get working on?
JL: Definitely some sustainability projects. I’d like to get some more green initiatives passed, from our class specifically rather than SGA. One idea is a more visible composting program. We have hand dryers in some of the bigger buildings, like in Cro, but getting them in the dorms would be a great step. In other areas, the “kicker” of my campaign was milkshakes in Cro.
JL: Sustainability-wise, definitely
TCV: You also said you wanted to focus on outreach in New London, what do you think the best way to approach that will be?
JL: Well, specifically outreach related to bringing first-years into New London. The main disadvantage we have coming into the school without cars is the lack of access to transportation. That’s why, as I mentioned before, CamelVan reliability is so important.
TCV: Anything else that you want to say to your class?
MB: It’s going to be a good year. We are the 100th class. We’ve got to leave our mark! •
