In an email to the student body on the evening of February 8, Mr. James Stanley, Dean of Students, announced that Vikram Sharma ’20 and William Robertson ’20 would be serving as Choate’s 2019-2020 Student Body President and Vice President, respectively.
The election process took a new turn this year. In previous years, the traditional Q&A panel with the candidates took place at dinner the day of the speeches, this year, because of a special daily schedule brought on by Winter Long Weekend, the panel was held on Thursday evening while the speeches were slotted for school meeting on Friday. Although the panel was streamed through the student council’s Instagram, many students were unaware of the panel or could not make it because of other commitments.
The panel lasted from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and covered a wide range of topics, including the initiatives candidates would prioritize, how they would implement those ideas, and how the candidates themselves would work on student council.
Reflecting on the panel, Robertson stated, “I was definitely pretty nervous for the Q&A panel, since I didn’t know what to expect. However, I felt like all the questions were easy enough, so it didn’t end up being as nerve-wracking as I had expected. In addition, it didn’t seem like a lot of people showed up, but I found out afterwards that a number of people had watched the livestream, so I can’t be sure!”
The next day, during School Meeting, candidates delivered two-minute speeches. Voting then took place in the Dining Hall during lunch and dinner that day.
Sharma ran on a promise to eliminate the one-strike policy for marijuana use; to introduce life lesson courses at Choate on concepts such as taxes and money management; and to provide unlimited Wi-Fi to fifth- and sixth-formers. The student council has already passed a proposal by Sharma, introduced early this year in his capacity as fifth form president, to extend Wi-Fi hours. (The proposal is awaiting approval from the administration.) “I have full confidence in the proposal working,” he said. “It will make working environments after lights out equal for students that might not have access to personal hotspots.”
In his bid to secure the vice presidency, Robertson focused on the health of the student body. “The three biggest issues that a Choate student lists when you ask them are: Stress, food and sleep,” he said.
Robertson focused on the progress of his Wellness Committee initiative, a group of student representatives working with the Wellness Department to improve health at Choate. He also stressed his main goals, which included listening to the student body, making the council more approachable, ensuring the smooth operation of the Daily Grind, and reviewing current academic requirements.
General consensus among the student body appeared to be optimistic after the election of the Sharma-Robertson administration. Zaid Ball ’20 said, “I roomed with Will freshman year, and I am pretty close with Vik. I think they are both very capable and will pass initiatives that benefit all members of the student body.”
