The student body elected three members of each class to the Williams Student Union (WSU) and two members of the Class of 2028 to join the Honor and Discipline Committee on Sunday. The Student Faculty Committee Board held the election online in a ranked-choice voting format. All of the elections were contested.
In an 18-point jump from WSU’s spring elections, student turnout reached 29.1 percent. First-year turnout was the highest, with 49.1 percent of the class voting. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors turned out at 27.8, 20.1, and 22.8 percent, respectively.
The elected representatives for this semester are James Johnson Brown ’25.5, Shoshie Hemley ’25, Bobby Verhey ’25, Henry Ouellette ’26, David Shi ’26, Abigail Wallach ’26, Felix Barman ’27, Nifty Haile ’27, Shloke Jani ’27, Ahmad Irfan ’28, Alvaro Marin Garcia ’28, and Abdiel Perde ’28.
Nick Gianoukos ’28 and Abdiel Perde ’28 were elected to the Honor and Discipline Committee.
WSU members are elected for a semester-long term and serve as a liaison between students and the administration. They are responsible for conducting meetings and providing opportunities for students to voice concerns or opinions about campus policies and life at the College, according to WSU’s constitution.
Eight students serve year-long terms on the Honor and Discipline Committee alongside eight faculty members and the dean of the College. The committee hears cases around student conduct that allegedly violate student rights or the College’s rules of conduct, according to its website.
The newly elected representatives shared some of their plans for the coming semester with the Record.
“I am interested in attempting to voice what feels like an absence of culture-related campus events,” Barman said. “We need to have more of a cultural shift to appreciating the arts and musical performances. Sometimes I go to concerts that are some of the best I’ve ever seen or plays that are absolutely unbelievable, and there’s not a huge turnout because people are in Sawyer. And I know that that’s part of what we’re doing here, but I think that I’d like to voice my feelings about it.”
Garcia, one of the body’s newly elected members, said he was hoping to act as an effective liaison between students and the WSU. “I believe in three Ts: transparency, truth, and technology,” Garcia wrote in an email to the Record. “I plan on bringing clarity to the WSU and keeping the class of 2028 regularly updated and advocated for. We must use our positions to advocate for real structural change at Williams.”
Other candidates, including Wallach and Ouellette, also emphasized a desire to expand accessibility and transparency.
“I’m especially interested in increasing students’ access to the administration and facilitating student input on major issues on campus right now, such as the evaluation of the JA [Junior Advisor] program and the push for ethical standards, transparency, and divestment,” Wallach wrote in an email to the Record.
Ouellette also mentioned a focus on College financial practices, including both divestment from all weapons manufacturers and encouraging environmentally-conscious investment.
“I want to facilitate meaningful communication between students and administration, particularly regarding college investment policy, and I am open to anything which makes that happen,” Ouellette wrote.
After conducting research into reparations for American slavery with Enith Williams ’83 over the summer, Haile told the Record that he wants to develop a project through WSU to push the College to reflect more deeply on its history and ties to enslavement.
Returning representatives also shared their visions for continuing projects they began in previous semesters.
“I am looking forward to finalizing projects that I have been working on for four years on WSU,” Hemley wrote to the Record. “I am launching my RSO storage initiative, working on Title IX and consent education, and internally reforming WSU.”
Verhey said that his experience on WSU has provided him with perspective on campus traditions and recent changes in campus life. “I will work on initiatives like bringing back Snar buffet, while also working on more comprehensive issues like reforming the housing and parking system on campus,” he wrote.
Many of the elected representatives expressed gratitude toward the College community. “I’m looking forward to being a voice for my community,” Perde wrote. “I’m thankful that I was chosen and I aim to make it worth everyone’s time and energy with an amazing council.”
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Henry Ouellette mentioned a focus on “divestment from weapons manufacturing supplying the Israel Defense Forces.” Ouellette clarified that he was referring to all weapons manufacturers. The article was updated on Sept. 25 at 8:16 p.m. to reflect this change.
