The class of 2028 elected Jeffrey Teh ’28 and Namrita Ghani ’28 as their first year senators last week, as the pair from a pool with four other candidates. Sixty-three percent of voters cast one of their two votes for Teh (119 total votes), while 40% of voters cast one of their votes for Ghani (74 total votes). One-hundred and eighty-seven total students voted, which was approximately the same voter turnout of the same election two years ago, although turnout ran below the 47% who voted last April in the presidential election.
Both Teh and Ghani ran on the platform of getting to know their peers and asking about their concerns.
“You should know who your senator is, and your senator should be proactive in figuring out what people want by asking,” Teh told The Campus after being elected.
Each candidate went door to door through first year dorms, introducing themselves and asking students about their concerns.
“Whenever I went to the door, I wasn't just knocking at their door, telling them about myself,” Teh said. “I was asking people what they wanted.”
By election day, Sept. 24, most first year students had only been on campus for three weeks.
“We simply haven't been here long enough to find a clear-cut issue on campus that needs to be solved,” Ghani said in an interview with The Campus after being elected. In an effort to entice prospective voters, she brought homemade brownies with her while knocking on doors.
“[I wanted them to] put a face to the name instead of just seeing a poster,” Ghani added.
The job of the first year senators is to represent their class in the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Student Senate and to lead the first year committee, which is made up of six to eight other members of the class of 2028 tasked with building community, addressing student concerns, promoting campus resources and working with event planning bodies, according to an email to The Campus from SGA Operations. First year senators are able to choose the students who make up the committee from an applicant pool.
A record 17 students showed up to the mandatory interest meeting on Sept. 19 for potential candidates for senator, though only six were on the ballot come election day. In order to get their name on the ballot, candidates first needed to fill out an application and attend the interest meeting. Next, they had to submit 25 peer signatures, a headshot and a 250 word speech by Sunday, Sept. 22, according to SGA Operations.
The six candidates delivered their two minute speeches on the stage in Wilson Café to a crowd of no more than thirty first years at its peak. The attendance and environment was similar to that of last year’s turnout, according to Veronika Breton ’25, co-director of SGA Operations, who noted that there was not a strong precedent for high student engagement in this area of SGA.
“One of our goals is to have first years more engaged,” Breton added.
Ghani, who gave her speech third, said that despite projecting confidence on stage, she was nervous beforehand. In her speech, she said she would aim to match the energy of the first years’ orientation week, use her global perspective to best understand and represent the diverse first year class, and listen to her peers. A copy of each candidate’s speech was sent in an email to all first years the morning of the election.
Teh, with no printed-out speech and dressed in an unbuttoned blazer, confidently recited his speech last, where he repeated the words “we,” “you” and “together.” He highlighted his view that “transparent student government is more than too-long-to-read emails and a feedback form on the website. It means publicizing each and every thing we do on social media for all of you to see.”
The speeches ended only 15 minutes after the event started, but the few voters who attended appeared energized.
“It was really exciting to hear so many voices of people that are excited and passionate about making the school like a better place,” said Anna Armstrong ’28, who attended the event.
Zaina Mahbub ’28 echoed Armstrong’s enthusiasm for the race and the candidates vying to represent the first year class.
“I'm excited to see the different things whoever becomes senator will bring and do for us, and I hope that they'll be a good ear for all of us,” Mahbub said.
Noah Vogel ’25, who served as a senator during his first year on campus, recalled that his role gave him rare leadership experience as a first-year and the opportunity to get to know Middlebury at a different level. What he remembers most, though, is getting to know and work with his co-senator at the time.
“We’re two very different people who came from very different circles, so if it weren't for SGA, I don't see our paths crossing,” Vogel said.
As newly elected co-senators, Ghani and Teh share a passion for connecting with students, and hope that by being attentive listeners, they can identify the most pressing issues to their class. They both plan to hold office hours in student lounges where first-years can go to share their concerns.
“There are little miscellaneous things that need to be fixed, but I think as we progress, we'll find bigger issues… So I think it's too early to say what our agenda is. It's more to listen to what other people's issues are and try our best to find a solution,” Ghani said.
