Over the past few weeks, several ambitious freshmen have campaigned for various class officer positions. Polls closed on Thursday and revealed Saikou Bah as President, Joshua Hughes as Vice President, Sean Connor as Secretary, and Jack Landry, Jacob Ethier, Jarrod Solloway, and Tyler Viger as Senators.

Voting for these positions took place in Davison Hall and the Coffee Shop on Wednesday, Sept. 21 and Thursday, Sept. 22. The Freshman Class Council consists of the President, Vice President, Secretary, and four Senators.

The five candidates who ran for President were Alexandros Pandazis, Christina Damian, Ricky Wild, Saikou Bah and Jeremy Gaudet. As the head of the Freshman Council, the President is responsible for overseeing class events, preparing the agenda for the Council meetings, and representing the class to the Saint Anselm faculty and administration, among other duties.

Presidential candidate Pandazis focused his campaign around being “for the people,” and promised to work on issues that matter to the students. Some of these matters include: improving the Wi-Fi, placing more trash receptacles outdoors around campus, and creating more fundraisers and class events. Pandazis, like other candidates, enjoys being an active member in the community and believes the role of President would be a great opportunity to get involved.

The Vice President’s obligations include voting in the Student Senate, reporting the class business to the Senate, attending the Class Council meetings, and running them if the President is absent. In the event that the Presidential seat is vacated, the Vice President will assume office, becoming the new President. Shane LeGraw, Erin Egan, and Joshua Hughes were the candidates for Vice President.

There are four Senators on the Freshman Class Council. They are responsible for serving on either the Welfare, Academic, or Room and Board Committees, and are a voting member of the Student Senate. Tyler Viger, Jack Landry, Jacob Ethier, and Jarrod Solloway ran for the Senator positions.

The Secretary’s job is to communicate with the class, take Class Council minutes, deal with disciplinary matters, and to serve on the Public Relations Committee. At the time the ballot was created, no one had signed up to run for Secretary. However, after hearing there was a vacancy, Sean Connor, Alison Bouchard, and Nick Giordano stepped up to the plate, hoping to be the elected write-in. Each candidate utilized a plethora of campaign techniques to gain students’ votes. They covered the walls of freshman residence halls with posters headlining witty campaign slogans, passed out informational pamphlets, and even posted messages on social media websites.

Secretary candidate Sean Connor found the internet to be particularly useful in his campaign. Since Sean is running as a write-in candidate, he is unable to hang posters around campus. Instead, he has turned to Facebook to get the word out, saying, “In the end, it will be the people that get me elected, not the posters.” To Connor, bringing the freshman class together is the most pivotal role of the Secretary. He plans to do this by focusing his goals around the student body. Connor says that while other candidates are promoting their past experience, he believes “the most important qualification is having your boots in the ground and being relatable to the other freshman.”

In a class-wide email, new Freshman Class President, Bah, thanked his peers for electing him and promised to “accommodate the needs and concerns of all [his] fellow classmates.” The freshman class is pleased to know that their voice has been heard and is looking forward to hearing more from their class officers as the year progresses.