By Helena Chen ‘23/The Lawrence

Congratulations to the newly elected Student Council Vice Presidents of Academics, Honor and Discipline, and Social Life, Fourth Formers Iris Wu, Lucas Garcia, and Akeil Smith, respectively. They will join School President Andrew Boanoh as part of the 2022-23 Student Council.

Wu, President of Carter House and The Lawrence Opinions Editor, decided to run for the position of Academic Vice President in order to bring new forms to the academic system, including changing the current School schedule so that it best supports Lawrentians. “Thinking of the past, I want to make changes that we can actually keep for a long time and that students will actually use because some [past] initiatives only apply to a certain number of people,” Wu said. She plans on have a discussion with Dean of Academics Alison Easterling for a schedule change some time in the near future. “Since we [currently] have an altered schedule, we will look at the benefits and disadvantages of such change and hopefully create a new schedule accordingly,” Wu said.

One of the main points on Wu’s platform was hosting internship fairs during Alumni Weekend, consisting of alumni looking for high school interns or volunteers. Wu noted that she’s already talked to the Alumni Office about taking in student interns, and she is hoping to have the program up and running by next year. Her main focus is to start early and be active in communicating with the people involved because she wants these changes to be implemented as soon as possible.

Although Wu admits that Saturday classes cannot be canceled as of now, she is, at the very least, hoping that she can cancel all homework due on Saturdays. Wu commented that negotiating with faculty and the deans can sometimes be nerve-wracking, but she is excited to bring a change to the current academic system.

By observing the people around him, Garcia realized that a lot of people have undergone stress and anxiety as a result of Lawrenceville’s disciplinary system. “I wanted to do something, but I was not in the position to do anything [then], so I decided to run for [Vice President of Honor and Discipline] to bring support to the people around me,” Garcia noted. “My main goal is to work with the administration to implement the minor system, providing students with more opportunities,” he added. Such an initiative will take more time to implement, but a more immediate and achievable endeavor that his is excited about is building an Honor and Discipline guidebook, where information on violation of School rules and the current disciplinary committee (D.C.) will be offered. Although Garcia admitted that he is most nervous to start sitting in on D.C.s because of how stressful and time consuming they can be, he is ready to commit and put in the hours. “I want to thank everyone who stood by me and gave me this amazing opportunity, and I hope that I’ll do right by everyone,” Garcia reflected.

Smith, the Social Representative of Dickinson House, ran for Vice President of Social Life with the hopes that he could help define Lawrenceville’s social culture in coming years. Smith noted that he “believes that with [his] thoughtfulness and diligence, [he] would be the perfect candidate to implement this new era of social life. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it extremely difficult to carry on old traditions and aspects of “old” Lawrenceville, but Smith believes that the next few years will be the foundation to bring a change to campus culture. “My goal is to make next year as memorable and as different as possible considering the years we have had during our time here,” Smith said.

One of Smith’s most ambitious ideas is to create a Social Council with members elected form each House so that every student’s opinion is taken into account when planning events. Smith hopes that he can understand what purpose the Social Council needs to fulfill to achieve his vision of event diversity, expansion, and student feedback. “I’ve already stated the conversations required to bring my promises to life, and I will do everything in my power to make next year truly unforgettable.” he said.

For additional information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.