Graphic by Yujin Kim/The Choate News
On March 29, juniors across campus refreshed their application portals to see if they had been selected to be a prefect — sixth-formers who mentor underclassmen. The application and selection process this year looked very different from years past due to restrictions created by the pandemic.
In previous years, students were allowed to visit dorms and talk to the advisers to get a sense of which dorms might be a good fit for them. Because dorm visits were restricted, students had to rely on other means of research.
Spencer Bowles ’22 said, “For the most part, I just had to go off of previous years’ experience with the dorms, things I had heard from other students, and interactions I had with the advisers beforehand.” Bowles will be prefecting in Clinton Knight (CK) next year, a dorm he has been inside only a few times. Many other students won’t get to know their dorms until they move in next fall.
Kitty Yu ’22 is in a different situation. She will be a prefect next year at her current residence, the Kohler Environmental Center (KEC). Yu was a remote student in the fall and winter, so she ranked the KEC as her top choice in part because she would like to live there for longer than a single term. She said that being a remote learner in the Environmental Immersion Program (EIP) broadened her perspective, something she hopes she can share with her future prefectees. “I think that having lived in the house can add a special layer to this position,” said Yu.
Some were able to visit other dorms before the pandemic. Sophie Yang ’22, a future Squire Stanley prefect, is already familiar with the dorm as she frequently visited Squire during her freshman year.
The Prefect Committee, a group of faculty members that selects the teams of prefects, has also faced many changes. This year, special consideration was given to how students had interacted with faculty in previous years. Additionally, the departure of a former Prefect Committee member in the winter term complicated the prefect-selection process. English teacher Ms. Victoria Pierotti joined the committee only last month.
Newly selected prefects are excited to energize campus culture as we return to more normal student life. “I’m really excited to work with the other people I’m perfecting with to create a happy environment in the dorm,” said Charlotte Weinstein ’22, who will prefect in Hall next year. “I know that feeling connected to a community has been hard during the pandemic.”
