By Fiona Fu ’25
The 2023-2024 Student Council has been hard at work over the past three terms, bringing up student concerns and initiatives in their weekly meetings and to the Administration’s attention. So far, the Student Council has focused on improving transparency through being more active on their Instagram account, launching a website, and giving more frequent updates during School and Form Meetings. With student wellness as a central focus, their proposals have spanned from academic to quality-of-life improvements. Here is a rundown of what the Student Council has worked on throughout the past term.
Visitation Policy Revision:
Problems with the existing Visitation Policy have been discussed for a while now, and the Student Council has been actively working with the Administration on ways it could be reformed.
“We hope to have a revised Visitation Policy that will allow for more fluency with how House Mentors give visitation and how we can maybe use things like Reach and [Microsoft] Teams to get visitation, which will make it easier for a lot of students,” Student Body President Amanda Benneh ’24 said.
Although the initiative is still in the early conversational stage, Fifth-form Representatives Robert Haik ’25 and Jeremiah Olubowale ’25 have met with Dean of Students Mr. Will Gilyard ’98 and Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Mr. Pat Dennehy, and more senior officers are expected to get involved soon.
Standardized Test
Corrections:
Test correction policies across different classes and academic departments can be vastly different, causing discrepancies and confusion for students. Sixth-form Representative Tariq El Mammann ’24 and Upperclassmen Day Student Representative Andra Ionescu ’24 have been working on a proposal to make test correction policies more standardized between departments. The two have met with Director of Studies Ms. Ellen Devine to discuss this initiative further.
Grade Transparency:
Another issue students have brought up in regards to the academic experience at Choate has been how teachers are currently not allowed to reveal a student’s overall grade percentage. The Administration reasoned that having the grade readily available may cause stress. However, a proposal for students to be able to view their average grade on Canvas, initiated by Lowerclassmen Day Student Representative Zaki Shamsi ’26, has been in progress throughout the year. The new proposal aims to increase grade transparency and allow students to track their progress throughout the year.
“We’ve been going back and forth with academic department heads, the deans, Ms. Devine, and [Head of Student and Academic Life] Ms. Jenny Elliott,” Shamsi said. “Currently, they’re looking for a pivot. So they’re very much for the rationale behind the proposal to improve students’ mental health, to allow more transparency, and things like that. What they’ve said is that they want to maybe find possible counter solutions.”
While the School will not reveal overall grade percentages on Canvas, Shamsi noted that both the Administration and the Student Council are determined to find other solutions.
Convenience in St. John Hall:
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make student life a lot easier. Fifth-form President Adam Fleischman ’25 has reached out to relevant faculty about the possibility of adding more charging stations to the Student Activities Center (SAC) in St. John Hall and replacing the many advertising flyers for club and SAC events with televisions. These proposals are still in the early stages of development.
Water Fountains in Dorms:
When it comes to water fountains, not all dorms are created equal. “A lot of dorms don’t have water fountains,” Fourth-form President Thandiwe Taylor ’26 said. “Some of them have water fountains, but they’re not filtered, so people don’t use them.”
To remedy this issue, Taylor is working on an initiative to have water fountains installed in every dorm. “We’ve been in conversation with people like Mr. Dennehy, and he’s behind it, but there’s a sustainability piece,” she said. As such, she has been talking to Kohler Environmental Center Program Director Mr. Joe Scanio to ensure that the proposal aligns with Choate’s sustainability goals.
Athletic Uniforms:
Student Council has also received a myriad of complaints about athletic uniforms, from issues in sizing, to style, to quality. As a result, Fourth Form Representative Dominique Welcome ’26 and Taylor presented a proposal targeting this issue.
“We talked to [Assistant Coordinator of Athletic Operations and Head Equipment Manager] Mr. Justin Whittaker and some staff at the Athletic Center, and now there’s an initiative to get some new uniforms and equipment over the summer,” Taylor said.
Satellite Sandwich Stations:
Another initiative geared towards athletes is easier access to food on game days. Haik, who is behind the proposal, said he wants to implement satellite sandwich stations at the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center before Wednesday games, which would “ensure sustainability and make sure people eat what they want to eat” instead of what SAGE Dining Services provides.
“This will most likely happen next year. I’ve been talking to [Director of Athletics] Mr. Roney Eford a lot about this initiative and Mr. Gilyard,” Haik said. We are getting it sorted out, but it’s just simply logistics.”
Q&A Format for the Student Council Presidential Debate:
The current structure for electing Student Council Presidents, where candidates give a short speech at School Meeting and have a Q&A session in the dining hall the night prior, makes it difficult for students to directly compare each candidate, Haik said. His proposal to combine the two and have a live debate during School Meeting would allow students to get a better idea of what exactly each candidate stands for. The proposal has been passed and will occur in the next election cycle.
Speaker Feedback Form:
Choate students hear from a wide variety of speakers throughout their time at the School. Although each speaker brings their own experience and unique insight, some resonate better with the student body than others. In order to hear directly from the students on the effectiveness of each speaker, Student Body Vice-President Cassatt Boatwright ’24 and Adam Fleischman ’25 passed a proposal for students to receive a feedback form after each talk. The results of the feedback forms will be evaluated by the Director of Institutional Research Ms. Carissa Casey.
Boatwright added, “We’re hoping to connect it with other schools so that we can share our data in terms of feedback from different speakers, so we can bring in speakers that we know are going to do well and can speak well to high school audiences.”
Miscellaneous tasks:
Aside from these initiatives, the Student Council was also involved in the process of deciding on the new weekly schedule for the 2023-2024 school year and the ongoing dining hall renovations. In addition, they are working on establishing connections with student councils at peer schools to facilitate the exchange of ideas.
“I think we had a lot of progress, more than we have in the past few years,” Benneh said, reflecting on her tenure as Student Body President. “We [wanted to] make sure that we could leave a good starting point for the next council to go off of and continue what we’ve been doing.”
“The previous [council] has gained some incredible momentum for us to capitalize on,” Haik, the Student Body President-elect, said. “I’m excited to continue implementing impactful policies that will benefit all students.” Haik recommended that students visit the Student Council website — which can be found on the Choate portal — to stay up-to-date with progress on proposals, as well as submit their own ideas.
