Student Senate elections will take place online starting Saturday, Sept. 20 at noon, and polls will remain open until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25. Students will have the opportunity to meet Senate candidates and ask questions from 7–8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, in the lobby of Dascomb Hall. Students will receive details regarding voting by email.

Benjamin Libbey

College junior

Student Senate is an extremely important part of student life. As such, I believe that Senate should operate effectively and efficiently. Additionally, I believe that Senate should be open and transparent to ensure that it is acting in the legitimate interest of the student body it represents. I am interested in hearing student concerns and promoting students’ groups. This year’s Senate will have significant challenges to face with very few returning senators. I am ready and excited to face these challenges and to represent the entire Oberlin community to the best of my abilities.

Nick Canavan

College junior

I am a third-year Africana Studies major, and I’m from New Jersey. I’d like to be a student senator in order to help expand and improve the mental health services available to students on campus. I think that everyone on this campus knows someone who has struggled with their mental health, in the context of a mental illness or otherwise. I want to work with the Counseling Center, as well as student organizations like OSWELL, to improve accessibility to the services available: for example, longer walk-in hours and better accommodation for marginalized students. In addition, I want to explore ways in which students can help each other in peer counseling roles to promote the importance of maintaining mental health.

Machmud Makhmudov

College junior

I’m running for a third and final term on Senate in order to ensure the long-term viability of the body and solidify institutional commitments to Student Health Services on campus. Given that there are 14 open seats, I’d like to use my two years of experience to help the new members become effective advocates for the student body. I also think it’s very important for Senate to be an accessible organization for all students. Therefore, one of my priorities would be to make Senate a paid position once again, though I’d also reform the compensation system to ensure more accountability. I’m also excited about the new football stadium and the opportunities that it presents for us to build community at Oberlin, both around athletics and other events.

Zach Gill

College first-year

In Terry Zwigoff ’s Ghost World, an irritating character suggests that those who wish to “f–up” capitalism should attend business school to “f–things up from the inside.” Maybe that try-hard was onto something.

I’m a 20-year-old first-year from Manhattan Beach, CA. My politics are far left, but I don’t subscribe to any particular clique. I’m an OSCAn who’s prepared to fight for the interests of progressivism and radical cooperation. I have extensive experience in local politics, serving for two years on a committee in charge of a large endowment.

I’ve worked with a disagreeable body of grown-ups, and now I have the audacity to stand up to one, too. As Breckin Meyer says in Clueless, thanks for “[taking] a chance on an unknown kid.”

Anna Treidler

College sophomore

I am Anna Treidler, an undeclared second-year student, a member of the Oberlin women’s tennis team and a tour guide at Oberlin. As a senator, I would work to create a group dynamic in which all opinions shared during Senate meetings are valued and discussed with the goal of reaching high quality, consensual decisions. Only if we encourage diverse perspectives will the group be able to pass resolutions that have a positive impact on Oberlin. I also want to make the Student Senate more transparent and accessible to the student body. I want to find ways to give students easy access to share their opinions so that the Senate can make policies that reflect the sentiment of the student body as a whole.

Nicholas Olson

College senior

I am excited to resume my senatorial work on campus after a semester abroad and my junior year. I would like to continue my work on the EMT program as well as my work on improving transparency between student government, the student body, the faculty and the administration. Noticing some of the sudden policy changes Oberlin has announced over the last few years, including the financial aid adjustments according to meal plans and the financial changes whereby study abroad tuition is paid to Oberlin and then forwarded to the institutions, I question why these changes are being made, and especially why communication and student input has been scant. My work with the Oberlin College Democrats, and Residential Education as a resident assistant and my involvement in the Oberlin Theater and Dance departments have given me a broad network on campus to communicate with a wide range of students with diverse backgrounds.

Anthony Dennis

College first-year

Hello fellow Obies! I am Anthony “Tony” Dennis. I am proudly running for a seat in the Student Senate not to have my own say, but rather to embody all of you, the Oberlin community. To give you some background, last year at my high school I was co-president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. In this position, my colleagues and I were able to host more coffeehouses, and we introduced new instruments to the community. The most important part, however, was being able to represent the students at my school. I enjoyed being their voice, and I would love to be yours! So if you like to have your thoughts heard and have someone act on them, then vote for me!

Jordan Ecker

College sophomore

My name is Jordan Ecker (he, him and his), I’m a sophomore and a Politics major, and I’m running for Student Senate. I’m running because I’m concerned that the interests of the student body, the interests of the Student Senate and the interests of the College administration have all diverged. If elected to the Student Senate, I hope to use my electoral mandate to challenge the College administration on the opacity of current financial aid policy decisions and the bizarre top-down “progressivism” of the tobacco ban. I will use my past experience as a high school debater and my current interest in politics to eloquently represent the interests of the student body and bring energy and transparency to student government. I appreciate your support!

Anjali Kolachalam

College first-year

Hello Oberlin! My name is Anjali Kolachalam. I’m running for Student Senate because, although our time on campus is short, I want the years we spend here to be the best they can be. To me, that means making sure our extracurricular activities, from clubs to sports teams to musical productions, have the best support possible. It also means making sure that if there is a problem on campus that needs to be addressed, we have voices speaking for us. I want to make sure your perspectives are heard and your interests are represented. As a student senator, I will always want to hear from you, and look forward to working together on everything that comes up this year. Thanks, and I appreciate your vote!

Sara Ebb

College junior

I’m Sara (she, her and hers). I’m a third year Neuroscience/Biology (potential) major. Having been here for two years, I have seen both the positives and negatives of this campus. In particular, I would like to work toward improving student resources with respect to health. I worked with the student health working group last semester (the majority of our members have not returned this year) and would like to continue that work. While I won’t make promises I can’t keep, my goals for my term would include: creating a database of student-reviewed health resources off campus, creating opportunities for students to access those resources, and continuing to make Student Health Services more accessible and useful to the student body.