Editors’ note: As outlined in Hill’s SGA constitution, The Hill News publishes statements of each presidential candidate. We take this role seriously, seeing it as an essential part of keeping an informed student body. To view the full candidate statements, click here.

Candidate Pairs:

• Jill Patel and Jackson Bala
• Lily Mauro and Ben Choi
• Tommy Gill and Ella Armstrong

Questions:

1. What do you have to contribute to Hill? What sets you apart from other community members?
2. How do you and your running mate plan to contribute to Hill together? Briefly describe the collaborative goals and initiatives you both aim to implement if elected.
3. What does the SGA mean to you?
4. How did you choose your running mate?

Below are the candidate pairs’ responses to Question 2.

Jill Patel and Jackson Bala 

Jill: Our overarching goal for the next year is to create a space where students reach for opportunities and play an active part in their community. From its close-knit family boarding school community with a global student body to an athletically and academically strong environment, allowing students to gain real-world skills within and beyond campus, Hill is a place that has opportunities many other students do not have. We believe that by fostering a culture where students take the initiative to engage with the opportunities they are presented with, we can create an environment where students shape their experience and find a reason to love Hill as much as we do. Specifically, two major initiatives we have are to have students be able to attend SGA meetings and host a school-wide event–whether it is a fun game like Jeopardy or a short update and school survey–once a term, to maintain the connection between the students and the SGA. With these initiatives, Jackson and I hope to empower students to fully take advantage of the amazing opportunities Hill offers and are actively involved in shaping their community. 

Jackson: Jill and I have now spent a year together in student government, as well as 3 years together in the same form. Over this time, I have learned about her as a person, her as a form senator, and her goals moving forward. I believe that Jill and I have spent a productive year together in the student government, but we weren’t perfect. We faced setbacks, had our ideas refused, and lacked performance in some areas. Jill and I don’t see this as a negative, but rather as a platform to build off of. If elected, we plan to help strengthen the Hill Community and aim to create a strong sense of Hillness through all walks of life around campus. A main goal we plan to aim for is an increase of SGA all-school meetings. An example is the fun Jeopardy-style meeting we had this year. We feel that this helps bridge the gap and lets students see clearly what the SGA is up to. 

Lily Mauro and Ben Choi

Lily: Ben and I have been working diligently on the initiatives and goals we aim to bring to our community. In Ben’s candidate statement he introduces initiatives such as changes in dress code during the school day for athletes participating in blue light games and students in theater  productions, a game closet in the Map Room, and honorary L-Ville days in the winter and spring.  We do not want to make empty promises, so we plan to share the initiatives that are most  achievable as of right now. We know each and every one of the students at Hill work so hard in  the classroom or community, on the field, rink, track, courts, pool or stage, and in various other  extracurricular activities. Ben and I would like to celebrate these achievements by presenting  them on a bulletin board in the map room. Although this is a small project, we know how hard  students work, and believe their efforts should not go unnoticed. Another initiative Ben and I  would like to take, is to implement a new winter dress code. Due to frigid temperatures, our dress code varies greatly throughout the winter months so we would like to create a modified one so  students can stay comfortable and prepared for the unpredictable weather. This will also give  students a chance to prepare in advance for the dress code, rather than adapting on the fly. Although Ben and I have many ideas, it is essential to hear the ideas from every student on  campus. Ben and I plan to meet with students in monthly or bi-weekly town halls where they can  openly express their ideas, questions, and perspectives for the Hill community. We will fully  dedicate our time to the students because it is our mission to ensure that every student’s voice is  heard and respected. Ben and I have many more ideas that we would like to implement, but we would like to discuss them with faculty to see if they are viable options. 

Ben: Lily and I plan to contribute to Hill by working together to strengthen the sense of connection and inclusion across the entire community. Because we’ve each built relationships in different areas of campus life, we want to use that perspective to better understand and represent as big of a range of student voices as possible. Our goal is to make sure every student feels heard, valued, and supported. Together, we aim to focus on improving communication between the student body and SGA, creating more opportunities for students to share their ideas and concerns, and turning that feedback into meaningful action. Our goal is to lead through collaboration and service. This means listening actively, working closely with others, and making thoughtful changes that have a positive and lasting impact on the Hill community. To list some examples of new ideas and proposals we would like to help implement if elected, Lily’s candidate statement highlights initiatives such as modifications to winter term dress codes, hosting regular town hall meetings with students, and creating a bulletin board in the Map Room to celebrate student achievements. In addition to these ideas, we would like to introduce an honorary winter and spring term Lawrenceville – Hill rivalry day on a Saturday to build excitement around the rivalry and give athletes from other seasons the chance to participate. We also want to expand school spirit through blue light spirit days, where athletes can wear their jerseys on their blue light game days. This not only brings energy to athletic events, but we hope to extend this idea to other areas of campus life as well, such as dance performances, theater productions, and music concerts. This way, all student talents are equally celebrated and supported. Additionally, we would like to create a game closet in the Map Room with board games that students can use whenever they want, making sure to clean up after themselves. Students can also vote on and help select which board games they want to be available. This provides a simple but meaningful way to encourage more casual, inclusive social interaction and give students another space to connect with one another. Through these initiatives, our goal is to increase connectivity, boost school spirit, and create more opportunities for students to engage with and support each other in all aspects of Hill life.

Ella Armstrong and Tommy Gill

Ella: My running mate and I plan to contribute our SGA leadership experience and our engagement with Hill through other leadership roles on campus. Using our combined experience, we would like to increase regular student engagement with the SGA while also testing the limits of the SGA’s effectiveness and influence on students’ experience. We feel that students at the school have become disconnected from the SGA, which limits the association’s effectiveness. We would like to test the limits of the SGA by increasing engagement with other Hill communities. We feel that the SGA could become more effective if we could utilize the full Hill community, including families, faculty, and other student groups on campus.

Tommy: My running mate and I plan to contribute our joint SGA experience and our engagement through other leadership positions on campus. We feel that our  experience, not only just from SGA, but from many other leadership positions on campus, has allowed us to become active members and leaders in our Hill community. Using our combined experience, we would like to increase the student  engagement with the SGA while also testing the limits of how effective and  influential SGA could be. We feel like the students at the school have become  disconnected from the SGA and this limits the effectiveness of the association. We would also like to test the limits of the SGA by tapping into the extended  community of Hill.We feel like the SGA could become more effective if we could  use the full Hill community.This includes families, faculty, and smaller student  groups across campus.