Last Thursday and Friday, against the backdrop of Winter Carnival, Dartmouth seniors selected 20 of their classmates to serve together on the Class of 2002 Senior Executive Committee, the group charged with organizing class activities for the next five years.
SEC members will hold weekly meetings during Winter and Spring terms to plan events such as Class Day and to select class marshals for Commencement, among other responsibilities.
Following graduation, the committee will organize mini-reunions, manage the class newsletter and ultimately plan the fifth year reunion in 2007, at which new class officers will be chosen.
The members of this year's senior class chosen for the SEC are Jonathan Block, Anne Cloudman, Anne Delaney, Derek Draper, Maxine Goldstein, Vanessa Green, Kendra Quincy Kemp, Philip Mone, Desmond Nation, Katie Pasciucco, Victoria Potterton, Eric Powers, Marcus Rowe, Michael Sevi, Yelena Shklovskaya, Molly Stutzman, Jon Sussman, Jen Tutak, Gary Weissman and Emily Wood.
These 20 students -- whose names were announced Saturday following the previous day's elections -- were chosen from a total applicant pool of 34 seniors. Of the 20, 12 were chosen by a general vote among the senior class, with the remaining eight appointed by a College selection committee.
Students were asked to submit applications which focused on their ability to organize community events and work with others, according to T.J. Wright '02, vice president of the senior class and election coordinator.
Committee members expressed a wide array of reasons for joining the SEC, though all were united in their demonstrated ability for leadership and community involvement during their time at Dartmouth.
Cloudman, who co-chaired the Winter Carnival Committee for the past two years and has held positions within Sigma Delta sorority and the Pan-Hellenic Council, cited her attachment to Dartmouth as her primary motivation for joining the SEC.
"I wanted to stay involved with class activities and thought that this would be the best way to maintain my connection to the College," she said.
Others thought that the Committee offered a valuable opportunity to strengthen alumni support.
Sevi described the College's alumni network as "one of the most fundamental aspects of Dartmouth's character," and said that the SEC, which works to keep alumni in touch with each other and which appoints representatives to the Alumni Council, is the ideal platform from which to encourage alumni loyalty and dedication.
All of the new SEC members who spoke with The Dartmouth were enthusiastic about being given the chance to work with a group of dedicated, similarly-minded peers.
"It's a phenomenal team," Sevi said. "I really couldn't be happier about who I'm working with."
Kemp echoed Sevi's praise.
"I'm excited about the position, and I'm really looking forward to the responsibility of working with my classmates for Dartmouth," she said.
