Our names are Joseph Whitfield and Justin Deckert, and we are running for re-election for the positions of co-class presidents for the Class of 2015.

Serving as class presidents this year has been an exhilarating experience. It has allowed us to meet and serve so many of our peers. This year, we have worked on events such as Spontaneous Fun Day, Winter Carnival and the first-year class dinner. We are currently in the midst of planning two class events, as well as another class dinner for the spring semester. We really enjoy planning events for the class, as it allows us to be creative and gives us the opportunity to bring members of our class together.

Many people don’t know that there are two sides to the Student Government Association (SGA)—event planning and policy. On the policy side this year, we have been a part of SGA’s internal reforms, approval of clubs, as well as discussing and resolving issues on campus. We’re also serving on campus-wide committees. Joseph serves on the multi-cultural affairs committee and Justin serves on the administrative committee. Serving on these committees allows us to break down the barriers between the student body and faculty and administration.

Outside of the SGA-structured meetings, we are currently serving on the learning-differences task force, which aims to rework Colby’s policy on serving students with learning disabilities. We are also working with the sophomore class presidents and Campus Life on a student mentorship program.

If elected again, we will continue planning fun events for the class as well as to carry forward our work on SGA policy and other SGA-related tasks. We do feel as though we would like to improve our communication with our student body. We want to encourage students to seek us out for any issues that they may have here on campus. We want to make ourselves more available and accessible. We also want to increase our communication by starting a monthly newsletter to the class in order to keep everyone up to date on what is going on in and outside of SGA meetings.

Taking on the responsibilities of class presidents has been both an honor and a learning experience. We are currently working on several projects that we would like to continue in the future. We would also like to further shape our class identity and simply make sophomore year fun for everyone. So, what the heck? Vote J-Whit and J-Decks!