Interview with the new student body president!

With the recent election of Jordan Yuan ’24 as student body president, The Mercersburg News chose to conduct an interview with Yuan and current student body president Peter Rice ’23. The two reflected on the past school year and shared their thoughts about current school issues. 

Mercersburg News: What are your ambitions for next year? 

Jordan Yuan ’24: My ambitions for next year are to improve student life by changing many aspects, say, the food in the dining hall and the True Blue Cafe. Academically, I want to have a proper schedule that satisfies more people and makes more use of our current facilities like the VR studio. Also, improved dorm life. I remember Peter talking about the possibility of sleepovers last year; I'm really interested in that. I want to continue pursuing the students’ best interests.

MN: What are some reflections as this year's president?

Peter Rice ’23: I learned a lot this year. I learned how nuanced and how hard the process is to get something changed. [There are] a lot of people involved, getting approval from many different groups. The main takeaway was that to get a policy change, it takes a lot of work and meetings and such.

MN: What are your opinions on the current visitation policy?

JY: I think there is space to improve in terms of visitation policies. I hear people complaining about more flexible visitation times during weekdays. So we will keep collecting opinions from people and work for their best interests. 

PR: Oh, I think there's definitely room to improve. This year we worked on making steps towards better policies, like having the time during weekdays for seniors to go into common rooms. But I think there's space for that to be improved, maybe extending that to more grades, extending the hours.

MN: What are your opinions on the current behavior point system?

JY: I believe the behavior points system is definitely a better way for students to keep themselves from getting into more trouble. It has even stopped me from skipping classes because I have to consider the hit on my [point total]. I feel like it's a necessary system.

PR: I think there are pros and cons to it. With the behavior point system, your punishment isn't as directly related to what you did. In the past, if you missed a class, you just went to study hall that night. With the point system, you have some wiggle room before you get to the punishments.

MN: What are some ambitions for student activities that you have next year?

JY: Oh, as I mentioned earlier…, I think people really liked boba in the True Blue Cafe. That is one of the main things I'm working on because most complaints are food-related. And next thing is dorm policies. Those are the two main issues I'm going to work on. But taking into account that Trini is leaving, I will work with whoever's in charge next year to keep the frequency and fun of activities up.