Welcoming Our New VPs for 2023-2024

Congratulations to the 2023-2024 VP of Academics Conan Chen ’24, VP of Honor and Discipline Daphne Volpp ’24, and VP of Social Life Grace Chu ’24. 

 Chu was motivated to run for VP of Social Life because it is a role that “holds meaning for a lot of students. We spend so much time here at school engaged in academics, and social life is our break from that,” she explained. As Social Representative on the Stephens House Council, Chu had a “good time” helping organize events and working to improve social life for the House. While she was “nervous” about eventually being responsible for planning schoolwide and Saturday night events, working with the Social Council and Director of Student Life Ian August helped “ease this stress.” As VP of Social, Chu aims to involve the student body more in social life on campus. “I think taking and listening to student input is something really important in planning good events that people will enjoy,” she said. One way Chu hopes to achieve this goal is by sending out feedback forms after every social event and working closely with the Social Council and Student Council members on school events. “I also want to try new things that haven’t been done before…dances are great, but I think something new would be good for the school,” she concluded. 

 For the role of VP of Honor, Volpp is “very excited” to start working with the rest of the Student Council and the Honor Council. Running for the position was a “stressful experience,” but she was glad to have had the opportunity to practice “speaking under pressure in front of a large audience.” “Since my [II Form] year, I’ve felt like the honor system at Lawrenceville has been secretive and almost ominous…I want to change the culture at our school to be more transparent,” Volpp said. Specifically, she aims to create an honor portal on Veracross and ensure that all Houses have an Honor Representative to answer potential questions and sit in on disciplinary councils (DC) involving House members. To implement these changes, she plans to work closely with the Honor Council and current VP of Honor Lucas Garcia ’23, Dean of Students Blake Eldridge P ’25, and Dean of Faculty Emilie Kosoff. “I want to thank my Heads of Houses, Ms. Ding and Ms. Calvert, my whole House for supporting me, and everyone else who ran,” Volpp said. 

 After being elected as VP of Academics, Chen hopes to “hit the ground running” in terms of working on new initiatives. Specifically, he aims to extend gym hours this term and start working with Assistant Dean of Students Douglas Davis early on to implement more policies by the Fall Term. “Academics is not just about classes, so I would also like to work closely with the future Wellness Representative to improve mental health on campus,” Chen said. Many of Chen’s ideas also overlap with initiatives highlighted on president-elect Bryce Langdon’s ’24 platform, including increasing  student WiFi access and taking advantage of the School’s alumni network. Additionally, he hopes to work with Volpp to “clarify the use of AI resources like Chat GPT in academics.” To increase transparency, Chen is planning to keep the student body informed of new policies monthly through School Meeting. “Overall, I want to really place a priority on wellness, specifically keeping students healthy and more stress-free,” Chen said.  

 With the President and the VPs elected, the next step in the election process is to elect Diversity, Arts, Wellness, Athletic, and Community Service representatives. The applications for the other representative positions came out on April 24 via email.