The Daunting Role of Social Rep

Being elected to the Student Council is a competitive process. The recent presidential election saw Student Council President Bryce Langdon ’24 run against nine other candidates, yet despite the coveted positions of the council, the position of the Social Rep has been widely neglected with only one student running for the position: Grace Chu ’24. While every position has its challenges, it seems the position of social rep has one too many. 

Adrian Carlisi ’24 is the Griswold House’s Social Representative and finds that the position is extremely rewarding but far too complicated. To Carlisi, being social rep is “the type of job you really need a passion for.” Although all positions on the House Council require dedication, commitment, and passion, the role of social rep requires “a different type of passion, which [he] feel[s] is very different.” Carlisi ran for Social Representative because of the amazing experience he had during III Form year, and focused on making sure “that [they] could get to do the same things again.” In his tenure, Carlisi has planned an off-campus trip to Field of Terror, a haunted house and hayride attraction, where students “had the opportunity to bring someone outside of the house.” Carlisi’s accomplishments demonstrate his perseverance, commitment, and passion for the role, so one must ask, why does nobody want to be the school-wide Social Rep?

Carlisi believes there are two defining factors that have created an unpopular reputation surrounding the position of social rep: time and criticism. To be a good social rep you have to “know when to plan certain events,” to comprehend “what the environment is like on campus, and [to] understand the best time to do things,” explains Carlisi. Accommodating everyone’s schedule is a herculean task. This is all without considering the strain it has on the social rep’s own schedule. To Carlisi, “it's just so hard because there are so many things you want to do.” Planning the perfect dance or trip may come at the expense of sleep, friends, or grades, and many Lawrentians do not want to risk that. Carlisi considers time the “biggest enemy at Lawrenceville” and the position of social rep only heightens these troubles.

Criticism is expected for any position but in the eyes of many the social rep entails too much of it. They must be “willing to get that criticism and willing to not get the respect deserved on the big scale—you cannot please everyone” Carlisi has used the critiques to “encourage [him] to try to align events with the best possible time” as he feels “that’s the biggest complaint that [he] will get [by]having an event on a bad time or when a lot of people are off campus or whatever it may be.” Carlisi feels this makes the position a tough job, and advises future social reps to be able to take the “criticism whilst trying to align events in the best possible times.”

Grace Chu ’24 currently serves as the Stephens House social rep and is the Vice President of Social Life for the upcoming school year. Chu ran for the position as she “really enjoys planning events and like[s] seeing how happy [her] house is.” However, there were undoubtedly some issues she faced. Similar to Carlisi, Chu wanted to appease everybody, including the administration, which at times simply was not possible. Chu recounts the process of planning for an off-campus trip, which was denied by the administration primarily due to concerns surrounding the budget and timing. For Chu, “at Stephens, it's been hard to get an off-campus trip going.” There are also a lot of differing opinions as to what events students want, “a lot of students want to see a lot of different things happen and some of those things just can't.” In her upcoming term, Chu plans to address this issue through feedback forms to generate a unified opinion on certain ideas. 

Chu is in a unique position since she has run unopposed. Initially, nobody was running for Vice President of Social Life until Chu was approached by Langdon. Chu felt that “this [was] a great opportunity” to be social rep “for the whole school” so “even more people could have fun with [her] ideas.” Chu has admitted that by running unopposed, “there's barely any stress,” but she wants to “make sure people know that [she is] actually dedicated to the  position.” Chu plans to have engaging conversations with the administration in response to the student body. This modern approach to social life will very much reflect Langdon’s platform by focusing on acting as the liaison between the student body and the administration. Administrative and social changes must occur for the position of social rep to be rejuvenated, so that in the future others are inspired to bear the responsibility of it. An important part of the student experience at Lawrenceville is the social life, which starts with the Social Representative. An environment lacking social representatives is a dull one, so let’s support them just as much as they support us.