At Loyola, student government is built on genuine representation. Every year, students vote for classmates to represent them: a student body president along with a sophomore, junior, and senior class president. Moreover, each class has the opportunity to appoint 1 VP and 1 representative. In accordance with their recent nominations, next year’s class presidents each have a different story to tell.
Cooper Chang ‘29, the upcoming sophomore class president, ran for one reason, he wanted his class to be more connected. He says, “I’ve always enjoyed bringing people together … and I felt this was a chance to represent our class and make for an exciting year.”
For Chang, the biggest challenge he faced was “learning how to advocate for new ideas as an underclassman,” and this has taught him better communication skills and how to work collaboratively.
Chase Frankel ‘28, the upcoming junior class president, the current sophomore class president, and the previous freshman class president, ran because he was “Inspired by the strength of our grade when people feel connected and involved.”
He wants to accomplish a stronger sense of community amongst the entire grade and “ensure people feel part of something bigger than academics or individual groups.”
Throughout his time as a leader, Frankel was challenged to balance different expectations and ensure everyone felt heard while making decisions that benefited the entire grade.
Frankel wants everyone to understand that he is open to any new ideas and wants to include everyone’s ideas in his decisions, not just his close friends’; he also is invested in “loyalty, brotherhood, and being there for people.”
Matthew Dombrowski ‘27 wants to represent the class of 2027; he ran for senior class president and won.
He ran “because he genuinely wants to make a difference in the Loyola community”.
Something he wants to accomplish is to implement a suggestion box system. He explains, “Many times in my Loyola career, I’ve heard little, sometimes insignificant, comments from classmates on what they would rather see in many aspects of Loyola.”
He took initiative and wants to turn his ideas into a real thing because he believes that changes at Loyola should be an accurate reflection of what the students actually care about.
Dombrowski’s biggest challenge is “knowing what to put the most of my time into when wanting to achieve a goal.”
He wants to be able to juggle all his tasks by prioritizing what matters most and ensuring all members of the student council attack the problem as a team. Off the field, Dombrowski described himself as a very approachable guy and super friendly, and doesn’t want anyone to be too scared to say something.
William Collard ‘27 is the next student body president and, as such, the next student leader of Loyola. However, originally, he didn’t even think of running and was only convinced by his teachers to run the night before the application was due.
One thing he wants to accomplish is “I want students to feel that they have people on campus that they can talk to about their problems … I think that the Student Wellness Council is such an amazing tool for students to use if they need to talk to anybody.”
Something he wants his peers to know about himself is he truly cares about his classmates and the school; junior year has allowed him “to create everlasting friendships and relationships that I am so lucky to have, and those are something that I value very deeply. I want my classmates to know how much I care for them and this school.”
Though each role differs, they all share one thing in common: they all deeply care about Loyola. Whether Chang wants the next sophomores to feel more connected, Dombrowski pushes for a system to make everyone feel heard, Frankel expresses compassion for community or Collard makes sure no one feels alone, the next line of leaders at Loyola knows true leadership.
