Rep. Allie Waxman ‘28 was elected Student Government president on Friday, winning over Rep. Milan Iezzi ‘28 by a margin of 92 votes in the highest turnout Student Government election in at least nine years, according to Student Government data.
Further down the ballot, women secured every executive board position, a first in recent memory. Rep. Annabel Hooey ‘28 will become vice president, Hayden Cohen ‘29 will be communications officer, Evalina Ibrahim ‘29 will be inclusivity officer and Amy Atuhaire ‘29 will be parliamentarian. Treasurer Gracie Vale ‘27, running unopposed, will serve a second term.
With 1,166 ballots submitted, approximately 43.5% of the student body voted.
The figure marks a 60% increase from the 2024 election — a mostly uncontested race — when 727 students voted. The year prior, completely uncontested, saw just 361 ballots cast. This year, every race except treasurer had multiple candidates.
“I’m super excited,” said Waxman, an Anthropology & Sociology major. “I think I have been working really hard the past few weeks to campaign really hard, and just to get to know people here at Lafayette and to talk to people.”
Waxman will be inheriting a governing body that has spent the year rebounding from turnover and looking inward, amending its own rules. She will lead a relatively green executive board, with half of its members having never before served on Student Government.
“I have always loved being such a team player, and I’m just excited to gather together and collaborate and communicate with one another,” she said of her new executive board. “Obviously, we all have different roles on Student Government, but everyone’s voice deserves to be heard.”
The New York native campaigned on a platform of improving the student experience. She’s pledged to promote resources at the college counseling center, start a life skills initiative and develop orientation experiences for each class year returning to campus after break.
Steering Student Government alongside Waxman will be Hooey, who won the vice president title over Rep. William Bennett ‘28 by nearly 20% of votes.
“I thought it could go either way,” Hooey said of her victory. “That’s why it was so shocking to find out. I definitely wasn’t expecting to win or lose.”
Hooey said she is excited about the chance to work with an all-woman executive board and sees a lot of “passion in these lovely ladies.”
“I think we bring a strong force of determination and confidence that is critical to implementing change on campus,” she said.
All candidates won their races by comfortable margins. The tightest contest was the presidency, where Waxman finished about eight points ahead. The widest gap came in the race for inclusivity officer: Ibrahim secured 62.5% of the vote, while her opponent drew 17.2%.
Cohen also had a strong win for communications officer, receiving 52.5% of the vote. One opponent — Matthew Simpson IV ‘27 — received 80 votes, fewer than the number of ballots left blank for the race.
Members of the Class of 2029 made up the largest share of voters, accounting for 30% of all ballots cast.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Nov. 20 to include additional statistics.
