More than 250 sophomores voted for a Student Government Association (SGA) Sophomore Senator in a special election held on March 6, with B Striker ’25 winning the spot. SGA also announced the new Feb Senators Shane Silverman ’24.5 and Anthony Makhovik ’26.5, who ran in an uncontested race.
Approximately 38.7% of the sophomore class voted in the special election. B Striker won the race with 71.1% of the votes and is excited to bring kindness, ambition and accountability to the SGA.
“This is my last semester on campus before going abroad for a year and a half, so being Sophomore Senator is how I’m going to give back to a community that has done so much for me,” Striker said.
Striker has previously worked on initiatives within the Anderson Freeman Resource Center (AFC), creating a workshop that spread information on financial aid forms as well as establishing a hair-care workshop for students of color which will now be a regular event on campus. He also helped advertise the services that the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) offers and worked with Facilities Services, discovering a pre-existing app that makes laundry experience easier that he is hoping to bring to the Middlebury community during his term on SGA this semester.
For B Striker, his ultimate goal as Sophomore Senator is to spread awareness of all the resources Middlebury has to offer. Striker believes that Middlebury has many valuable resources, but students lack awareness about them. He hopes that informing students of these resources will help them to cultivate their own unique community within Middlebury.
“I believe that having a community at Middlebury can make or break students’ experience,” Striker said. “I also believe that it takes all members to cultivate one, and since I’m a member of the community I feel that it’s only my job to cultivate.”
Silverman is excited to return to SGA to work on reforming the body by helping it operate more responsibly. Silverman previously worked on SGA in a cabinet position for the External Affairs Committee, coordinating events and managing Middlebury’s relationship with the town. Now, as a Feb Senator, Silverman is hoping to continue to make changes that will create more opportunities for students to socialize and better engage with their community.
Silverman is passionate about renovating spaces around campus such as the cafe in the Mahaney Arts Center, as well as adding more lights around campus to make it more accessible in the dark.
“I’d like to see a student government that students are excited about and want to engage in,” Silverman said. “I’d like to see a student government that understands how it’s supposed to work, understands the constitution, and also understands what students need from it, and I think it’s going to be my role to guide it there.”
Makhovik noticed there are a lot of SGA members that have been part of the body for a long time, so he looks forward to offering a fresh perspective and bringing new enthusiasm to SGA.
Makhovik also wants to work to keep Ross Dining Hall open in some capacity until 10 p.m. again. He knows there is already some work being done on this project, so he’s excited to continue pushing for the change to be fully implemented. He also wants to work on making Middlebury’s declining balance higher for all students.
“I believe our activity fees have increased along with our tuition by 4.5% to match the rate of inflation,” Makhovik said. “Our declining balance should also reflect that inflation in itself.”
Makhovik feels passionate about making change for all students. He looks forward to working with everyone else on the board to make Middlebury a better place.
“I think it’s a pretty cool thing that I can have the power to change something about the place that I’m going to live in for the next four years and everybody else lives in,” Makhovik said.
All three winners are excited to bring their various goals and passions to the SGA board and work together to make a meaningful impact on the Middlebury community.
“We [Striker and the sophomore committee] have quite a few surprises in store through the end of my term and thereafter,” Striker said. “So even after I leave there’s still a lot more surprises to come because what we work on now is going to impact the future.”
