We are excited to announce our endorsement of Anina Dentel-Pham ’27 to serve as the next Student Government Association (SGA) President. With deep-rooted experience in SGA and an action-oriented plan, The Campus believes that Dentel-Pham and her vice presidents, Jeffrey Teh ’28 and Connor McClellan ’28, will represent the student body with enthusiasm and deliver on their promises to enhance student life.
On Monday night, The Campus met with Dentel-Pham’s team for 20 minutes to discuss their campaign platform and objectives for next year. Dentel-Pham called in on WhatsApp from Taiwan, where she is currently studying abroad, while her vice presidents attended the meeting in person. The Campus also spoke with her opponents, Bailey Parent ’27, and his vice-presidential appointees, Arai Hardy ’27 and Omar Jimenez Jr. ’27.
Our endorsement plays no role in The Campus’ reporting on the presidential election; we are committed to objective journalism in our newsroom and fact-checked arguments in our opinions section.
There were strengths and weaknesses of both candidates, but ultimately, the majority of the editorial board voted in favor of Dentel-Pham and her team.
A large part of the conversation and subsequent decision centered around experience and prior commitment to SGA. Both Dentel-Pham and Teh have been active members in SGA, with Dentel-Pham serving as the former vice president and Teh as the acting speaker of the senate. These years of experience should not be underestimated.
That being said, the Campus agreed that there is something undeniably refreshing about new faces entering the race. After a less-than-usual SGA administration, there needs to be a serious readjustment of the SGA’s priorities and agenda. Parent and his team bring a fresh perspective to the table, emphasizing that SGA is not a political organization as much as a student-oriented service role.
However, Parent’s lack of familiarity with SGA and its institutional structures could act as a major barrier to making tangible progress. While his campaign promises, such as increasing the number of laundry machines and printers and extending dining hall hours, are popular, his team lacked concrete action steps to implement them.
Parent had good ideas but was missing action steps, relying on ideas of what they are going to do rather than how they are actually going to do it. For example, both campaigns include plans to make laundry facilities more accessible across campus, a frequent complaint among students who often encounter broken machines or lack laundry facilities in their buildings. Dentel-Pham’s team has already given the process some thought, contacting business services and ResLife to determine what is and isn’t feasible.
Although some of Dentel-Pham’s ideas, such as the student bar, are unlikely to be completed by the end of her presidency, we believe her SGA experience and sheer commitment to advancing her ideas will lay the groundwork for a much-needed SGA refresh.
We were impressed by Dentel-Pham’s continued ability to solicit feedback, even when she is in Taiwan. Her policy proposal to increase funding for LSAT tutoring came about after a student from the Middlebury Law Club reached out to express disappointment at having been previously rejected for SGA funding. Dentel-Pham has said she wants to codify this funding in future SGA legislation.
It is undeniable that Dentel-Pham’s campaign has intentionality and purpose. She has been planning her candidacy, with campaign photos and videos dating back to before she left for Taiwan. Although this is not a requirement for any SGA campaign, it demonstrates Dentel-Pham’s strategic competitiveness and confidence, qualities essential to an effective SGA President. In the meeting itself, Dentel-Pham demonstrated this energy by bringing rehearsed talking points and closing remarks, reiterating that “no task is above or below” her team. Her VPs, dressed in identical outfits, also distributed handouts for reference and asked The Campus questions aimed at improving our communication with the SGA, indicating a thoroughness that exceeded Parent’s.
Nevertheless, several of our editors did not vote for Dentel-Pham and stressed that Parent’s campaign brings a fresh face to the SGA. We cannot ignore that Dentel-Pham served as Vice President under Meyers’ administration, which has not achieved a majority of its campaign promises. When asked about these shortcomings, Dentel-Pham emphasized that her own leadership style differs from current leadership, and that she wants to maintain visibility, reinstating consistent communication and doing everything in her power to regain the lost trust in SGA.
We are surprised at Dentel-Pham’s choice to select Teh and McClellan as her running mates. While Teh brings undeniable enthusiasm and experience, he will be abroad for the full year. During the meeting, he claimed he would serve as VP asynchronously for the entire year, to which Anina quickly rebutted, saying she would “replace him” in the spring.
McClellan, a player on the football team, will be abroad in the spring. When asked about his motivation for joining the SGA, he said that until Dentel-Pham reached out to him, he did not know anything about it.
The Board is concerned that Dentel-Pham might be forced to shoulder the burden of her appointed VPs’ absence, undermining her potential effectiveness as a representative of the student body and her ability to enact real change.
Despite this scrutiny, The Campus does not foresee Dentel-Pham disappearing after the election. She is passionate, driven and ready to handle the role of president. She has clearly been preparing for this since the fall, so when you go to cast your vote on Thursday, April 23, we urge you to vote for Anina Dentel-Pham. We believe that she will take actionable steps to improve our SGA.
Editor’s note: This endorsement was written before the April 22 presidential debate. Any new campaign material expressed during the debate was not a factor in this endorsement.
