Editors’ note: This article was updated to correctly represent the responsibilities of the Washington and Lee Student Judicial Council.
Washington and Lee students elected new representatives to the Executive Committee (EC) and Student Judicial Council (SJC) on Sept. 26.
Jasmyn Pillay, ’29, was elected to serve as the class of 2029’s first representative to the EC. Twelve candidates vied for the spot, making it the most competitive race in this election.
“I really do take pride in speaking up on issues that I’m passionate about,” Pillay told the Phi. “I’m particularly excited to be working more on the honor side of it.”
First-year law students chose Jordan Overstreet, ’28L, to serve as their EC representative.
The EC is the university’s student-run governing body responsible for overseeing the Honor System, approving and allocating funds to student organizations and addressing student concerns.
New SJC representatives were also elected from the undergraduate class of 2029 and the law class of 2028.
The SJC is responsible for investigating and acting on complaints of alleged student misconduct, outside of the categories of lying, cheating or stealing, which are handled by the EC. Examples of the types of cases the SJC handles include hazing, vandalism, destruction of property, and violations of university policies on alcohol and drugs, according to the university website.
Caroline Mould, ’29, was elected as the SJC first-year representative. Mould said she was inspired to run because of her alumnus father’s lifelong commitment to the Honor System.
“The Honor System has always been a big part of my life,” Mould said. “I feel like I want to represent my class and help keep the standard of this community where it is at.”
The undergraduate and law classes of 2026 also elected new SJC reps. These positions are usually filled during the winter term, but no student ran for the spots last election.
Trey Smith, ’26, and Allison Hermann, ’26L, were elected to the SJC. Both candidates ran unopposed.
“I decided to run for the open SJC position because I saw it as an opportunity to help ensure that my class kept its voice in student misconduct proceedings,” Hermann wrote in an email to the Phi. “Accountability matters, but someone should always have the opportunity to be fairly judged before facing sanctions.”
Student government elections are held through a ranked-choice voting system that allows students to vote for multiple candidates by order of preference. The candidate with more than 50% of the first-choice vote wins automatically. If no candidate gets a majority, the candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated. For voters whose first-choice did not win, their vote is then redistributed to their second-choice pick.
The elections are overseen by the Student Election Commission, an impartial board made up of undergraduate and law students selected by the EC.
Students were able to learn more about those running for office at the candidate forum held on Sept. 23—three days before the election.
“[The candidate forum] influenced my vote,” Isabel Pearson, ’29, said. “All the candidates showed that they were very prepared and they cared about the race.”
At the forum, each candidate could give a speech on their reasons for running for each respective position. None of the law students running for election participated in the forum.
Candidates were also asked to answer a question asked by Connor Smith, ’26, the chair of the Student Election Commission.
“I appreciated that they asked the candidates a question at the end to show that the candidates could think on their feet,” Pearson said.
