Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya Elected Freshman Caucus President and Vice President

Freshmen Satvik Agnihotri and Iravan Bhattacharyya were elected Freshman Caucus President and Vice President respectively, for the 2019-2020 school year on October 28. The Agnihotri-Bhattacharyya ticket won the election with a total of 145 votes, while their runners-up, freshmen Andrey Sokolov and Daniel Jung, finished with 125 votes.

Outside of Freshman Caucus, Agnihotri is a member of the Congressional debate team and was on his middle school’s debate team. Bhattacharyya plays for Stuyvesant’s varsity baseball team and was part of his middle school’s student government cabinet.

Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya’s policies are based on three pillars: diversity, inclusivity, and continuity. Their campaign team was diverse in terms of both racial backgrounds and interests, which they believe will allow them to effectively serve as the voice of the freshman student body. “Using all this ground that we cover, we can really be relatable to a large amount of the student body and that, I think, makes for an ideal middleman between the staff and students,” Bhattacharyya said.

Concerning inclusivity, Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya hope their policies will embody the needs of the entirety of the freshman student body. Additionally, they believe in taking into account both the wishes of the administration and the students when drafting proposals.

In terms of continuity, Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya want to continue working on and improving proposals initiated by past caucuses, as well as implement the foundation for new policies. Such plans include pushing for earlier re-entry for students during their lunch or free periods, which was an initiative started by sophomores and former Freshman Caucus Co-Presidents Cynthia Tan and Emma Wong.

Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya hope to achieve other policies as well, including allowing students to have one earbud in the lunchroom. While they realize that earbuds may possess a safety hazard, they also believe that the one earbud policy would be reasonable, as the administration “know[s] a lot of kids have to do homework,” Bhattacharyya said.

Students like freshman Ruby Lin, who voted for the Agnihotri-Bhattacharyya ticket, hope Agnihotri-Bhattacharyya can successfully push for a change in the rules surrounding headphones. “[I hope] Iravan and Satvik [can convince the administration to allow] headphones around the school because I’m tired of hearing people blast music during my free periods while I’m trying to study,” she said.

Though aware of the constraints set on the caucuses by the administration, Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya remain optimistic about the capabilities of Freshman Caucus. “We know from the past history of caucuses that the administration has been a particular setback in limiting the powers of the Student Union. I think what needs to happen is [that] we need to be stronger. We need to be more upfront and pushier in order to get what we want,” Agnihotri said.

Furthermore, Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya recognize their advantage of being newcomers to the Student Union (SU). “Something that [SU President] Vishwaa [Sofat] told us at our first cabinet meeting [was that] Freshman Caucus is really where you can get the most done,” Bhattacharyya said. As freshmen, they have a different perspective compared to those who have already become accustomed to Stuyvesant, and they can see the “blatant reality that others may not be able to see,” Bhattacharyya said.

Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya also believ e the persistence and hard work they showed during their campaign session will be necessary in the coming year when pushing for their policies. “Every single day for two weeks, we would spend hours on the phone as a group, discussing our next campaign move. We spent days and days perfecting every word of our policies,” freshman and campaign manager for the Agnihotri-Bhattacharyya ticket Elizabeth Black said in an e-mail interview. “Everyone put their all—their heart and soul—into this campaign, and our team took it from nothing but ideas in Satvik and Iravan’s heads to a huge success. It was hard work, but it was beyond rewarding.”

Agnihotri and Bhattacharyya are proud to represent the freshmen and are excited for the year ahead. They also commended the other tickets for their hard work. “We know how hard it is to get a website up and running, get a successful social media platform up and running, and [make] your peers aware of what you're doing as a team. So we really respect all the campaigns and we're again honored that [the freshman student body] chose us,” Bhattacharyya said.

Agnihotri agreed, saying, “I feel honored that we were the chosen candidates to be the representative[s] for 900 kids. That means something. It's not a meaningless title.”