We write because we believe there was one important omission from last week’s article, “The A.S. Honor Roll”  — AVP Student Advocacy Bryce Farrington, who is the exception to all of these truisms. Bryce first started being noticed as the masterful manager of Alyssa’s slate last year. Board the Wing ultimately won 27 out of the 30 elections it ran in, leading to a year of peace, harmony and efficiency on council. Farrington could have had any appointed position he wanted, but instead he planned on serving in an informal role until he was asked to serve as AVP Student Advocacy, when he was told he was only person who could do it. 

The Advocacy Office has a high learning curve and workload — it generally promotes from the inside, choosing AVPs with years of experience to weather the highly technical work of managing a staff of quasi-lawyers. Bryce had never been an advocate before, and was immediately thrust into the middle of Conduct Code negotiations. We haven’t seen a single person come into council over the past three years that would have adapted so quickly and successfully to such a demanding position in his or her first year on council, but Bryce managed to make it work, and wrung concession after concession out of the administration on what was thought to be a completed conduct code. Indeed, he is perhaps the single most reliable and dependable council member we have had the pleasure of working with, out of all of the great choices out there. Bryce had a hand in virtually every major initiative this year, always behind the scenes. He felt no need to self-promote, no need to take credit, as he quietly advised virtually everybody on council at one point or another. Bryce never asked for praise and never sought attention, he simply did whatever was for the good of the school, and managed to often be the most influential member of council without saying a word.

In lieu of endorsing any candidates, we say to every reader and every candidate for A.S. office: Draft Bryce again! His humility is only outweighed by his sense of duty, and if he is constantly nagged by people that the school needs him, then maybe he’ll spend one more year in an appointed position. The school would be lucky to have him.

—Mac Zilber

Former A.S. AVP of Academic Affairs

—Alyssa Wing

A.S. President