On any given day, they don’t stand out. A student rushing across Marston with a Café 47 latte, weaving through the crowd with the urgency of someone late. They look like anyone else — caught in the rhythm of deadlines, dining halls and the lively hum of campus life. And yet, this fall, two of those familiar figures became Pomona’s newest elected freshmen representatives: First-Year Class President and South Campus Representative.
Transforming the passing conversations of student life — debates over coursework, frustrations with dining, the first-year search for belonging — into policies is no small charge, and the responsibility of giving those voices shape now rests with them in the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC).
Campaigns began just a week into the semester, far before students have fully settled into classes or campus life. As the elections commissioner at ASPC, Alex Benach PO ’28 described the frenetic process of first-year elections, highlighting their importance within the ASPC as a whole. In addition to their work with ASPC, Benach is an opinion writer for TSL.
“[Candidates] are, in a way, thrust into elections,” Benach said. “But first-years have an insight that is really exciting, as they have yet to fully come up with their conceptions, biases and judgements of Pomona.”
Still new to their roles, Pomona’s newest first-year representatives are adding the expectations of their peers to the already heavy load of syllabi and deadlines. The newly elected representatives sat down with TSL to reflect on their newfound positions in student government.
First-Year Class President
Manar Hadi PO ’29 stepped into his new role as the first-year class president, a position he initially pursued with hesitation.
“I really didn’t want to run [at first]. I was afraid of putting myself out there too much, and it didn’t make sense to run for a position when I barely [knew] this school [at the time],” Hadi said.
After encouragement from friends in the Lyon dorm, however, Hadi decided to give it a try.
Hailing from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Hadi arrived at Pomona as a first-generation Bangladeshi-American, undecided on a major but intrigued by the intersection of economics and psychological science. A month into the semester, Hadi has already made himself ubiquitous on campus. You can find him cozying up on the beanbags at the Hive, chatting with friends on the Sontag roof or hard at work filming multimedia content in the TSL newsroom.
That instinct to push boundaries wasn’t new for Hadi. His openness to exploring new things is something he carried through high school, where stepping outside his comfort zone became a habit.
“Whether it was dressing up like a minion at football game pep rallies and leading the student section or standing up for my school district at the state capital, I work to make my mark wherever I go,” Hadi said.
As he begins his first term, his primary goal is simple but ambitious: building spaces where first-year students feel welcome.
“It doesn’t matter if you haven’t found ‘your people’ or you don’t have a ‘group’ yet; every event I have should feel like you’re surrounded and welcomed,” Hadi said.
Often, first-year election campaigns focus on cultivating an environment of belonging. Reflecting on the key issues raised during the election, Election Commissioner Benach discussed the importance of a strong platform dedicated to cultivating a welcoming community within the freshman class.
“This is a crucial time for forging bonds and connections,” Benach said. “[Candidates] emphasized the need for events and exciting opportunities for the class to get to know one another.”
Hadi has already connected with leaders at Scripps and Pitzer to begin planning events, focusing less on parties and more on simple gatherings designed to build community.
South Campus Representative
For Soren Murphy-Pearson PO ’29, running for South Campus Representative was less about politics and more about gratitude.
“My first three weeks at Pomona were the best I could’ve asked for,” Murphy-Pearson said. “I had a hard four years of high school, and I came here for a fresh start. I met amazing, smart people who are kind, unique and down-to-earth … I decided to run for South Campus Rep because I wanted to improve this new community I’m a part of.”
Murphy-Pearson grew up in Northfield, Minnesota, and comes to Pomona weighing majors in Classics, Africana Studies and Politics. Soren’s background — serving as a board member of YouthBank (an organization similar to ASPC but more focused on equity and inclusion), managing $15,000 budgets, fundraising and working in a dining hall — has taught him both structure and service. Above all, he credits his father for his compassion and determination.
“To him, success was being kind, gentle and empathetic. I hope to carry on his legacy by putting myself in the best position to stand on business for students,” Murphy-Pearson said.
Murphy-Pearson’s goals for his first term are equal parts practical and symbolic. He hopes to start small with free green bike helmets, but his bigger goal is a soft serve machine in Frank — a symbol, he says, that ASPC can make student life sweeter in more ways than one.
As chair of the food committee, Soren wants to introduce a midnight dining option by repurposing leftovers.
“At my school, we took the leftover food from lunch and sold it to students after school in little meal containers. I hope to package leftover food from dinner at Pomona and leave it out for students to grab for free if they need it late at night from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. ”
That collaborative spirit shapes how he approaches the Senate.
“I will try to bring ideas from my peers to the senate. I will collaborate with the commissioners of different areas to make sure South Campus is represented,” Murphy-Pearson said. “I feel like we underclassmen have the opportunity to come in with new ideas and questions about improving our community.”
When he’s not working on policy, you can find Murphy-Pearson in Lyon Lounge inventing new South Campus traditions.
“Euchre mac and cheese parties every Thursday night rotate between dorms every week,” he said. “We play the Euchre card game while eating Anne’s mac and cheese. Only allowed on South Campus.”
Manar leads by showing up. Soren leads by giving back. Together, they remind us that even here — between Canvas deadlines and late-night Coop runs — politics is happening all the time.
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