Meet Your 2026-27 Student Government Leaders!

Kate O’Donnell ‘28
Staff Writer
odonnellkgr@lakeforest.edu

As this semester draws to a close, the 2026-2027 academic year creeps ever closer. And with it comes a freshly elected board of student government representation, inaugurated into office on March 28. So let’s get to know these faces and learn how they hope to impact the College community during their tenure. 

Sofia Reese–President

For rising junior Sofia Reese, her perspective on student leadership has been informed in part by her upbringing in El Paso, Texas. “Growing up on the border of Mexico taught me about the power of representation and voices, and that is what I’ll dedicate my term as president to and my future career to,” she said. 

The main goals of her presidency center around promoting diversity of participation within the Senate, advocating for student needs to the greater community, and making the actions of student government more visible to the student body. As she says,“I want every single person who is interested in becoming a representative for a specific constituency on campus to run and serve as a senator. Only with a full senate can we guarantee the most student voices being heard and actionable items being accomplished.” 

Reese believes our campus’s diversity to be one of its greatest strengths, and hopes that through highlighting that, she will be able to address a wide array of concerns fairly. “This next year, I won’t be viewing any problems on campus as more pressing or important than other issues. I believe that with the diversity of this campus comes diverse problems that students face. I will approach each problem with the same level of urgency and lead a senate that does the same within their sub committees and their constituencies,” she said. 

She also steps into the position with an abundance of experience that she believes will lend itself to her new role. She has been the City Liaison for the last year, part of renewed efforts to bring Lake Forest residents to campus. On top of that, she has worked with admissions as a Gummere Fellow, served on the FIYS committee to help shape the first-year experience, and is president of Mock Trial, which she believes imbues her with “trial advocacy skills that I will use for advocating for the student voice.”

The process of streamlining funding for next year is already underway, meaning that Reese is hoping to jump right in with big projects in early fall, something that has never been possible before. And for those who may not have voted for her, she promises to be open to criticism and represent every Forester. “The diversity of this campus is what makes it so beautiful, and I will work towards making a Student Government that is representative of that diversity and deserving of the title of being the voice of the student body,” she said. 

Sardar Atayev-Vice President

Rising senior Sardar Atayev assumes his vice presidency armed with a global perspective and a rich history of engagement on campus. Originally from Astana, Kazakhstan, Atayev speaks four languages, and currently serves on the Residence Halls Affairs and Marketing and Communications Committees within Student Government, acts as the Vice President of Delta Chi and represents the student body on the Campus Sustainability Committee. 

He hopes to foster a genuine sense of belonging for everyone at the College during his tenure. “One of my visions is to make stugov feel less like a formal, closed-door bureaucracy and more like a genuinely approachable team of peers. I want this to be a year where every Forester feels heard, valued, and excited to be part of our campus community,” he said. 

The beginning of this vision is making communicating problems to student government as straightforward and unintimidating as possible, fixing what he calls an “awareness gap.” “Many students simply don’t know what we do or how to make their voices heard, which means they rarely attend our open Senate meetings and often bypass us to go straight to the administration…we need to proactively invite community voices into our work rather than just waiting for them to come to us.” Atayev said.  

Beyond internal operations, Atayev recognizes the critical need for student government to represent historically marginalized and underserved populations during this time of restricted DEI programming nationwide. He hopes to champion causes and legislation that will protect and uplift them. “Regardless of the external political climate or forces outside of our control, we are committed to finding new, actionable strategies to ensure Lake Forest remains a welcoming and empowering environment for every single Forester.” he said. 

Another pillar of his vice presidency will be focused on combatting the “social silos that make campus feel isolating” by using funding and committees to heavily incentivize cross-organizational programming, rewarding cultural clubs, athletic teams, and Greek life that co-host inclusive events. Lastly, he aims to tackle overcrowding in the residence halls. Currently, the crowding is so severe that basement lounges in triplets are being used as rooms. By upgrading underutilized campus areas into comfortable hubs for student life, he hopes to offer less crowded options for students to lounge in outside of their residence halls. 

Reese and Atayev will be supported by Parliamentarian Anthony Polonski, Treasurer Tendo Ndawula, and Secretary Natalie McCleery. The cabinet will not only collaborate with the President and VP on the causes mentioned above, but also increase Senate efficiency by implementing ranked choice voting, stronger ethical guidelines, and official presidential debate procedure. As a commuter, Polonski hopes to be a representative voice for commuter students that have faced continued issues related to on-campus parking. 

This new executive board has big plans for the year ahead! Now that you know a bit more about them, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. They are here to help. Follow @lfcstudentgovt on Instagram to keep up with all of their accomplishments!