Dwyer Illick ‘26 and Serena Nam ’26 ended their term as all-school presidents at graduation on Friday, May 29.
Illick came to the school as a Prep from New Haven, Connecticut. He lived in Coy for three years, played on Boys Varsity Squash for four years, was co-head of School of Thought and the Random Acts of Kindness Club, and was a proctor in Dana Dorm.
Nam arrived as a Prep from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. She was co-head of Calliope and Bluestockings, a proctor, a member of the Council of Pluralism and Community, and participated in the fall musical for four years.
Why did you decide to run for all- school president?
DI: For me, it was two things. Firstly, I started on class council my Prep year, and then Serena and I were Lower Mid class presidents together. I wanted to take the next step along that path. Secondly, being all-school president felt like the thing I could do with the biggest impact that made the best use of what I like doing, which is working with people, planning events, and changing systems. And I really wanted to make an impact here.
SN: I also started out on class council Prep year. I was the Lower Mid class president with Dwyer and then was on class council again Upper Mid year. Student government has been a really central and positive part of my experience here. I loved the opportunity to collaborate with other students and faculty members and plan events for the class. It’s a great way to get to know more people in your grade and in the school. The opportunity to serve as a role model for younger students is really appealing, because I know how much I looked up to the all-school presidents before me. I was honored to be able to fill that role.
How did you choose to run with each other?
DI: In our Prep spring, Pahal Bhasin ’26 suggested that the two of us run for Lower Mid class presidents. I was friends with Serena at that time, and I knew we’d make a good pair. And then we just went from there, as Lower Mid class presidents and this year, as all-school presidents.
What were some of your favorite things about being all-school presidents?
SN: I think one was definitely the Stu-Fac meetings. because we were able to get to know a lot more people within the student body. For instance, we had two Stu-Fac meetings that were exclusively class council members, and it was cool to talk to and meet people from other grades that I definitely wouldn’t have otherwise. Planning events like the Back to School Bash was also a lot of fun. It was rewarding seeing everything come together in the end and behind the scenes was also really fun: things like getting all the songs together, figuring out the food, coordinating, getting face painters, etc. I feel like we also got to know a lot of faculty members we wouldn’t have otherwise, like Mr. Bradley, for instance. We had weekly lunches with him throughout the year. Those lunches were a huge highlight of my year.
DI: Those were some of my highlights as well. I especially liked the moment when events picked up momentum and started working. The Fair Hotchkiss Sing-Off we did at the start of the year was quiet up until 9:02 p.m. and then all of a sudden about 200 kids showed up, all of them in costumes, screaming. That was a fun moment for us, because it’s something we’d worked towards that worked out in the best way. Beyond that, I’ve liked getting a deeper understanding of the student body through knowing more people and a deeper understanding of the school through working with adults on campus to coordinate and plan things.
What initiatives are you most proud of?
DI: The Back to School Bash was one. The Winter Wonderland dance was another. Also fun and games on Tuesday nights; during 9-to-10, we started putting games and music out. Last Tuesday, we put s’mores out, too. Although that’s a smaller thing we’ve done, I think it has brought some energy to Tuesday nights.
SN: All-school events were fun as well, like the Bachelorette with Sofia Clark ’27 and Keven Luiru ’27 and turning that into a series and ultimately recording a video of their first date. Or even the Guess the Faculty game, based on a picture or a tiny feature of their face at the start of the year to announce our dorm sing-off judges.
What were some of your biggest challenges?
DI: Getting enough participation for events we would run was a challenge. A lot of events, like dances or the Back to School Bash, needed a help from many people to work properly and you can’t control how many people show up. You can advertise as much as you want, but then you have to sit through the anxiety of that maybe people won’t come and it’ll flop.
SN: I would say that Senior fall time-management was a bit difficult with everything going on and college applications. Adjusting to a new role was overwhelming, but we had a good support system between adults and our communications officer, Maddie Sada ’26. In addition, getting the planning process started when you have an idea is challenging. The Back to School Bash, for example, was quite a heavy workload, especially since we had to do so much of it over the summer.
What is your one biggest piece of advice for next year’s presidents?
DI: Mr. Brashears always says: “big dumb fun.” The goal for all- school presidents is simply to create a lot of big dumb fun. It can be easy to get busy in Senior fall and stressed about a bunch of different things, but it’s worthwhile to remember that you’re just here to create fun.
