Bennett Schneier, who is known for his humorous and controversial comments at Town Hall, was elected Agenda Chair May 13, becoming the first Agenda Chair without previous committee experience since Daniel Schwartz in 2012-2013.

Along with Bennett, junior Isaac Goor won Agenda Vice Chair and freshman Lucy Fried became Secretary.  Both are also newcomers to the committee.

Sophomore Jordan Fields was elected secretary of the Fairness Committee. Juniors Alex Reich and Becca Sentchuk ran unopposed for co-chair.

Co-chairs of the Student Activities Committee (SAC) will be juniors Jordan Levine and Gaby Benelyahu, and sophomore Ariel Cohen was elected SAC Vice Chair. Freshman Maya Miro will be secretary.

None of next year’s Agenda Committee officers have previous experience. Bennett could not be reached for comment Friday after the votes were counted, but Isaac says this inexperienced committee will be good for the school.

“I think it’s cool,” said Isaac. “I think it will pave the way for kids who don’t usually participate. It will give them a good reason to, because it’s not the same as the year before.”

It was a happy comeback for Bennett, who lost the election for Agenda Vice Chair by two votes to Alec Fields.  This year, Agenda did not release vote tallies, so there was no way to know how close it was.

Outgoing Chair Micah Gill said Bennett’s lack of experience wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“I think it’ll show a little bit in the beginning of the year, but I don’t think it’ll be a long-term issue,” said Micah. “Bennett and Mr. Feld will work together and pick up right where we left off at the end of this year.”

He added, though, that the Agenda Chair could be more than just the leader of the Just Community.

“I would love to see Bennett act as a leader in the school not exclusively during Town Hall and not exclusively during JC-related events,” said Micah. “The Agenda Chair is our de facto school president, and I think it’s important hat everyone in the school looks up to him on a 24 – 7 basis.”

While this year’s election week was filled with controversy, Election Day itself was much more organized than in previous years.

Voting was in the gym and was organized by grade. Instead of a mob of students trying to grab at papers around a single table, students were called up two at a time to cast their votes at tables staffed by teachers.

There were four voting stations, one per grade and several feet apart from one another, and four lines on the opposite side of the room of voters who were waiting. Voting took place during breakfast and lunch.

After the voting, the ballots were taken to Mr. Feld’s office to be counted by Mr. Feld, General Studies Principal Mr. Daniel Weslow, and Boiling Point Arts and Culture Editor Hannah Jannol. The winners and runners-up for each position were announced on Schoology at 3:20 p.m., and on the Boiling Point’s Facebook page less than a minute later.

Bennett defeated fellow juniors Maya Golan and Micha Thau and sophomore Rosie Wolkind in one of the most debated elections ever.  New procedures, which had been adopted without being discussed or voted on at Town Hall,  and a sophomore running were two major issues brought up over the course of the week.

“It was a complicated election,” said Micha after the results were announced. “I think I was someone who would’ve brought a lot of change. I think people really felt the need for something more revolutionary, and I think Bennett was that person. I’m sorry I won’t be able to serve the Just Community as its Agenda Chair.”

SAC Co-chair Jordan Levine said it had been a great contest and looked ahead to next year.

“I’m really excited,” said Jordan. “It was a really tight race because all three of the [SAC] candidates were really qualified for the job. I’m excited to work with my co-chair.”