Meet the 2025-2026 ARISTA Executive Council

As the 2025-2026 school year begins, seniors President Joanne Hwang, Vice President of Event and Service Elizabeth Chao, Vice President of Operations Veronika Gulko, and Vice President of Web Development Rohan Sen step into their roles as the new executive board of ARISTA, Stuyvesant’s Honor Society. The four were selected at the end of last year through a detailed application and interview process that evaluated candidates on their leadership potential, commitment to service, and ideas to strengthen ARISTA. The process was overseen by the previous executive council—Ayla Irshad (‘25), Alexa Chiang (‘25), Tamiyyah Shafiq (‘25), and Leonid Metlitsky (‘25)—as well as English teacher and ARISTA Faculty Advisor Eric Ferencz. 

For Chao, one stage of the application process stood out as the most nerve-wracking. “The most challenging part was probably the interview process. Just because of nerves, I guess. Written responses required three essays and [they] were pretty straightforward,” she said. Chao emphasized how deeply ARISTA shaped her Stuyvesant experience, from receiving advice as a sophomore to tutoring and volunteering at events like St. Paul’s, the Community Church of New York, and Life Force in Later Years. “I was able to make so many meaningful connections,” Chao said. 

For Sen, the decision to run for vice president of web development came from seeing how central the website is to ARISTA’s daily operations. “We coordinate, track hours, and connect with tutees through our website. Without it, the amazing work our volunteers do wouldn’t be possible,” Sen said. “Becoming Web VP provides me the opportunity to improve the ARISTA experience and to coordinate with my fellow members to make this year the best yet.”

Hwang’s past experience as a committee member in ARISTA inspired her to pursue a leadership role in the organization. “ARISTA is such a fundamental part of the Stuyvesant support system and community, so I’m both a little nervous and excited to be representing this long-standing organization,” she said. 

Though the transition was slower than expected, the new team has been working closely over the summer to plan for the upcoming year. “There was a slight delay in the transition […] it was difficult to match schedules for a transition meeting, so we only finished emails a week before school. Since then, it’s been rapid-fire,” Gulko said.

Over the summer, Chao met with Chiang, last year’s vice president of events and service, to prepare for her new role. Despite planning being squeezed between work on the 2024-25 annual report, “preparations for this year were more than a little rushed,” she said. Still, she and the board created a September schedule and set deadlines for committee applications and interviews. 

Sen emphasized that his priorities for the year center on improving communication and efficiency within the board. To achieve this, the council has introduced a Slack channel for quicker communication between members and the executive council. "Now members can directly reach out with questions or concerns, which makes everything more transparent,” Sen said.

The Operations Committee, which handles ARISTA’s logistics and marketing, is introducing new changes to peer tutoring, a long-standing part of the organization. As part of its improvements to peer tutoring, the committee hopes to make sessions more accessible in-person and encourage stronger tutor-tutee connections. “We want to have a lot more involvement with peer tutoring, especially because there's a stigma around this; you’re not sure whether or not you actually want to go through and meet with somebody outside of your school hours,” said Gulko. “We're going to hopefully open up the room within the student union room where people are able to just pop in [and] do their work or be tutored [throughout] their day.”

As part of ARISTA’s marketing plans, Gulko aims to expand the group’s social media presence and make the society more connected to the student body. She hopes increased visibility and transparency will be emphasized more so that the ARISTA society feels more approachable. 

As vice president of events and service, Chao hopes to strengthen collaboration across committees and help members feel connected to the causes they support. “While volunteering at an event, we’re actively contributing to a specific cause, an organization with a defined mission,” she said. “We should really educate ourselves on what we’re contributing to.”

Sen also sees tutoring as one of ARISTA’s strongest tools to support the Stuyvesant community. “Tutoring acts as a key resource for Stuy students but also as a great source of friendship,” he said. He plans to introduce new features, such as filters prioritizing unanswered requests and matching tutors with tutees by subject preference to make the system more efficient and help members log their tutoring more quickly. With the backend already rewritten last year, he hopes to launch a cleaner, faster interface that is easier to navigate, even on mobile devices. 

Through the executive council, Gulko found opportunities to share her passion for ARISTA and step up as a leader. “During my time on the committee, I really learned how to take leadership of responsibilities, take initiatives, and actually work for something I wanted to do,” she said.

Looking ahead, Chao wants members to gain a clearer understanding of what ARISTA represents. She suggested expanding town halls, building a social media presence, and hosting a non-profit fair to help members “find initiatives they care about.”

For Sen, this year is about laying the foundation for the future. “I’d sum up my vision for ARSITA as a place to ‘uplift the community while enriching yourself,’” he said. 

Hwang hopes to give back to the community that supported her during her early years at Stuyvesant. “On a personal level, I wanted to reciprocate the support that ARISTA had given me as an underclassmen,” she said. “I wanted to show people that ARISTA [is supportive] and a space for people to build confidence at Stuyvesant.” 

The new executive board hopes to build ARISTA’s legacy while adapting it to the needs of today’s students. By focusing on communication, accessibility, and meaningful engagement, Hwang, Chao, Gulko, and Sen aim to ensure that ARISTA is not only a support system for the Stuyvesant community, but also a space where students can grow as leaders.