By Matthew Chan | Editor-in-Chief
Irvington’s student body found out that Junior Class President Riley Sasaki would no longer hold his position on October 22. The following day, Class Council convened to vote on the new officers, with previous Junior Class Vice President Margot Murvihill and previous Clubs’ Assistant junior Calvin Tam becoming President and Vice President respectively.
On Tuesday, class T-shirt day, ASB warned Sasaki to watch his class, as they had blocked the sophomore pep rally without his permission, so on Wednesday, Sasaki decided to lead his class in a march alongside the freshmen instead of obstructing them. He obtained permission from the freshman class president to perform their march alongside them.
“We marched behind the freshman, saluting them as they passed,” Sasaki continued. “We yelled chants to support the freshman, saying ‘I don’t know what I’ve been told, but the freshman are pretty dope.’”
In the middle of their march, Sasaki and Murvihill were called to the Student Union where assistant principal Mrs. Guzman, ASB advisor Mr. Willer, and ASB President senior Kitty Hu told them that they were taking away from the other classes by having their marches on the freshman day.
“The freshmen may have agreed to let him march on their pep rally day,” Ms. Guzman said, “but which freshman is really going to say no when an older and bigger junior is asking them to do something?”
She also stated that while Sasaki had obtained permission from administration to drive the truck into the courtyard, she hadn’t known that he would be using it as a podium for the march, which detracted from the freshman pep rally.
“Riley is a leader for the entire junior class, so when you break the rules, it isn’t just one person, it’s all the people following him too,” Ms. Guzman said. “We don’t want this to become a trend for the rest of the year.”
Sasaki actions in his role of leading the junior class to go against ASB’s warnings prompted IHS administration to step in, saying that he was overstepping his limitations.
“I made some poor decisions, but I supported my poor decisions because I believed that I was right,” Sasaki stated. “I also reacted negatively to the problem, which is not the way a class president should act.”
However, he says that his intentions were to drastically raise the spirit of the junior class, and not to disrespect the other classes.
“I was determined to make [this spirit week] the best one yet, and I knew something drastic needed to change,” Sasaki said, explaining why he had led the juniors to march outside of their own pep rally day. “Something big. Something over the top.”
While Sasaki was removed from the position of Junior Class President, many still appreciate the work he did for the Class of 2017. Murvihill intends to continue his legacy by achieving the plans they had fleshed out for this year.
“I have been working closely with Riley since being elected during spring of last school year, and I plan on executing all the ideas that we have made together,” said Murvihill. “We set a year-long goal of creating a more united and positively thinking class, and although Riley won’t be president going forward, he definitely left our class in a state much closer to our goal of unity than it was before.”
Sasaki is still allowed to be a part of Class Council and can participate in ASB next year if he runs. He also intends to spend his fourth period this year helping students achieve their goals in the Responsibility Center.
“I want to spend my time making a positive impact instead of using it in an elective that doesn’t align with my interest,” Sasaki said.
