Saying "Hi" With Syd Walter: A Profile on the Class of 2026’s President

Christyn Refuerzo ‘26

Meet Syd Walter, the sophomore class president, resident advisor for the third floor of Hill House, an editor for Love and Squalor, and member of The Scandal Revue. Outside of the college, she is the founder of Find X, a personal project released on September 15. I had the pleasure of talking about her goals for the year, values important in leadership, and some exciting upcoming events she has planned for students beyond the Class of 2026.

Note: This interview was lightly edited for clarity and time purposes.

(CHRISTYN REFUERZO): You described in your welcome speech to the Class of 2026 that you wanted to hear how our summers really were besides the 20-second quick formality. I want to turn the question to you – how was your summer?

(SYD WALTER): I think summer is a really complicated thing. The nature of summers is that they are this kind of strange third space that we exist in for a little while. I think there is a lot of pressure people put on summers to have them be this really amazing thing or really hard thing or something in between, and so I think I’m having a hard time expressing that summer here and making it feel like a place that it could be shared. I know a lot of people worked jobs this summer which are so hard to do and can bring so much valuable experience. Some people did a lot of traveling this summer and there was some weird liminal space in between.

Typically my summer before this summer was doing a lot of jobs – my mom owns a small business so I used to work with her all the time in the store. This year, however, I got the opportunity to go travel abroad. I was part of the Switzerland program from Sarah Lawrence and I went to Switzerland for a month and studied mental health. I got a grant to do a podcast series called Find X, and I traveled to four different states to look at different areas of fracture.

That was my summer in a nutshell and I spent a lot of time giving my mom hugs before school.

(CR): Why were you interested in running for class president?

(SW): Last year was an interesting year to be a class president. There was a shift toward the end of the year about who was class president, so I didn’t get to be president for that long. Student government has always been something I’ve loved doing. I’ve loved getting the chance to lead and bring other people together to leading spaces too. So I see my role as a class president as more of a way to bring other people to spaces.

I think the idea of a table is silly, people always talk about “bringing other people to the table” but I don’t know if that’s exactly what it is, it’s more about bringing people’s ideas somewhere else or someone else tells me they need safety pins in Barb. Cool, we’re going to get you safety pins in Barb. It’s about bringing those small menial things you don’t think are ever going to happen and making them come to life. That’s a cool special thing that helps people feel more excited and connected in this community.

(CR): You’re quite accomplished between Find X, being an RA, class president and last year, you won a leadership award, you graduated early… the list goes on and on. How does your Sarah Lawrence experience further fuel your already-present ambition and drive?

(SW): I think the cool part about Sarah Lawrence is that there’s so much space to do what you want to be doing with your conference work and with the work of your peers so I think that my ambition has been questioned so many times here. I tell my don, “I want to write a book!” and he says, “That sounds crazy,” and then I’ll show up the next day and say, “Here’s my rough draft.”

I think “ambitious” is one of my least favorite words because whenever it’s used, people always imply they don’t expect you to be doing those things. I think young people are not ambitious, we just are. We are always doing things, we are always creating things, and “ambitious” is sometimes a strange place to be because there’s a lot of pressure to keep achieving things or it can feel like a lot of pressure to achieve something or “match” someone else when it is something that we are all just doing and being and especially at Sarah Lawrence where there is space to be. It furthers the way that I want to show up in the world.

(CR): What word would you prefer to describe yourself?

(SW): I think ambition is a good word to describe who I am. It’s like a reclamation word. I think when people use it in a sentence, people are like, “Ooh…” and when talking with my don and with professors, they say something like, “Oh, that’s too ambitious,” as in it’s a too ambitious rather than “You are an ambitious person and you will get this done.”

I think it all depends on context. It’s a great word when it becomes reclaimed for when it gets described for the things that I’m doing.

(CR): What motivates you?

(SW): It depends. Sometimes I need motivation from chocolate cake; that’s just the reality. Like I’ll tell myself, “I’m going to eat a piece of chocolate cake when I’m done with this” and that’s really helpful. Most of the time, the motivation comes from a place of just wanting to be able to show up for myself and be able to show that I can do it or just a love of learning. I genuinely really love to learn about the world and I think the world is so fascinating and this desire to learn about people and tell people’s stories – not even tell people’s stories but help people be able to find that story and learn ways in which they can tell it so they feel proud of themselves – that’s what drives me everyday. That’s the life work I want to be doing and that’s what motivates me when it’s hard. Like if this sucks or I go through this traumatic thing, I get to write about it later. This is all fuel – all my pain is all fuel for the next essay that I will write! So that’s how I stick it out sometimes, even when it sucks.

(CR): You mention life work, which is honestly a really scary thing to pin down right now, but do you have anything that you “dream” of doing?

(SW): Yes! I think NPR is the absolute dream of getting to be a reporter there. Not necessarily “reporting” reporting, more something along the lines of podcasting. Getting to be in the NPR podcast lab would be amazing.

The absolute dream of all time, though, would be to take over Ira Glass’s position at This American Life and to steal his job.

(CR): What are you hoping for from the Class of 2026, or at least this semester? For example, would you want us to be more active in the governance of our campus, like Cristle said in our welcome? Do you want us to bond more as a class?

(SW): I think it’s hard because this class is coming out of the COVID era. Every class can excuse that and it will continue to go on and on for eternity but I think this class is in a really interesting place because coming to Sarah Lawrence is the first time where we’re in an institution that actually supports some of our various needs and it’s sort of a rest place for some people. So they’re finding people who they click with, who finally understand their humor, or they’re finding new communities of people who are accepting of who they are in their whole total self, so it’s hard to ask things of people who are finally feeling this way.

When I think about what I’m hoping for from our class, I’m really hoping that we just start saying “hi” more often. If you see me walking on the street, wave to me! If you see someone you barely know but you know that they’re in your class, give them a little wave. Worse comes to worse, they don’t wave back. That’s something I’m hoping for that’s tangible.

On a broader scale, if you have a problem, or if something is bothering you, show up. Like Cristle said in the welcome speech, we are an “anti-institution” with students in an institution. With that, things are going to come up, things are going to be wrong. If you have a problem with it, though, because we are an institution, there is a way that you can talk to someone about it and get it fixed or change it. If you have a problem, try bringing it up, instead of bringing it out, because we can be honest but not insular. Once we’re insular, nothing gets changed. Honesty but outward.

So, overall, I want more people to be honest and to say “hi.” I love saying “hi!” Even if you don’t say “hi” back, I’m going to keep going and pretend no one else saw…

(CR): What values do you possess that you think are important in leadership?

(SW): When you’re able to listen to other people, you can bring that full scope into something else. And being able to admit when something is wrong. It’s something I’m definitely learning and definitely suck at, still, but it’s the capacity I have for it to be able to say, “I didn’t do the right thing” or “I didn’t have all the capacity at that point in time” and try to hear why it felt wrong to other people. That’s what I’m hoping to embody in leadership this year. It will come up and I’m hoping I’m able to take that seriously when those things arise.

(CR): What are your personal plans for the upcoming school year? Any specific “to-do” items you’re hoping to check off?

(SW): On the smaller scale, hoping to have roller- skating happening in Barb or Andrews parking lot. A DJ would come, roller skates, and people showing up with their friends! That’s something I’m looking forward to and that’s on the horizon but we’re working on it.

Some feedback I’ve heard from students is that we have WSLC, we never hear it! Where is it? Students are making radio shows, they’re putting in the time and effort. What if we played it in student spaces? I think figuring out the logistics to work on it if it’s possible and trying to implement it in small ways. Maybe it doesn’t play all the time, maybe it plays in the living room from 3-5 every day so you can listen to other students’ music tastes and it rotates. That is a hope and also something on the horizon of possibility.

Another student-life oriented thing, in connection with some other colleges, I’m working on an emergency contraceptive vending machine that’s free access to students with items like Plan B and other more generalized uses like lube and condoms. Students should have access to that in their dorms. If they’re not sure how to access that, talk to your RA! Having access to contraceptives, even though this is a campus that is predominantly not-straight, it happens. Having access to that on campus, a free and available for use, is really important. That is also being worked on, though I’m not completely sure when that will be enacted – hopefully by the end of the year.

(CR): Any resources you would like to highlight?

(SW): Go to your RA events, do some work off-campus if you’re feeling that campus is too small at points. Community Partnerships has some great resources with Hearts and Homes Refugees, tutoring, and more. I have a lot of experience with Community Partnerships that are connected to the city and Bronxville. Career Services is amazing for people who are interested in internships and if you need resume help. Finally, for anyone interested in studying abroad, talk to the Office of Global Education for what that could look like for you.

(CR): Anything that should be on our radar coming up this month or in the coming months?

(SW): The pizza party was on September 14. It’s with Roaming Woodfired Pizza truck from Yonkers. We had 300 slices and so many people were able to attend, which was great!

That was the main event but roller skating is on the horizon.

(CR): Finally, is there anything else you would like to put out there?

(SW): This is a weird time. We’re all flowing back into the semester and adjusting to classes and friend groups again, so I’m hoping that I can provide some stable supports like “I ran into someone in the laundry room and we need more safety pins!” I can do something like maybe there will be a safety pin bowl that goes around once a week and you can grab some. I’m hoping I can be a person and a resource when people have something to say whether it’s a complaint of a system or they’re not sure what to do next. I can always pass them along to someone who might be able to help them better than I might. That’s how I’m hoping to see my job this semester and beyond.

Remember to follow the @slcclassof2026 on Instagram for any upcoming events. If you would like to stay connected with Syd, her email is swalter@gm.slc.edu and her Instagram is @sydwalter.

SLC PhoenixSeptember 19, 2023