During this year's Associated Student Government (ASG) presidential campaign, Anik Chaudhry became the first first-year in the school's history to run for president, according to current student body Vice President Lizzie Litzow.
Chaudhry's campaign began in a unique fashion, which he shared openly.
"It all just started really randomly," Chaudhry said. "My friend and I... we got to Beat the Clock and we started ranting off ideas for the school and looked up how to do it and the petitions were due two hours later."
Chaudhry and his running mate, first-year Ben Cederoth, made the decision together while at Brick Street Bar and Grill. The two are friends and dorm-mates, and both serve on Dorsey Residence Hall's community council.
"We've had a lot of experience together, we're both corridor reps on Community Council and we just spend a lot of time together," Chaudhry said.
According to Cederoth, the two were not naïve to the uphill battle they would face as the campaign's youngest and least experienced ticket.
"As freshmen, we knew we were a long shot," Cederoth said. "We really just wanted to take a shot and see what happened."
Chaudhry agreed, but said he became more optimistic as the campaign went on.
"As I got lots of endorsements, it started picking up a lot," Chaudhry said. "[I] met with tons of organizations and a lot of them put their support around me and then I started to feel I had a high chance."
He denied to comment on which organizations backed him.
This optimism lasted until the campaign's latter days and Chaudhry said he decided to drop out March 24.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
"I started to look into more what the other campaigns had planned for election day and based on the amount of stuff they had, they had bigger teams and everything so I felt like they had more of a chance of winning," Chaudhry said.
After the Chaudhry/Cederoth ticket dropped out, Chaudhry said that he saw the other candidates' respect for him.
"[They] approached me and congratulated me on how I was able to hold my own as a freshman, so I guess that implies that in the beginning I didn't have any shot and I showed that I can actually do stuff within the debates," he said.
Cederoth, however, said he saw things differently.
"I personally think that some of the other candidates did not take us seriously at all," he said. "They just thought we had no chance. They said we had courage to run as freshmen, but I do not think that they really cared."
Cederoth made an exception for the Swartz/Nixon ticket.
"We liked their ideas and they took some of our ideas on board," Cederoth said. "They were really the only campaign that respected us as freshman, so I had no problem joining them."
According to Cederoth, the decision to back juniors Max Swartz and Alexander Nixon was mainly Chaudhry's.
"I thought Max Swartz' campaign would have the greatest ability to integrate my ideas, simply because there was a lot of chemistry between our campaigns throughout the process and they convinced me that they would be able to do it the best," Chaudhry said.
Swartz welcomed Chaudhry's help. At the beginning of the campaign, Swartz considered Chaudhry a major competitor.
"I was very worried when I saw he was on the ballot, because our whole strategy centered around getting the vote that historically does not care about the election, does not know any of the candidates and a lot of that is first-years," Swartz said.
According to Swartz, the prospect of Chaudhry backing his campaign was exciting, but ultimately it did not work out as well as he initially hoped.
"We were very optimistic about the partnership going in, but ultimately we ended up a little disappointed with how it played out," Swartz said.
With Chaudhry's support, Swartz said he expected his ticket to make the runoff election, but they simply did not get enough votes.
Chaudhry took partial responsibility for this.
"I think they only came up about 200 or 300 votes short, so I think if we pushed a little harder, they would be in this runoff," Chaudhry said.
Though disappointed, Swartz acknowledged Chaudhry's effort.
"If you look at me freshman year, I think he did a lot better than I would have done," Swartz said. "I think it was the fact that he followed through with the debates, the fact that even if he wasn't hitting the nail on the head with his points, just the fact that he had points and was articulating them and participating with four other very qualified and more experienced candidates, that's what impressed most people."
Chaudhry said he plans on making yet another endorsement for the runoff election but has yet to decide which of the two candidates he will side with.
The two former running mates are unsure of their political future. Chaudhry said he is considering pursuing a seat in the student senate, while Cederoth said he has yet to weigh his options.
"I do not really know and I'm just seeing where the wind blows me," Chaudhry said.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.