Enoch Ellis ’26 reflects upon his term as 2024–2025 UA President
Enoch Ellis ’26: “I’m really happy that we’ve been able to revitalize the UA”
Photo courtesy of Roadtrip Nation
On May 11, The Tech spoke with 2024-2025 Undergraduate Association (UA) President Enoch Ellis ’26 about his past term. In the interview, Ellis reflected upon his accomplishments and challenges as UA President, as well as lessons he learned from this position, and provided advice for the next UA President and UA Council.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Tech: What are your proudest accomplishments as UA President?
Ellis: For next year, we are working to allow MIT students to ride for free between Harvard and around the local Boston community, since we know there have been a lot of problems in the last couple of years. We’ve also been looking into changing dining for students, including student-athletes.
We’ve been looking over data with Dr. G. Anthony Grant (DAPER Department Head) and talking with admin to further elevate student concerns. We know there are a lot of issues regarding athletes having access to food options during IAP or when they’re away from campus, so we’re really happy that we’ve been able to move in the right direction.
Furthermore, I’m really happy that we’ve been able to revitalize the UA. We’ve had a lot more UA activity, and I’ve seen a lot of the stuff that we’ve been able to do this year, both on the national and state levels. We’ve been talking to some representatives about issues facing higher education, which has been interesting, and we’ve also been partnering with other universities.
TT: What were your greatest challenges as UA President?
Ellis: Honestly, one of the biggest challenges has just been redefining what the UA is and how the UA affects the lives of students. From my freshman to sophomore year, when you would refer to the UA, most people wouldn’t know what it was, and the people who would know would have a generally negative opinion of it.
My biggest challenge here has been trying to redefine the UA in a positive role. Some of the things that we did, such as providing free laundry, have helped to reestablish what the UA is capable of doing. But the downside is that it puts the UA further in the spotlight in terms of how it could be better utilizing its massive resources.
Another [challenge] is just understanding that there are a lot of things we put in place that current students will never be able to benefit from. People need to understand that I might get $1 million dollars of investment in student life, but that is going to be spent over 10 years. And none of us are going to see that, but it is very important work that will ultimately help future students. It’s hard to balance doing things in the moment that students here can benefit from, but also making sure that you’re moving the organization and school forward in a more medium to long-term sense as well.
TT: What were the biggest lessons you learned from being UA President, and how will you carry those lessons with you in the future?
Ellis: However long you think something’s going to take, increase the unit of time and add two. So, if you think something’s going to take a day, it’ll probably take two weeks. Being the president of the UA has taught me the importance of being able to lead with influence. There’s not much you can get people to do without prioritizing your relationship first and foremost.
The most important thing I’ve learned is the importance of making and maintaining relationships, both with people who are your superiors, but also with people who don’t necessarily work with you day to day. I think all of the opportunities that we’ve been able to do as the UA have been possible in some way, shape, or form because of the relationships and goodwill that we’ve built with admin, students, and different institute groups.
Additionally, I think building a coalition and making sure that everyone can be a part of something is super important. You never know what you’re overlooking until you find someone who disagrees with you profusely, and you want those people in your circle so you can iron things out before they go out to the public.
TT: What advice would you give to the next UA President and UA council?
Ellis: You never know what’s possible until you try to do it. When I became president, I thought we should have free laundry as a moral sort of thing. We’re paying $80,000 here. Why not? Granted, after I looked at the financials, I realized that wasn’t a possibility. But I still don’t believe we should let what our predecessors have done create the bounds in which we choose to operate. You never know what’s possible until after you go out and try to do it, and a lot more things are possible than you think.
I wouldn’t have thought earlier in the year that I would have been working with the Governor of Massachusetts (Maura Healey) to work on education. I wouldn’t have thought that I’d be talking to senators and representatives of the United States about this stuff. And all of that was possible because we proactively went out and did it.
A lot of people at MIT are willing and capable to make any dream of yours a reality, as long as you’re willing to work with them. I think it’s just really important that whoever is the next UA president recognizes that there is a lot of support behind them to create meaningful change for students.