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Class Board President 2018 Vadim Ordovsky-Tanaevsky Credit: Yolanda Chen , Yolanda Chen

The Class of 2018 made an unusual pick for Class Board president: a Russian-born 21 year old who attended boarding school in England and now speaks with an English accent. College freshman Vadim Ordovsky-Tanaevsky is three-quarters Russian and one-quarter Venezuelan and took a gap year to improve his Spanish before coming to Penn. In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, he discussed getting student input, a spa relaxation event and integrating international students. Below is a lightly edited transcript of the interview.

The Daily Pennsylvanian: What projects do you have planned for the upcoming year?

Vadim Ordovsky-Tanaevsky: First of all, they are ideas. I wouldn’t necessarily call them projects just yet.

My main idea is to make sure that we bring diversity into the fun. So the simple concept of free food for me is not just giving free food at events but giving international food, so it’s basically giving the opportunity to experience new things and having fun while doing it. Some big events are the Econ Scream, which is on Sunday, which we will definitely be talking about tonight with the board. It will be great and a lot of fun to kick off this Class Board year to a good start. I’m hopefully going to be able to implement the spa relaxation party — my main thing. I know there is “Cram ‘N Jam " before finals and I want to give it a slightly new perspective. The spa relaxation includes [a] rave party — where you release the stress — but at the same time I wanted to have a more chilled version with a massage train, maybe foam and some cushions around to relax.

DP: If you could change one thing about campus, what would you change?

VO: A lot of people I’ve seen have been talking about the toilet paper on campus. It’s not the nicest thing. That would definitely be one of the things, and I think it’s quite easy to do. That’s what people have told me so I’m speaking on behalf of the class. That’s the funny one.

I know that there are inter-house [sports] leagues ... but I want to make it bigger and make it on the level of varsity and club.

DP: Have you been involved in student government in the past and how will that affect your presidential style?

VO: Never in my life. I’m an event organizer, I have an unlimited amount of energy and I love sharing that energy with people. That’s why I have so much fun when I organize an event. I’m the guy that meets you at the door and makes sure you are having a good time and I don’t stress about it. ... I really hope that is what applies because my class voted me so I think that’s what they like to have — an energetic person to make sure that we all have the most amazing and energetic time.

DP: One of the main things you ran on was the diversity factor. Why is this important to you personally?

VO: I used to be a very short, long-haired kid with a strong Russian accent — because I am part Russian — when I went to boarding school. I didn’t really fit in quite well, I was kind of an outcast right away and it took me a while to get the English going, the accent going. It took me a while to throw massive parties and have fun with everyone and organize events.

Right now, as soon as I knew the position was available as soon as you get in, I wanted to fulfill something that I wasn’t able to back in England. I want to make sure that we all reach out and diversify ourselves. I am quite happy and lucky to say that I am a diverse person — I’ve grown up in different countries and different backgrounds. Through the events and ideas that all of us will plan as Class Board, I want to give everyone the opportunity to exit their comfort zone if they want, without even thinking about it. You get out there and diversify yourself and meet new people and experience things you would never experience.

DP: How do you plan to engage personally with all the students?

VO: I have to say it was very difficult [when campaigning]. You met loads of people over a short period of time. I want to make sure that I formally get to know people and have normal conversations with them that aren’t based on a pitch that people are running away from or when everyone is harassing them. Actually, yesterday I was walking around and a big group of guys stopped me and asked, “What happens if I had an idea and want to implement it?” That raised the issue that we will definitely address: the possibility of reaching out to the class and not the other way around. I think that’s very important. We are 10 and we are representing 2,500 people, and I want to make sure that we don’t have to wait for their ideas and we reach out and make them come up with their own ideas. We want their ideas.

I have no idea how we will do that. I want to meet with my Class Board first to figure [it] out. We will definitely reach out to make sure they supply us with a majority of the ideas and the projects.

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