Jean Wang, Contributing Photographer

Ezana Tedla ’25 and Kyle Hovannesian ’25 are promising persistence.

As Yale College Council senators for Jonathan Edwards College and Berkeley College, respectively, Tedla and Hovannesian have accomplished many goals this year — including installing water fountains on Old Campus — and they attribute this success to their consistency and dedication to the YCC.

“A key part of our platform is building on our past work in the YCC,” Tedla said. “My whole stance when it comes to being in the YCC is that our ideas are not necessarily unique, but what makes our work unique is the consistency of it.”

Tedla and Hovannesian said they have focused their efforts this year on calling on the administration to make sweeping changes that will better the day-to-day lives of students.

Hovannesian was successful in passing and enacting a proposal that put water fountains on Old Campus. Both Tedla and Hovannesian dedicated significant time to researching and writing the proposal for a referendum to democratize the Yale Corporation, which they said displays their strong commitment to and persistence within the YCC.

“We spent three, maybe four, hours of our day going to Sterling, going through records, arguing with the secretary of the Board of Trustees on which records we can access,” Tedla said. “I do think that’s unique because no other candidate has gone to the archives to research things like the Yale Corporation and its effectiveness.”

Beyond assuring the student body that, should they be elected, they will carry the efficacy that they prioritized as senators into the presidency and vice presidency, Tedla and Hovannesian’s platform has three primary goals: empowering students, improving quality of life and increasing accessibility.

They point to the Yale Corporation referendum and the Old Campus water fountains as examples of how they have already worked to empower students and improve quality of life. When it comes to increasing accessibility, Tedla and Hovannesian are passionate about making campus life more accessible for students on financial aid, which they have already started working on this year through meetings with multiple University deans regarding the full financial aid package.

Tedla and Hovannesian believe that their persistence with these reforms display their passion for bettering the Yale community.

“We’ve shown up to every Senate meeting and we’ve spent so much time thinking about how to make things better,” Hovannesian said. “That’s the biggest thing; we’ve done stuff to show that we care, and we didn’t just start showing up two to three weeks ago.”

The pair also aims to increase communication between the YCC and the student body.

They hope to do this by writing one to two op-eds every month and hosting town halls at which students can question them and what they have accomplished throughout the year.

“[Increasing student body faith in the YCC] is just a matter of putting in the work to make sure that we are as transparent as possible and communicating with the students as effectively as possible,” Hovannesian said.

Tedla and Hovannesian believe that, when compared to other senators, their record displays a stronger dedication to getting things done than their peers.

“We’ve done the most work,” Tedla said. “We’re confident on our record. We hope people scrutinize and ask us the tough questions, and we promise to be consistent.”

The election this year will run from Wed., April 12 at 9:00 a.m. to Fri., April 14 at 9:00 p.m. Results will be announced by Sat., April 15 at 9:00 a.m.