Written by Ben Shiffrell
This week, The Argus spoke with Brooklyn native Ben Shifrel ’25. As chair of the Student Budget Committee (SBC), tour guide, and club tennis and club hockey captain, Shiffrell has made significant changes to student government, life on Middletown’s (very large) Main Street, and his friends. told us about what he brought. Something I made along the way.
Argus: Why do you think you were nominated for WesCeleb?
Ben Shiffrell: I don’t know. I will say that I have a history of mixing it up with other people on this campus, such as Ben Sherif ’25, Vice Chair of the Student Budget Committee. So it’s possible you guys messed up. However, I am involved in various groups and also participate in various activities around campus.
A: I know that one of those groups is the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) SBC. What led you to join the student government?
BS: I’m often embarrassed that a lot of people’s first memory of me is me coming up to them and saying, “Oh, vote for me in WSA.” However, it was something I wanted to participate in during my freshman year. And I thought it was a really good way to get involved in the school. Enjoy school by seeing how school works, perhaps making your friends’ lives a little better, and having fun in the process. I have been in SBC most of my time at WSA and am in talks with all the clubs on campus.
A: What have you learned through your time at WSA?
BS: One of the things that I’m really proud of from the SBC is that there are some groups that are very institutionalized in how they access funding. Also, other groups, especially identity groups, were less institutionalized, so I made a lot of changes to the constitution to give these groups access. They request more requests and we approve them at a higher rate. In addition to changing the rules for the better, we also received some pretty ridiculous requests. An unnamed group requested funding to purchase an exotic pet to serve as a mascot. I think it was an alpaca. we said no.
A: Another organization that you are very involved with is club tennis. Please tell us how you got started.
BS: That was a really fun, fun part of my time at Wesleyan. The first week of school, I was hanging out with a few people and made some new friends. Then we had tryouts and grew through the club together and now I’m captain. It was really fun to lead and I also got to enjoy the sport with my friends. I played tennis in high school and was good at singles. It’s a very mental thing, so you can push yourself and just really think about it. However, in college I prefer doubles, which is a completely different sport in terms of strategy and communication. I used to hate it because I was afraid of disappointing my partner, but now I really enjoy it. Because it’s a way to collaborate with others without taking yourself too seriously.
A: Looking to the future, you are a sociology and government double major. Are you aiming to serve in government at some level?
BS: It’s certainly an interesting time for the government. I’m still thinking about it. I’m very interested in policy and law. Politics is very interesting to me, but I’m not sure if I want to be part of the government. But maybe if I were influencing policy and things that could actually make a difference. That’s something I really want to do in some way. So let’s see where that takes me, especially these days.
A: If (Kamala) Harris wins, do you think you’ll be more enthusiastic about politics?
BS: I think I’m more hopeful about the future. This is a very important time for politics, especially the politics I support. But I feel that in this chaos there is an opportunity to reinvent a certain kind of politics. I think if I could get involved in some kind of policy or legal position, that would be really formative. So it’s exciting and hopeful, even if it feels a little bleak.
A: Where would you like to live geographically?
BS: I’m a city person. I’d love to live in New York, but I’d be happy in most cities. Middletown is also great. I don’t know if it will remain though. My first choice of school was a large school in a large city, and I actually ended up attending that school, before reversing course and settling on Wesleyan. And at first I was really disappointed. I just wanted to go to a school in the city. And while Middletown is probably not New York or a city like that, I think it’s a bustling metropolis all its own.
Written by Ben Shiffrell
A: It’s the widest main street!
BS: The widest main street, that’s true.
A: In Connecticut? In the world? I’ll never know what the outcome of that fact will be.
BS: Only the widest main street…. But I feel like Wesleyan is the place for me. Wesleyan is about people. It’s so great to have all my best friends as neighbors and housemates.
A: As you near the end of your tenure here, do you feel like you have changed since your freshman year?
BS: I think this is probably bad advice. I was an orientation leader this year, and the Office of Student Engagement (and the Office of Student Engagement) really instilled the Seven Rules into our students. “Don’t do it all, don’t do it all” Why not try it all? (But) I think there’s a community there. So obviously I had to leave a group that I joined too much. But also, whether it’s a professor, a classmate, someone in my band, a teammate. There’s a community there. Everyone is doing lots of interesting things all the time, so just listening to them and trying to understand what they’re doing, that’s where the fun is and you learn about yourself from it. can.
A: What do you enjoy about being a tour guide?
BS: It made me love Wesleyan. When you talk about the good things about a school, people want to visit that (part). Several times this year, new students have come up to me and said, “Oh my god, you’re my tour guide!” That would be great, but I hope they like Wesleyan. I never (explicitly) told people to come here. I said I didn’t want to come here, but I love it here. When you’re 18, you don’t really know everything. Now that I’m 21 years old, I know everything. But no matter what, you will find companions and find your place.
A: With all these people here, how concerned are you about maintaining friendships when they’re not all neighbors? Do you have any plans to keep in touch with people or if they all moved to New York? , are you okay?
BS: Yes, of course. Everyone will live next to me for the rest of their lives. No, that’s a great question. I feel like when you get to know people, you create connections. And of course life is busy and hard for everyone and that worries me a little. It’s really scary. But what I do know is that because of the connections I’ve made here with the people I care about, if we ever end up in the same city, we’ll be able to go out for drinks and catch up. That’s what it means. Nice. Even if you don’t make frequent calls, you don’t have to worry about losing connection. But hopefully we will, hopefully we will, and hopefully they will live in my home forever.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Thomas Lyons can be reached at trlyons@wesleyan.edu.
