“I think I learned pretty early on that … you kind of want to change the world at U.Va.,” Keoni Vega, Class of 2026 president and fourth-year College student, said.
Vega never envisioned himself running for the position of Class Council president when he first stepped on Grounds, he said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. As an out-of-state student who knew no one at the University when he arrived, he said he did not think leadership positions would be for him.
Now, Vega leaves with a slew of accomplishments — such as keeping a diversity, equity and inclusion committee alive to hold events for underrepresented students and planning Valedictory Exercises — and is committed to serve as a Trustee for the next four years.
“I've learned that I think the most effective way to be a class president is to simply be an effective class president and not think … ‘oh, will they say my name in 20 years from now?’” Vega said. “That doesn't matter. What matters is making sure you're doing a really, really good job at what you are tasked with doing.”
All four years in the role, Vega worked alongside Annie Zhao, Class of 2026 vice president and fourth-year College student. He noted his belief that it is not traditional for class presidents and vice presidents to remain in their roles all four of their years at the University and, beyond that, most leadership positions within clubs have only one-year tenures.
Vega said his four years in leadership allowed him to establish himself and build relationships, including with the Trustees Executive Board — almost half of which he said have been members for at least three years.
“Our Executive Board’s amazing,” Vega said. “Close to half have been with us for three-plus years … the quality of the stuff we’ve done has been, in my opinion, pretty great … I think it's just kind of always with the motto of ‘bigger and better’ and by and large, I think we've really been able to accomplish that.”
Each year, class councils are responsible for programming class-specific events, but for the Trustees, Vega said his term has no hard stopping point. Post-graduation, Trustees remain involved with the U.Va. Alumni Association for four years.
Vega, Zhao and other Class of 2026 council members undertook initiatives that included organizing the First Year Formal, the Third-year Ring Ceremony and the 2026 Class gift. But beyond that, Vega worked to have an impact on all students — current and future.
Vega said one of his and Zhao’s greatest accomplishments was the establishment of “Wahoo Spins” in August 2023 — a program which grants 10 laundry machine load credits per semester to the SpeedQueen laundry app to each student living on Grounds. Laundry in on-Grounds residences costs $1.75 per load, so for the approximate 7,000 students living on Grounds, Wahoo Spins amounts to $245,000 of free laundry per year.
The institutionalization of Wahoo Spins required “strategic advocacy,” according to Vega. The program is now in its third year of operation but the journey to that success saw multiple meetings with Housing and Residence Life in which Vega said he and Zhao were told by HRL, “so many people tried to do this before you — it’s a no, and it’s going to continue to be a no.” The Wahoo Spins agreement came about by working with HRL to understand the reasoning behind why the answer was “no” in order to come to a compromise, Vega said.
“[Wahoo Spins is] something really awesome that Annie and I got to accomplish our first year through advocacy,” Vega said. “I really hope we can continue to build on that … how can we continue to make sure it goes on past [my graduation]?”
Vega also highlighted the mentorship he provided during his tenure as class president. While each class council remains its own separate entity — made up of elected officials and appointed council members to serve their respective class — Vega said he worked to ensure the younger councils had the necessary resources to successfully execute class programming.
For example, the Third Year Council held the ring ceremony for the Class of 2027 in November. Vega said he helped to provide Jackson Sleadd, Class of 2027 president and third-year College student, with resources and contacts so the planning of the event could go smoothly. The motivation for this mentorship, Vega said, largely stems from Sophia Liao, the then-fourth-year class president and Class of 2023 alumna, who encouraged Vega to run for class president.
“I've really worked to continue [and] really foster a culture of mentorship … just a lot of time and dedication has been spent working and meeting with the other class presidents and vice presidents to make sure that they feel supported, because I felt very supported my first year by the fourth year,” Vega said. “That [mentorship] was so special. And really the reason why I'm still here today.”
Though not outlined in the duties of a class president, Vega also said he advocated for the Class of 2026 over what he characterized as a tumultuous four years. During the class’ first semester, in November 2022, a shooting on Grounds killed three football players and injured two others. He said that since then, there has been "continued chaos” at the University — such as the dismantling of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in March 2025 and former University President Jim Ryan’s pressured resignation in June. Vega pointed to these latter two events as times where he supported the student body in his role.
To keep support for underrepresented groups alive, Vega said he has worked with the Trustees and other class councils to hold events such as this year’s Lunar New Year celebration on the Lawn. He said another opportunity he organized was for first-generation, low-income students to get professional headshots photographed this spring.
Vega also organized the June 28, 2025 “Run for Jim” alongside other trustees within just a few hours of Ryan’s resignation announcement last summer. The run — in honor of both Ryan and “Run with Jim” which Ryan held several times per year during his presidency to run with community members — attracted hundreds of attendees in Charlottesville, and many others who ran from wherever they were located over the summer.
“It was clear to me that … the student body and the class wanted to support President Ryan,” Vega said. “It literally was me seeing on [social media] … ‘we should do a Run for Jim.’ I was like, ‘what a great idea [and I] can organize that’ … so I did.”
Though Vega’s four years as class president are close to done, a large responsibility for the Trustees, at the conclusion of their fourth year, is to organize Valedictory Exercises — a ceremony held the Friday of graduation weekend that features the presentation of the class gift, University awards and a keynote speaker. This year, Vega and other Trustees selected Ryan to be the keynote speaker.
Looking ahead to his involvement as a Trustee post-graduation, Vega said he is committed to his involvement with the U.Va. Alumni Association for the next four years. He said one responsibility he will have is to ensure the Class of 2026 returns to Grounds for Young Alumni Reunion — a weekend each fall in which the three most recent graduated classes are invited for a series of events to celebrate their alumni status — but that he is still unsure of what his overall involvement will look like.
Vega also left some final words for the Class of 2026, in which he pointed to how lucky the class is to experience life at the University.
“Four years goes by so fast, and we, I think, have been so fortunate to go to a school as special as this, with traditions as unique and amazing as this. We've also gone through a lot — particularly our class,” Vega said. “Foster these friendships and … never forget how special these four years have been.”
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