by Andrew Lamprea’24
The Student Leftist Association (SLA) is a new club founded by Jacob Cifuentes (24') and Ziad Shawaf (25') that has sparked the attention of many students. It is a subsection of SM politics, a longstanding student-led organization within the school. Since the founding of this club, some questions have arisen surrounding the inspiration and the goals for the club—in this interview with Ziad and Jacob, we answered many of them.
Left to right, Jacob Cifuentes, Ziad Shawaf
Jacob lives locally in Southborough with his father, whom we know as Mr. Cifuentes. He grew up on campus, deeply caring for the community and its connection to the world beyond it. Jacob’s primary intention for creating the SLA, as he would put it, was the “failure of the Marxist Club two years ago”. This references a prior attempt at a left-leaning student-led political organization, which fell through. Jacob felt that with the increasing prevalence of politics in our lives, now more than ever, it was important to engage in conversation around leftist beliefs. He thinks the SLA is much more successful this year, as the club has built a solid crowd of regular members and has been exponentially more productive in its meetings than the older attempt. He is proud, knowing that he has at least started some conversations within the student body about leftism. To Jacob, the club is a safe place for people to question and explore leftist beliefs and their own beliefs, and he hopes it will leave a mark on the students in years to come.
Ziad is an international boarding student from Lebanon and a self-proclaimed Marxist Leninist. He is a passionate political activist, which is evident in his purpose for creating the club—“It was a reactionary movement to the Conservative Club," he stated jokingly. Despite the ideological discrepancies, he elaborated that the Conservative Club's active membership and conversations inspired the SLA. Ziad felt that there was not enough representation of leftists in student-led clubs, and upon this realization, he approached Jacob with a proposal for this club. Ziad strives for this space to build up a pillar of leftist ideals for community outreach and democratic conversations. Ziad seeks to provide a platform for volunteer work and serve the less fortunate areas near St. Marks. Ziad often leads the conversations within the club, offering his knowledge of leftist ideologies and their principles. He is an inspiring and educational speaker, often prompting the entire room to watch in engaged silence while he speaks about the niche facets of Marxist thought.
While Jacob is graduating at the end of this year, he hopes to continue educating others and inspiring productive conversation for the rest of his life, especially in college. Next year, as a senior, Ziad plans to continue running the club. They hope to have more meetings and conversations before the end of the year and happily welcome anyone who wants to challenge or learn from their club.