Freshman class elects 5 to class council

Freshmen Chance Fletcher, Christopher Hsu, Brandon McGhee, Jenny Zhang and Rachel Yeehave been elected to the class council for the Class of 2018, according to an emailsent by Undergraduate Student Government president Shawon Jackson ’15 to the freshman class on Friday night.

USG elections manager Amara Nnaeto ’17 said that Fletcher received 289 votes,McGhee received 208 votes, Yee received 195 votes, Hsu received 190 votes andZhang received 164 votes. In all, 25 freshmen ran for the five positions.

A spreadsheet on the USG website showed thatYee was penalized 10 points forcreating a “premature Facebook group.” However, the penalty points did not affect Yee's vote count since negative actions are not taken against candidates until they accumulate at least 20 points.

According to Nnaeto, Yee violatedcampaign rules by creating a group for her campaign the night before the officialcampaigning period was to begin. Yee said she had created the group to ask herfriends for help with putting up posters for her campaign, but Nnaeto said that no such contact about a campaign can be made before the campaign period starts,regardless of whether the communication is between supporters.

The newly elected officers interviewed for this article said they were enthusiastic about the results andsuggested hosting events immediately to introducefreshmen to one another and facilitate new friendships.

“Thegoal of the class council should be to unite the class and embrace our diversity,”McGhee said.“I feel like Princeton is a place where there are so manyopportunities. This is a place where people should get comfortable outside theircomfort zone.”

Zhang echoed these sentiments.

“I want to have events that will integrate thecommunity at Princeton,” she said.

The officers all had different ideas about howthey could achieve this goal. McGhee suggested ideas that he thought many peoplewould not have previously experienced, such as paintballing or skiing. Zhang explainedshe wanted to host a freshman version of Communiversity, an event the Universityholds annually to bring together members of the campus with the town of Princeton. Yee saidshe wanted to have a Class of 2018 music event, and Hsu said the officers planned tohave weekly tables on campus where the class council members would be presentto discuss potential events with other freshmen.

Another theme the officers emphasized was accessibility. Zhang said that it is very important that the class officers be accessible to fellow freshmen.

“I am accessible and wantthe people to be heard,” McGhee said.

Due to a referendum in the April 2012 election, officer positions for the freshmanclass council were removed so all freshman council members hold the same position.