Before you vote, you'd want to know as much as possible about the candidates, right? Of course you would.
If you were running, wouldn't you want to let voters know what your views were? Well, maybe not.
Candidates for young alumni trustee traditionally don't campaign, and the reasons for it aren't very convincing. Seniors are desperately trying to finish (or start) a thesis. They often aren't clear on how the board works. They don't know what committee — where the trustees' real work takes place — they will serve on.
Tomorrow night, candidates will decide as a group if they will campaign. The winner of the election, in which the classes of 2003 to 2005 will vote, will serve for four years as a member of the board of trustees.
Young alumni trustees are not token members, and if they want to serve, they should do their best to find out what it involves. They can and have had distinct effects on specific board actions and its understanding of life at Princeton. One even rocked the boat so much that a former University president wanted the whole election process reconsidered.
This is good for the board. To ensure that young alumni trustees continue to make their presence felt, candidates need to be open about what they'd want to accomplish as a trustee. With no campaigning, students who don't know the candidates have no basis on which to make their choice.
It is difficult to campaign while writing a thesis, but it's also difficult to be a University trustee. Serving well requires extraordinary dedication to the University. It is a serious time commitment and it can be very frustrating to try to influence the board. The difficulties of campaigning senior spring should be a challenge that candidates welcome, not a hassle they seek to avoid.
A full campaign where candidates discuss their vision for Princeton is the best way to identify the most qualified candidate.
When they meet tomorrow night, they should decide to come out into the open and let students know what their views are.
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