The Daily Princetonian: Tell us a little more about your campaign and how you ran it.
Alex Lenahan: I ran for senator my freshman year and lost. While everyone around me would say, "You have great ideas," I wouldn't know how to campaign. I put up every campaign poster myself in the snow. [These are] the type of stories I'd tell me grandchildren and they wouldn't believe me ... You can have good ideas, but people have to know you have good ideas. You can want to do good things for the school, but people have to know that. The key is to convey what you're all about.
DP: What was your message?
Lenahan: My main overarching message is that this next year is going to be an important time for Princeton, bringing changes in many ways, from the way students are graded to the changing of the college system.
Our voice as students should be the prime determinant — administrators know what it's like to be administrators, professors know what it's like to be professors, and as students we are the only ones who truly know what it's like to be students. We do a disservice to ourselves and future generations of Princetonians if our voice isn't heard and acted upon.
DP: Why go door-to-door while campaigning? Any interesting stories?
Lenahan: There's no other way to meet so many interesting people in such a short time. Sometimes you talk to them about your ideas and all that, or they'll just invite you in. This year, I walked in on some sorority sisters having a party on a Tuesday night ... You walk into a snippet of someone's life and sometimes it's interesting.
DP: What do you see as your biggest challenge?
Lenahan: My biggest challenge as president and my biggest goal as president is to make the USG more relevant to students. If I can accomplish that and people know what I'm working on without being told, I will be doing a good job. If people have a complaint or a good idea, I want students' first thought to be, 'I'm going to take this to the USG.'
DP: What are you looking forward to most?
Lenahan: I'm just looking forward to working with students, talking with students, meeting with students. I want to make sure Princeton goes forward the best it can and every student is having the best experience. [I hope] we can come back in 50 years for our 50 year reunion and say we made sure Princeton remained the amazing place that it is.
DP: Other USG candidates — winners and losers — want to reform the elections rules. What are you going to do about the elections rules?
Lenahan: I'd be interested to see what their thoughts are on it — I'm definitely open to change if there is a way to do it. I would guess what they mean is making the USG constitution even more specific in some cases. I think there are some things that seem to be clear, but some people think they can be made clearer.
The priority is starting to work on those big issues that are important to students — four-year colleges and eating clubs — and day-today issues important to students. I'd really have to hear what changes [to elections rules] people would like to have me make. And if there are ways of making the constitution more clear on things, then it should certainly be done. But that's sort of a fundamental issue: most time you don't see someone commit a violation. What's the burden of proof? How little doubt should there have to be?
The nature of elections is such that they often come down to violations nobody witnesses.
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