Chou drops out of 2010 presidency race

Chou had originally filed papers to run for vice president last weekend, but he e-mailed friends early Thursday morning saying he would instead compete with incumbent Aditya Panda and Class of 2010 secretary Phoebe Jin in next week’s election for class president.

The decision to drop out of that race and resume his campaign for the vice presidency stemmed from a desire not to lose two of the three most experienced class officers in the presidential contest, Chou said in his Friday night e-mail.

“I decided that putting together a great senior year would be nearly impossible with only one experienced officer as president — regardless of who it is — because planning the senior activities draws upon relationships with administrators and past class officers,” Chou said, adding that the other two candidates were firmly committed to running for president.

“For me, what is most important is that we have a great senior year, and I feel the best way to guarantee this is by ensuring that the board has officers we can depend on,” he explained.

Jin said she was surprised by Chou’s decision “because it was [made] so soon after he announced his decision to run for president,” but added that she respected his reasons for dropping out of the race. She echoed his sentiment, saying that having experienced students would facilitate easier planning of senior year activities.

“It would make things a lot easier, not because of the quality of the person, but because old officers have a familiarity with the system and how we do things,” Jin explained. She added, though, that she was confident that new officers would be very capable and would easily get up to speed.

Panda also said he respected Chou’s reasons for resuming his candidacy as vice president. “Given that in our senior year at Princeton the duties (and budget) of class government expand greatly, I think Michael’s concerns are understandable,” Panda said in an e-mail. “We spoke a little bit about the pros and the cons of his decision beforehand, and I respect his final choice and the thought behind it.”

Upon entering the contest for class president, Chou said he thought the other two candidates’ platforms were not addressing two important issues: improving communication with students and attracting more students to class events.

“I really want to hear what the class wants us to do and what kind of events they want us to focus on,” Chou said at the time. “I think a lot of students share this sentiment, and I wasn’t getting that from the other candidates’ platform statements.”

Jin, however, noted that increased communication had always been a part of her platform. She added that she was prepared to address any student’s concerns, including Chou’s.

She said that by hosting more large-scale events, she hopes to attract more students, explaining that the events themselves will provide a venue for students to communicate what they want.

Panda also said he did not think his platform was “vastly dissimilar” to Chou’s. “I emphasized my openness to listen to and incorporate the best of his ideas,” Panda said. “We’ve always had a mutual respect for each other, and I hope to work with him next year.”

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While Chou said he had been confident in his chances to win the presidency based on his stated platform, he said Friday that he was not “willing to put the quality of our senior year at risk” and felt “very uneasy with a senior class government composed of four inexperienced, uncontested members.” He added that he had spoken with the other candidates and that they had agreed to address the concerns he had raised.

USG senior elections manager Sophie Jin ’11 explained Wednesday that under the election rules, a candidate could opt to run for a different position until the Friday before voting begins. Jin is also a senior photographer for The Daily Princetonian.

On Sunday, she explained that though Chou was campaigning for president, he never filed to make the change official, so he remains the only vice presidential candidate. She also confirmed that there are only 10 candidates running for U-Council now that Brian Stephan ’11 has dropped out of the race.

Incumbent Class of 2010 treasurer Jake Dale is running unopposed for re-election, and Jonathan Nussbaum ’10 is running unopposed for class secretary to replace Jin. Eric Finkelstein and Jacob Kosior will face off for the position of Class of 2010 social chair.