Scandal in the USG: A (Partial) Timeline

December 6, 2004 — Freddy Flaxman’07, USG vice-presidential candidate and co-founder of Jadwin Jungle, is “strongly disciplined but not dismissed” by USG election officials for sending out a campaign e-mail that implied that if he were not elected, Jadwin would cease to exist. "If elected, I would be able to make sure the Jungle continues to exist and provides the same great rewards that it now offers as well as even better ones in the future," Flaxman said in the e-mail.

December 2, 2005 — Flaxman withdraws from the USG presidential race after being accused of violating restrictions on postering. Though Flaxman claimed he did not do the postering himself, he did receive 18-hour notice to remove all his posters, which he did not do. "[The] elections process [is] rife with injustice, unfairness and corruption," Flaxman wrote in an e-mail to his supporters explaining his withdrawal.

December 1, 2006 —Biederman, a USG presidential candidate, admits to The Daily Princetonian that he was present at a squirrel burning. He called it “a youthful indiscretion” and added, “I feel like I don't really have anything to hide. I see it as a non-issue.”

December 3, 2007 — Photographs of USG presidential candidate Josh Weinstein ’09 in blackface appear on ivygateblog.com. The makeup was part of a costume for a Halloween party, where Weinstein claimed he was going as a “shadow.” In an open forum Weinstein had with the Black Student Union, he apologized for his actions, saying, "I did not go in blackface — I went in black face-paint."

December 8, 2008 — The ‘Prince’ reports that Weinstein, then USG president, sent out an e-mail containing “misleading and false statements” endorsing Michael Weinberg ’11 for vice president. The e-mail implied that unopposed USG presidential candidate Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10 also supported Weinberg. Yet Diemand-Yauman noted that the e-mail was sent without “my consultation or my approval.” Though Weinstein apologized, Diemand-Yauman was not satisfied. “This apology is essentially worthless, because he is trying to justify his implication,” Diemand-Yauman said. “It’s analogous to someone saying ‘I apologize that I am implying because you are drinking in the morning, afternoon and evening — you are an alcoholic.’ ”

January 14, 2009 — Sophie Jin ’11, then USG elections manager, investigates the cancellation of the scheduled revote for USG vice-presidential candidates. Weinstein and other members of the USG had access through an e-mail account to the results of the vote before they were officially announced. Weinstein told the ‘Prince’ that he believed the investigation was personal and unfounded. “It’s a complete witch hunt,” he said. “Any sense of ethics and sanity has been completely thrown out the window.”

October 26, 2009 — USG senior elections manager Addie Darling ’12 resigns after misspelling the e-mail addresses of two vice-presidential candidates. This makes her the third USG senior elections manager to resign in the past year.