Gollakota ’13, Wagstaff ’14 vie for social chair

USG Social Chair

Current social chair Jake Sally ’12 is resigning to focus on his duties as president of the Interclub Council and Cloister Inn, he said. He, along with Class of 2012 president Lindy Li and Class of 2012 social chair Aparajita Das, are endorsing Kiran Gollakota ’13 for the position, they said.

Gollakota is also an executive editor for sports for The Daily Princetonian.

“I really love Lawnparties, and having been to three of them so far, it’s clear to me how big a difference the USG concert makes in the whole experience,” said Gollakota, who has served on the USG social committee for the past two years. “Lawnparties is one of the few times each semester that the whole school can relax, kick it and not worry about anything.”

Gollakota, who said he has been working with performance artists since his senior year of high school, added that he has learned a lot from Sally.

“So much of it is about putting together the deal as a whole and closing on it, and that’s what Jake has taught me to do,” he explained.

“I’ve worked closely with him this past year and have seen how much better prepared [he is] for this position than I was when I became social chair,” Sally said in an email. “Kiran is a well-connected individual who has what I consider to be the most important quality to be social chair: He loves what he does. He’s excited at the chance to not only set up Lawnparties but also to be able to provide great social events in general for the student body to enjoy.”

“Kiran is in tune with what the student body wants and will be able to get quality artists and get the student body hyped up about the USG concert at Lawnparties,” Das said in an e-mail.

Gollakota is running against Benedict Wagstaff ’14, who works as a DJ at some eating clubs on weekends under the name DJ Wagsta. Wagstaff said he hopes to bring a fresh perspective to the position of USG social chair.

Wagstaff hopes to discuss changes to the structure of Lawnparties with the social committee, he said. Instead of bringing one “mega-star” to campus, for example, he said he hopes to bring a few well-known artists from different genres to co-headline the show.

“I’ve been attempting to construct a system that will collect the artists desired by every student,” Wagstaff said.

Wagstaff said his experience planning large events in the past has prepared him for the role of social chair.

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“Booking, playing and organizing events has become a huge portion of my life over the years,” Wagstaff said. “I’ve done everything from huge private parties, to conferences, street festivals, concerts, nightclub events and numerous other large scale events of all shapes and sizes.”

Wagstaff has received endorsements from Class of 2014 social chair Andrea Baglioni, Class of 2014 treasurer Sophia Deng, Class of 2014 secretary Mary D’Onofrio, Class of 2014 senator Dylan Ackerman and U-Councilor Katlin Poladian ’12.

Class of 2012

Incumbent Lindy Li, who has served as 2012 president since February of her freshman year when then-president Ashton Miller resigned, is running unopposed for reelection.

“I love my class so much,” Li said. “Over the years, I’ve gained a lot of experience in terms of how to plan events and I’ve developed great working relationships with other officers in class government, the USG and administrators.”

She said she is most proud of the Vineyard Vines products and Patagonia fleeces her government has made available to the Class of 2012, as well as establishing connections with corporations such as Chipotle and Starbucks to facilitate study breaks.

Current vice president Nick Pugliese is also running for reelection unopposed.

“It’s a tough job, but the letters and emails I receive every day from members of the junior class thanking me for my work make it all worth it,” Pugliese said. He said his best accomplishment as vice president so far has been “bamboozling the Class of 2012 into reelecting me.”

Current social chair Das was disqualified from running for reelection due to a miscommunication about changes in USG election regulations and must wait until a hearing on Sunday to find out if she will be permitted to join the race.

U-Councilor Tulio Alvarez Burgos is currently running unopposed for social chair. Burgos said he hopes to boost class unity by organizing events such as a senior field trip to the Jersey Shore.

“Student input would be heard and used extensively for what they want for events like pub nights or Class Day,” Burgos said.

No candidates are running for the position of secretary, which will be appointed by a three-fourths vote of the new 2012 class officers. Li said she had already received many emails from students interested in being appointed to the position.

The only contested race in the Class of 2012 government is for treasurer. Incumbent Peter Favaloro is not running for reelection. USG projects board cochair John Monagle and Kameron Knab are vying for the position.

Monagle, who has been endorsed by Li, Pugliese, Das and Favaloro, thanked the past administration for saving up enough funds for a “great senior year,” he said.

“We’re going to be able to do pub nights, commencement, but we’re going to have a lot of money to do other things, and we need to hear directly from our class,” Monagle said. “It’s important to me that it’s done in a way that the class wants.”

Monagle cited his experience allocating $250,000 worth of funds to student groups during his time on the projects board as a qualification for his position.

Knab, a Wilson College residential college adviser and coordinator of the Butler-Wilson College dining hall, said he is hoping to organize more community service events for the Class of 2012.

“I’ve had a lot of experience conceptualizing events, refining them to make them work and executing them,” Knab said.

Class of 2013

All of the incumbents for the 2013 class government are seeking reelection unopposed. Social chair Jamie Joseph said she is pleased the current officers will work together again.

“We have a wonderful group dynamic and I love having the chance to give back to the class,” Joseph said, noting she is particularly proud of events such as free massages and giving out Class of 2013 sunglasses.

Vice president Stefan Kende and secretary Kendra Simon both said they were proud of this year’s focus on community service efforts and its dinner series, which allowed small groups of class members to meet with “cool people on campus,” Kende explained.

President Zach Beecher said he is also hoping to plan more dynamic study breaks, plan trips to New York and provide more gear in the upcoming year.

“I’m running because having the opportunity and the privilege to serve has been one of my favorite activities on campus,” Beecher said. “It gives me a way to give back to my class, help people get to know each other and serve the community.”

Treasurer Hanna Tian did not respond to a request for comment.

Class of 2014

President Luchi Mmegwa, who beat out a field of 10 in last fall’s election and is running unopposed, said he is hoping to increase communication with the Class of 2014 next year.

“I want to get more opportunities for people to speak their minds,” Mmegwa said. “That’s something I could have done better.”

Nevertheless, Mmegwa said, he is proud of events such as the freshman formal at Campus Club, which drew roughly 550 members of the class.

Incumbent treasurer Deng said she was hoping to provide next year’s sophomore class with more career-oriented events. The class government has established a connection with the Class of 1964, Deng explained, and hopes to plan a career fair for the Class of 2014.

“Not only am I passionate about the class and want to organize great events and awesome study breaks, but now I have a year’s experience with me and that’s what’s really important,” Deng said.

Opposing Deng is Adam Kinalski, who said he is running both because he didn’t want to see a single-candidate ballot and because he has the necessary money-management skills.

“I want to make sure that what we spend the funds we have on are stuff that everyone would enjoy and would bring us all together,” Kinalski said.

Incumbent vice presidential candidate Michael Moses said he is looking to hold a design contest for the Pre-Rade T-shirts and increase community service opportunities.

“Although this year was great and full with a lot of fun events, we can make next year even better,” Moses said.

Devon Barrett, who lost the vice presidential race last fall, said that, by meeting more people over the year, she is more confident in her campaign this spring.

“They want to vote for someone who they can trust, who they think is their friend, who they think is approachable,” Barrett said. “I’ve tried to get to know people from so many different groups. Being genuine is a big thing.”

Barrett said she hopes to organize a sophomores-only night in one of the residential dining halls with catered food from a local restaurant.

Jason Adleberg, who is also running for vice president, said he has many close friends in the class government and believes he would work well with the team.

“I’ve never run for any sort of office before, so I figured I might as well give it a shot,” said Adleberg, a former staff writer for the ‘Prince.’ “I feel like my high school will forever be a large part of me. I’d love to have that feeling when I graduate Princeton, but this year I feel like we haven’t had too many awesome class bonding moments.”

Secretary Mary D’Onofrio listed the speed-friending event in the Rockefeller College dining hall as one of her top achievements.

“I really feel like I’ve gotten to take part in planning a lot of events,” D’Onofrio said. “The Class of 2014 government works really well together and I want to maintain that.”

Sydney Krueger is challenging D’Onofrio for her post. Krueger said she hopes to plan more study breaks at stressful times of the year and plan more events that facilitate interaction with upperclassmen as well as work out a way to get takeout food from the dining halls.

“I love getting involved with student government, but I was really busy in the fall so I didn’t get the opportunity to run,” Krueger said.

Baglioni is running unopposed for reelection as social chair. He said he hopes to continue the class’ study breaks and organize a 2014 pool party in the spring.

He said he is especially proud of the $10,000 halfcourt shot raffle offered at the basketball home opener, noting that “it helped promote our school’s sports teams and school spirit.”

In addition, 16 students are running for U-Councilor positions, including six incumbents.