Undergraduate Student Government presidential candidate Grant Golub ’17 said he is centering his campaign on three core issues: mental health, pass/D/fail policies and underclassman advising.
“I decided to run because I think that USG has not done a good job of putting students’ issues first,” he said.
Golub served as the chief elections manager of USG from last February until this October, explaining that he resigned the position so he could run for president.
Golub is a former staff writer and senior copy editor for The Daily Princetonian.
Golub explained that, if elected, he would talk to the University to address the availability of mental health resources on campus. He added that Counseling and Psychological Services is understaffed and underfunded, and that students’ access to mental healthcare is lacking. Golub noted that he recently sought out the help of CPS but was turned away and told he had to wait three weeks for an appointment.
“I think only someone with the institutional backing of something like USG can work with the administration to make sure that CPS is the valuable resource that every undergraduate, now and in the future, deserves,” Golub said.
Natalie Fahlberg ’18, who is endorsing Golub’s campaign, noted that almost every student on campus can relate to the issue of mental health in some way.
“The central point of his campaign is to increase resources for CPS, and that’s a really big deal to me,” she said.
Golub said he also seeks to revise the P/D/F policy so that students can choose to rescind a P/D/F decision at the end of a given academic semester upon seeing their final grade in the class.
He also said he wants to improve underclassman advising, saying that freshmen do not interact enough with their faculty advisers. He noted that one idea he has is for students to be paired with their writing seminar professors as advisers, as these professors see their advisees regularly and get to know them academically.
Golub added that, if elected, he would address other concerns as well, such as eating club accessibility, but by focusing on the three core issues of his platform he hopes to make significant progress on each one.
Mohamed Shalan ’17, who is endorsing the campaign, said he supports Golub’s goal to tackle real student issues.
“USG is perceived more to be a committee of students that organize Lawnparties, offer students free food and party events, but I think he’s taking a very bold stance by trying to combat a couple of the main problems that face students today,” Shalan said.
Golub said one of his concerns with USG is that it is not catering to everyone on campus, a trend that he hopes to change.
“When you're elected, you’re not only the president or the vice president of the people who elect you, you’re the president of the whole student body, and you need to cater and to serve all of the students,” he said.
He said he would diversify USG by appointing people with different backgrounds and perspectives to various non-elected positions. He noted that when he went to his first senate meeting he was baffled by how everyone had the same opinion and no one challenged anyone else. He noted that while this aspect of USG has improved, there is still work to be done.
Golub explained that he would appoint a chief of staff to help the USG president and vice president run daily operations more efficiently. In addition, he would revamp ad hoc projects by shifting the responsibility from individual senate members to committees, which have the organizational structure to better carry out new initiatives.
Golub said that his experience on USG has been important in preparing him for the presidency. He noted that as chief elections manager, he learned about leadership, organization, collaboration and crisis management.
“That job was really a baptism by fire; I had to learn on the job and I had to learn quickly,” he said.
However, Golub added that the best preparation for the presidency is just being a “Princeton kid” and seeing how things are on campus. Golub said he believes that his experience on sports teams and other extracurricular activities make him more aware of student issues.
“I think the ‘Government Club’ criticism is valid, and it’s really unfortunate, because USG could be a really positive force for change in our school,” Golub said.
Golub is a former coxswain on the men's rowing team and a junior officer in Cloister Inn. He is a history major from Sarasota, Fla.
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