Twenty-three candidates have filed to run for the 2027 Class Council, the elected student officials that plan class-wide social events and distribute merchandise. The Class Council is separate from the USG Senate, which deliberates on issues of student life and University policy.
The Daily Princetonian looked into the platforms and online presence of the Class Council candidates to better understand who seeks these leadership positions after just a few weeks on campus.
Despite there being almost 140 fewer students in the Class of 2027 than 2026, 23 candidates are running for Class Council in the Class of 2027, nearly double the number of the 12 candidates that ran for the Class of 2026.
Just under 60 percent of Class Council candidates attended public high schools, while about 15 percent of candidates attended private, religious schools.
This aligns with the breakdown of the Class of 2027, which, according to the Frosh Survey, has about 60 percent of its students claim a public high school as its alma mater.
The candidates boast a variety of credentials and accomplishments. The Class Council election slate counts among its ranks one Jack Kent Cooke scholar, one Coke scholar, and one Amazon Future Engineer scholar.
One candidate is a published author. Abby Readlinger ’27 published “The Young Federalists,” a book where children travel through time to discover the importance of the Federalist Papers. Princeton professor Robert P. George left a positive review, saying “Everyone learns!”
Just under half of the candidates cited their role in a student council or student government on their LinkedIn. About a quarter were the valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school class, while a slightly higher percentage participated in high school sports.
According to the Frosh Survey, 52.5 percent of first-years took part in varsity athletics during high school. More than 20 percent of first-years were valedictorian of their high school class, and 7.2 percent were salutatorian.
Class Council candidates tend to be from the coastal regions. Nine candidates are from the Northeast, with four from New Jersey, three from New York, and two from Pennsylvania. Just four are from the interior of the United States (three from Texas and one from Wisconsin), while five are from the American South (Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida). Two are from California — the only candidates from west of Texas.
Promises in the platforms included a number of similar elements. Many of the candidates have made similar promises of advocacy and increasing the number of social events for first-years. Platforms were mostly divided along these lines, with about half promoting communication between the student body and student government, while a smaller number promoted more social events. One candidate promised to fix TigerHub, Princeton’s course registration platform, which has gained notoriety for glitches.
Candidates had no shortage of pithy catchphrases.
“Do you want amazing (and free) merch? Do you like having delicious and diverse foods at class events? Do you have a CHIN? Then the answer MAY be to vote for CHINMAY!” Chinmay Bhandaru ’27 wrote in his candidate platform.
Many students voiced their support for various candidates on social media, with an announcement post by Dean Minello ’27 having over 500 likes and a string of outlandish comments.
“Dean successfully fixed US-China relations,” Caleb Park ’27 wrote.
“This man personally inspired Drake’s hit single ‘God’s Plan.’ He also was a main character in the Quran, Torah, and Holy Bible. He has my vote!” wrote Leighton McCamymiller ’27.
Voting for the Class Council begins on Monday, Oct. 2 at noon.
Ryan Konarska is an associate Data editor for the ‘Prince’ and a staff News writer.
Victoria Davies is a contributing News writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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