On Tuesday, the Graduate Student Government (GSG) Assembly confirmed the 11 newly elected and re-elected members of the GSG Executive Board. The new GSG officers were elected after almost two weeks of voting. Jan Ertl GS won the election for GSG president, defeating Caridad Estrada GS and Arafat Safdar GS.
Several members of the new board discussed their new roles in interviews with The Daily Princetonian. Some of the challenges they expect to face in the coming year include financial uncertainty created by a contentiously handled GSG budget and University-wide budget cuts, alongside their aspirations for the upcoming term.
“One thing that was brought up a couple of times during the election period, is that the budgeting was quite intransparent or somewhat confusing over the past semester, in particular in special events,” said Special Events Officer Kevin Zhang GS. “It does seem like there might not be much budget left for events.”
Treasurer Varun Sivashankar GS echoed this sentiment.
“Currently, it’s a little tricky to find just how exactly the GSG budget is being used,” Sivashankar told the ‘Prince.’
The uncertainty around the budget is not a new issue for GSG. An audit report by Kathy Wang GS last year uncovered what Ertl called “avoidable mistakes.” He ascribed these, in part, to the misalignment of the terms of GSG officers with the fiscal year that the budget is built around, leading to issues during transitions.
One suggestion from the report that Ertl intends to implement is biannual budgeting, so that the election cycle better fits the fiscal year, minimizing issues caused by a new administration coming in mid-budget. GSG operates off of an $83,000 budget for the 2025-26 academic year.
Sivashankar added that, while a brief budget summary is regularly sent out, a more detailed breakdown is needed for more transparency in the budget process.
“Once we just have an entire transparent list of all the expenses that’s easily accessible to students, we can have a lot more productive conversations about how the money is being used,” Sivashankar said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
Another goal shared by several of the incoming board members is bolstering student engagement and community involvement.
“There’s been a lack of trust in the GSG, and a lot of it centers from the people on the exec [executive] board,” said newly-elected Facilities Officer Noah Zahn GS.
Apart from his goals of revamping how Meadows Apartments processes students’ packages, introducing to-go meals in Procter Hall, and working with TigerTransit to ensure accessible bus routes, Zahn also reaffirmed his commitment to transparency in hopes of building a stronger relationship between GSG and the graduate student body.
“That means making sure that we, as a board, acknowledge the past mistakes that have made lives potentially more difficult or led to issues with the grad students,” Zahn said.
One unmet need in the community for the past year has been a liaison for accessibility issues.
The position of DEI Officer, which has been vacant since the previous chair resigned from the post, has been filled this election cycle by Yassine Ait Ali GS. Ait Ali has been serving as acting DEI Officer since being appointed towards the end of the fall semester.
The position was vacant for close to a full term, which Ait Ali says damaged GSG’s ability to respond to accessibility-related concerns.
“Not having a DEI officer for such a long time was a big loss for the graduate community because a lot of students were raising concerns … to the GSG, and there was nobody who was officially appointed to report that to the appropriate offices,” he said.
Ait Ali affirmed a commitment to reinstate a close relationship between the GSG and the Graduate School’s Access, Diversity, and Inclusion team.
Both Ait Ali and Ananya Chakravarti GS, a fourth-year re-elected as Health and Life Officer, expressed interest in reestablishing the Graduate Buddy Program, which Chakravarti says has been inactive since her first year.
“I want the grad students themselves to feel that they have a stake in what health and life initiatives are taking place,” Chakravarti said.
One way she hopes to accomplish this is by establishing a Graduate Student Health and Life Committee. She explained that her main goal is to reduce barriers to health and wellness by keeping students involved and informed of their rights and benefits.
Vice President-elect Zoë Gorman GS also shared the same approach to engaging graduate students.
“We started, in this past year, to build up the committee structures. I think that's something that we can make more robust this year,” Gorman said.
Gorman also shared several ideas of how GSG can support the international student community through recent circumstances, with increased ICE raids at campuses and towns across the country.
“In the early stages of ICE involvement, there were signposts on all the residents’ dorms that in order to enter the dorm, they would need a warrant. And I think we could maybe look into expanding that in some way to protect our international students,” she said. “We can also help to advocate by having improved support structures for international students to get advice on visas or work within their departments.”
“We’re really excited to work with USG [Undergraduate Student Government] as well. I think we can just work more effectively as a community, at whole, at large, as a whole,” Gorman added.
Among the other winning candidates were Vice President of Internal Affairs Niv Kanrar GS, Academic Affairs Officer Poorya Mollahosseini GS, International Student Affairs Officer Viola Chen GS, and Social Officer Robel Geda GS.
Toby Chang is a staff News writer from Prescott, Ariz. He can be reached at toby.chang[at]princeton.edu.
Meghana Veldhuis contributed reporting.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Read More
Princeton Town Council retains law firm for car crash lawsuit, reviews monthly police report
Teresa ChenThe Jan. 27 Princeton Council meeting included a vote to retain special counsel on an ongoing lawsuit involving Mayor Mark Freda and heard the police chief report’s from December.
The Jan. 27 Princeton Council meeting included a vote to retain special counsel on an ongoing lawsuit involving Mayor Mark Freda and heard the police chief report’s from December.
Princeton undergraduate on leave dies
Luke GrippoJefferson Voelker ’28 has died while on leave from Princeton.
Jefferson Voelker ’28 has died while on leave from Princeton.
NJ AI Hub set to launch AI Accelerator to globalize entrepreneur network
Haeon LeeThe New Jersey Artificial Intelligence Hub has partnered with the global innovation platform Plug and Play to launch an AI Accelerator. The program aims to connect local companies with global networks, attract international talent, and promote ethical AI development.
The New Jersey Artificial Intelligence Hub has partnered with the global innovation platform Plug and Play to launch an AI Accelerator. The program aims to connect local companies with global networks, attract international talent, and promote ethical AI development.