USG spring elections open as candidates discuss CPUC representation, low participation

Voting will open Monday at noon for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) spring elections, where students choose their representatives for Class Council and the U-Council. 

The election comes while budget cuts and potential proctoring changes threaten to upend University norms. Recent USG elections have experienced low candidate and voter participation, causing student leaders to rethink the relationship between the organization, the undergraduate student body, and the administration.

Each of the four class councils consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and social chair. Despite the extension of the USG application deadline for Class Council positions from March 31 to April 4 to attract more candidates, many positions remain uncontested. The only contested class government positions are the Class of 2028 social chair and the Class of 2029 secretary. 

USG Chief Elections Manager Emi Ren ’29 recently described the absence of contested positions within the Class of 2027 student government as “bad democracy.” 

Last spring, neither the Class of 2026 nor the Class of 2027 had any contested Class Council positions. Last fall’s elections received the lowest voter turnout in at least a decade.

U-Councilors represent the undergraduate student body in the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) and are members of the USG senate. CPUC is the forum where stakeholders from across the administration, faculty, and the student body vote on matters relating to University policy.

18 students are running for 10 available positions, a 50 percent increase from the last election cycle. Ren said this increase could suggest a “potential turnaround in students’ apathy toward voting.”

The Daily Princetonian reached out to every candidate running for contested positions. Two U-Council candidates and one Class Council candidate did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

In their interviews with the ‘Prince,’ candidates focused on a variety of issues, ranging from the lack of U-Councilor pushback on the CPUC recording policy and University accountability to the importance of engaging students to combat apathy and budget cuts. 

Last November, when the University brought forward a policy which broadly prohibited the recording of conversations and meetings in University contexts, no U-Councilors voted against it. In response to questions from the ‘Prince,’ eight of the U-Councilor candidates explicitly stated that they did not support the policy.

“This was the reason why I decided to run in the first place, and I think it really shows exactly the ways that our U-Councilors have fallen short and the ways in which I hope to be a change,” said Ian Mann ’28.

“U-Councilors have been absent and incompetent representatives of the student body,” said Isaac Barsoum ’28, pointing out procedural maneuvers that student representatives could have used to postpone the vote. 

“Student representatives on CPUC must use their position to gain access to University administrators and be loud, annoying advocates for the student body as a whole,” Barsoum continued. “As budget cuts and hasty policy decisions that affect students’ lives — from exam proctors to independent dining — continue to proliferate, the need for this sort of representation continues to grow.”

Barsoum is an associate Opinion editor for the ‘Prince.’

Many candidates focused on the need for U-Councilors to both present a united front and align with student interests at important meetings. Current U-Councilor Stanley Stoutamire ’27 said, “One thing I’m excited about for this upcoming term is making sure that as U-Councilors, we’re all prepared for CPUC meetings in terms so we can most effectively represent student perspectives through our votes together.”

Jayden Moore ’29, who has cross-endorsed Viviana Cristofanilli ’29, wrote that in order to represent student perspectives, U-Councilors should try “short feedback surveys, open interviews, being open to questions and discussion both in person and via email, and just being present and engaged overall when concern about campus issues arise.”

Andrew Chou-Belden ’29 and Ai Vy Shulman ’29 wrote, “As U-Councilors, we’ll leverage our campaign Instagram to gather input. Opinion polls on Instagram and Fizz are an unconventional way to assess student input, but they have the greatest reach.”

Shulman is a former Opinion contributor for the ‘Prince.’

One point that candidates appeared to differ on was the scope of the U-Councilor role. Some candidates have proposed sweeping changes, such as granting free premium AI to all undergraduates. Others, though, remain more focused on CPUC as an avenue for change.

Razvan Verde ’29 said, “I don’t think I’ve pretended to be a U-Councilor that can snap his fingers and control University policy.”

Verde is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

“Campaigning for U-Councilor is not about coming up with the most popular policies. It requires an understanding of how these systems work and how we have gotten to the place we are at now,” said Mann. “This past year has been critical for both funding decisions and policy changes, and the reasons for that will only grow stronger next year.”

Barsoum said, “the University needs to be much more transparent about how and why it is implementing specific budgetary reduction measures.” He pointed specifically to publicized budget reductions for small events like Princeton Preview, but opacity around larger changes.

Low turnout at previous elections and an overall sense of apathy around USG’s ability to produce meaningful change was repeatedly expressed by candidates.

“[The] visibility of Class Council has, in my eyes, been pretty low,” said Angela Li ’28, a current U-Councilor running for re-election. Toby Chang ’29, who is running for reelection to the position of Class of 2029 class secretary, echoed this sentiment. He explained that USG can be “a very confusing system,” pointing to “so many committees and layers” that make it “difficult to pinpoint where decisions are made.”

Chang is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’

U-Councilor candidate Alpha Zhang ’29 said, “Most people don’t know what the USG is doing. When I decided to run, lots of people were asking me, ‘What exactly does USG do?’” 

Zhang is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Verde agreed that “broadly, I think there’s this perception that the administration ultimately holds the power, so trying to create change through USG won’t go anywhere.”

“Without clear information about USG’s structure, projects, and accomplishments, students have little reason to vote,” said Chou-Belden. U-Councilor candidate Sastha Tripathi ’28 echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the need for clarity around USG’s authority on campus matters.

Colón Roosevelt argued that students also have the onus to ensure their needs can be represented.  “Students being engaged — both as voters and candidates — with USG is integral to our ability to be advocates for them,” Colón Roosevelt said.

Some candidates and current officials suggested that students are generally fatigued by USG affairs, and that they only engage on major issues that directly affect them. 

Class of 2028 Social Chair Antonia Canizares ’28, who is running for reelection, said, “I have seen that there’s a lower voter turnout [than previous years]. I think it’s sometimes because the [voting] email gets lost and I don’t think there’s enough information on how voting is promoted to students.”

For U-Councilor Caleb Rosenfeld ’27, who is running for reelection, the low voter turnout contrasts sharply with responses to a recent USG form asking students to express their views on an imminent faculty vote regarding universal proctoring on exams.

“I remember it being a pretty significant portion of the student body who filled [the form] out,” Rosenfeld said. “I think that as there’s issues that pique people’s interest more, there’s going to be a lot more people responding.” 

Ella Ehiosu-Enoma ’29, candidate for class secretary, said, “Students are overwhelmed. Between academics, extracurriculars, and just surviving Princeton, voting in a class election can feel like the least important thing, especially if you don’t feel like the outcome will change anything that matters to you.”

Ren noted, “It’s hard for USG to do many of the things many students want them to do,” pointing to structural limits on its power. “If you don’t like the current administration, it’s your responsibility to join and change it.”

Arjun Menon ’27, Jeanley Boursiquot ’27, Jenny Davis ’28, and Ravin Bhatia ’29 are candidates for U-Councilor. Hailey Swyter ’29 also told the ‘Prince’ about her position as candidate for class secretary. Bhatia is a former contributing Opinion writer for the ‘Prince.’

U-Councilor candidates Kiran Bhatia ’29 and Salma Alhsni ’28, as well as social chair candidate Sam Toledo ’28, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Voting for USG spring elections will start at noon on April 13 and continue for two days. All the candidates running for contested positions are available here. 

Gray Collins is the assistant News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading University administration coverage. He is from outside of Philadelphia and can be reached at graycollins[at]princeton.edu.

Devon Williams is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Menlo Park, Calif., and she often covers student life, arts, and culture. She can be reached at dw9268[at]princeton.edu.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.