I am not seeking reelection this year as Undergraduate Student Government’s (USG) executive vice president. The goal of this op-ed is to present information I feel is relevant in the upcoming election that candidates cannot share because of Elections & Rules Committee (E&R) restrictions on attacks on other candidates.
A Case Against the Premium Party
The most basic duty of an elected official is to show up. As of March 5, the Premium Party’s presidential candidate, Grace Beatty, has an approximately 29 percent absence record this academic year from the Student Government Finance Committee (SGFC), on which she sits.
This isn’t just a matter of a busy schedule; it is a failure of representation. As a member of College Council (CC) who sits on SGFC, Beatty is expected to attend CC meetings to relay SGFC’s reasoning on allocation decisions, but her consistent absences from SGFC have actively hindered her ability to explain its decisions to the College Council. For example, during the February 23 CC meeting, members briefly discussed the minutes from the previous week’s SGFC meeting—which Beatty had been absent from—including the fundraising requirement for the Latino Medical Student Association; Beatty remained silent during this discussion.
Most alarmingly, Beatty’s proposal at a March 5 SGFC meeting to bar RSOs from receiving their annual budget allocations if they failed an audit, regardless of the discrepancy, would effectively be a death sentence for dozens of student clubs. This undermines her current platform of improving funding flexibility by providing RSOs with fixed budgets to be allocated at their own discretion. I believe this kind of unforgiving philosophy is extremely dangerous for the existence of RSOs on this campus.
A candidate’s platform should reflect their vision, and yet many of the Premium Party’s “plans” and achievements belong to other members of Student Government. While the Premium Party has claimed credit for organizing this year’s Taste of Hyde Park event, a review of the planning documents and communications with University Commercial Real Estate Operations reveals a different story. The project was almost entirely administered by incumbent VP of Advocacy Andrea Pita Mendez, a candidate on the Ida Noyes Party slate. The role of the Premium Party’s executive vice presidential candidate, Esther Ma, was limited to the day of the event, where she led groups of attendees and helped distribute tote bags.
Additionally, the initiative for free menstrual products outlined in their platform was championed by incumbent Vice President of Student Affairs Malaina Culbertson, an independent candidate running for reelection. To present these as original “Premium” works is a disservice to the members who actually did the legislative heavy lifting.
Finally, I must address the Premium Party’s digital strategy. Their campaign’s Instagram has blocked me for voicing criticism. In an environment like the University of Chicago, which champions the principles of free expression and rigorous debate, any party that shuts out the voices of the electorate is unfit to lead it.
A Case Against the New Generation Party
The New Generation Party’s proposed Career Advancement Committee, which sets aside “a few hundred thousand dollars,” is both fiscally irresponsible and unrealistic, requiring, at a minimum, a $100,000 cut across the board in funding for RSOs.
Their party stipend proposal—which would offer every RSO several hundred dollars to rent out a bar or other venue and host a party—is also completely impossible; the University is not allowed to fund alcohol purchases without University-trained staff checking IDs and handling the distribution.
Finally, their presidential candidate, Will Moller, has written for the Chicago Thinker, a right-leaning publication on campus, about the importance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ramping up deportations. Though he notes federal overreach in the piece, he also suggests that “ICE should slowly and steadily hire the best talent and deploy them with local law enforcement to surgically and covertly remove aliens.” A possible leader of the University expressing this kind of sentiment is incredibly dangerous, given that more than 10 people have already been detained by federal agents in the Hyde Park area.
Alex Fuentes is a third-year in the College and currently serves as the executive vice president of USG.
Editor’s note: Grace Beatty and Aaron Horowitz, candidates for USG president and executive vice president, respectively, are staff members of the Maroon. They had no involvement in the publication of this op-ed.
The Maroon independently verified all claims for which evidence was not publicly available.
Elijah Jenkins / Apr 16, 2026 at 6:07 pm
As someone who has witnessed both Grace and Esther over the past years, I can attest that they are two of the most highly involved individuals in Undergraduate Student Government. With no blueprint of their own, they executed USG’s first bingo event from start to finish, garnering the most attendance at a USG event I’ve seen while in student government.
Grace is one of the few USG representatives with extensive knowledge of USG funding processes, knowledge that even surpasses my own. That knowledge is due to her involvement with USG and constant one-on-ones with the SGFC chair.
In regard to Tastes of Hyde Park, yes, that was an event spearheaded by Andrea. However, when there was initially an opportunity for CC to be involved in the execution of that event, Esther was one of the, if not the first, CC members to volunteer in support.
This comment is not an endorsement of PP, but to clarify that the article written is not reflective of Grace nor Esther. Each and every member of USG running this cycle are some of the most outstanding, experienced, and motivated student government members I’ve witnessed in my past four years. — 2x USG President Elijah Jenkins