Elections for Undergraduate Student Government (USG) first-year College Council (CC) representatives opened on Monday. The Maroon spoke to this year’s 19 candidates about their platforms and proposed policies, asking them questions concerning their plans for CC and their views on the role of USG in student life.
The five elected members of the Class of 2030 will serve as part of USG’s legislative branch, drafting and approving CC policies. Voting began Monday and will continue until 4 p.m. on Friday. Links to the ballot were sent to all first-year voters on Monday via email.
Adalyn Freihaut and Isaac Cohoe (AI Party) emphasized the “realness” of their campaign. “We want to have realistic goals that we think we can at least put in motion over our year [on College Council],” Cohoe said. He and Freihaut want to allow students to pay for printing with Maroon Dollars and expand students’ UPass membership to UPass+, which would include unlimited Metra trips.
(A University spokesperson told the Maroon in September that there would be “no updates” to the UPass program this academic year.)
Freihaut and Cohoe also want to institute “early bird” gym hours, changing either Henry Crown Field House or Ratner Athletic Center’s opening time to 6 a.m. “Even if you personally aren’t waking up to go to the gym at 6 a.m., people who do will make the gym at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. less busy than it is [now],” Freihaut said.
Adrian Honka wants to “prioritize every single student having the Wi-Fi access that they deserve” by mapping areas where UChicago’s eduroam network is less effective and working with IT to install more routers in those areas. He plans to improve University “prestige” by working with administrators to “put the phoenix back on the map” by creating more merchandise with the mascot. Honka also wants to provide free menstrual products in public bathrooms around campus.
Honka believes that USG should be a “conduit” between the University administration and the student body that maintains transparency in its operations. “You deserve to be informed, and College Council should be publishing what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, in a concise way that’s readily available,” he said.
Alexandra Espinosa Cortes said that her campaign is “centered around homesickness.” She said, “Coming to this incredible university should not mean saying goodbye to your culture and saying goodbye to what feels like a community and what feels like a home for you.”
If elected, she said she would institute a designated table for meeting new people in one of the dining halls. “It takes away that awkwardness and makes it something practical,” she said, “like a space where everyone is on the same page of making friends.” Cortes also wants to provide tutoring in languages other than English for international students and implement a policy of every student being able to rent a bicycle through Divvy for free three times in the fall and spring quarters.
Ananya Prakash believes that “if you’re not healthy, you can’t thrive in the school community.” She plans to promote awareness of existing programs such as UChicago CARES, which deals with prevention and response to sexual misconduct and harassment, and Maroon Mental Health Matters, which provides training on how to help someone struggling with their mental health. “I feel like the campus, the College itself, has a lot of resources already, good resources,” she said. “I just feel students are not accessing [them] to their full extent.”
Prakash believes that USG’s large social media presence—with more than 3,000 followers on Instagram—could be used to reach students. She suggested that USG use its social media accounts to promote sexual assault awareness and prevention, accessible mental health guides, and public discussions about increasing community in residence halls.
Angela Shi’s campaign is focused on residential life and dining. She plans to improve the selection of condiments in dining halls. “I would want to start off my being a representative with something more achievable that would also improve quality of life for students here on campus,” she said.
Shi wants to expand Maroon Dollars to be able to cover laundry—a resolution to this effect was passed last year but has not been implemented—and standardize air conditioning availability across the residential halls. Currently, air conditioning is not available in International House, Snell-Hitchcock Hall, and Burton-Judson Courts. She also said that USG should have an online form that individual students can fill out to voice specific suggestions and requests to their representatives.
Antonio Brouse wants the University to offer Canva Premium accounts to all students. “I think it’s important that we protect artistic and creative freedom,” Brouse said, adding that access to Canva Premium would be especially helpful to RSOs in promoting events across campus.
Brouse also wants to ensure that both men’s and women’s bathrooms are present on all co-ed floors of residence halls. He said that currently some co-ed floors in certain residence halls only have either men’s or women’s bathrooms, meaning some students must go up or down a floor to access a bathroom. “It’s as easy as switching the signs,” he said. “All the bathrooms are the same.” Brouse also proposed expanding residence halls’ limits on UChicago-affiliated guests from two to four.
Arielle Kutz and Mannie Williams (A&M) said that their previous experience in high school student government would allow them to be effective leaders and representatives of their class. “We’re familiar with creating legislation and taking public values before our own,” Kutz said.
Kutz and Williams plan to work with Student Wellness to provide free menstrual products in residential hall bathrooms. They also believe that Maroon Dollars should be able to be used for laundry and printing. “[W]e know that if we get elected, we’re going to do the work because we love doing the work,” Williams said.
Chazlance Moore’s campaign is focused on improving the community experience at UChicago by expanding the UChicago-affiliated guest limit in residential halls to four people and increasing the number of “third spaces” on campus. “I think that being able to increase the ability to actually connect with students and increasing the spaces that we have to really meet and build community is such a priority right now,” he said.
Moore also wants more financial transparency in USG and the University. He said he will push for a more in-depth breakdown of tuition money spending and public receipts of USG spending. USG released RSO funding data for the 2025–26 academic year on a website published after the passage of the CLEAR Act last year. “It’s just a basic right for any student to see where money is being spent on campus,” he said. Moore also said he wants to introduce more financial assistance for printing and laundry, as well as allowing Maroon Dollars to be used for those services.
Gillian Sabir (VIBE Party) wants to make laundry free in order to accommodate international students whose credit cards are not accepted by the WASH-Connect app. “Every time they want to do their laundry, they have to ask somebody they know to borrow money, which I think is kind of crazy,” she said.
Sabir also wants to make peer tutoring more accessible by instituting an appointment-based system. Currently, peer tutoring operates on a walk-in basis within a designated time slot with support available for biological sciences, economics, mathematics, and chemistry. “If there’s multiple people in there at the same time with one tutor, it’s hard. It’s still very hard to get the individual help you need,” Sabir said. She also wants to explore adding Zoom tutoring to accommodate student availability.
Ian Catanzano, Lidia Lo Faro, and Simon Saffayeh (Maroon Party) want to create a textbook resale app and extend operating hours at the Regenstein Library. “These are practical things that can apply to everybody,” Saffayeh said, “and they’re completely doable.” They said they have communicated with members of the Maroon Party, an established party currently holding eight out of 15 CC seats, about how to implement their policies. “We already know people on the Council. We know it’s possible,” Lo Faro said.
Catanzano, Lo Faro, and Saffayeh also want to create a free printing fund by auditing RSO finances to ensure that there is no “overlap” between external and CC funding. “[Funding] shouldn’t overlap to the point where they’re getting more money than they need,” Catanzano said. “So, if we can do an audit of those clubs, what type of funding they’re getting from USG, we are certain that we can find the money there to then provide for the free printing and for the other things that we’re putting forward.” USG’s bylaws say that committees can conduct audits of RSO budgets, but USG has been previously criticized for not doing so rigorously enough.
Khyron McNary-Cooper wants to implement free laundry, more excused absences from classes per quarter, and increased pest control in residential halls. He believes in setting ambitious goals for USG. “If we want something to happen, we have to make it happen,” he said. “We have the ability to control reality.”
McNary-Cooper also advocated for the release of a detailed breakdown of Housing & Residence Life spending. He wants to reallocate funds to new initiatives, such as free laundry. “I believe with proper allocation negotiation, we can achieve all that we want and need,” he said.
Kiva Jenson believes in “student government for student needs.” His campaign is focused on everyday quality-of-life improvements such as free menstrual products in all bathrooms and free printing for all students. He also wants to centralize student services—including printing, laundry, and meal plan information—into a single app or software.
Jenson also wants to increase USG’s direct, visible involvement in student life. “I think that there should be at least an encouragement of all members of USG to hold town halls, so that they can actually ask their constituents what they want instead of just being beholden to them once per year,” he said.
Neev Ganeriwala said he wants to represent the needs of the entire Class of 2030. “I’m not promising anything. I’m just saying that I’ll stand up for you guys, and I’ll try to do what I can,” he said. He plans to extend library operating hours and improve food options provided in dining halls.
Ganeriwala believes in long-term planning for USG policies, especially for first-year candidates. “We’re going to be the future,” he said. “We’re just starting off our college career, so we can see and implement changes that [will] maybe take a few years.”
Noya Samara wants to focus on USG’s use of their funding. She wants to ensure that budget rollover from last year is allocated back into RSOs and create a fund to pay for free printing. “I think I’ve done a lot of research into the things that I want to do,” she said. “And I’ve centered my campaign around a few things that I know I can accomplish.”
Samara also wants to make USG a more significant part of the student experience. She believes that representatives should be openly available to students. “I think that students should know to come to USG and not only have them operate on their behalf,” she said.
Russell Huber said that the role of USG is to be a “voice” for the student body. As a representative, he would host office hours where students could come in and discuss CC policies. “I think it’s about being able to be heard and be reached really easily, which is something I’m striving to do,” he said.
Huber wants to increase operating hours at the Regenstein Library, provide free printing for students, and place free menstrual products in every bathroom on campus. He believes his experience in speech and debate will allow him to be effective on CC. “I think I’m very good at being able to argue for things,” he said. “All of my policies are really achievable.”
Olin Nafziger and Sasha Koeva Brooks contributed reporting.
