About Me
Hi everyone! My name is Quentin, and I’m a junior in the History department from Washington, DC. Outside of USG, I serve as the President of the Princeton College Democrats, an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in DC’s municipal government, and as part of a political action committee dedicated to electing young people to office across the US. At Princeton, I’m a member of Terrace Club, Whig-Clio, J-Street, and Sunrise Princeton, and am a former Vote100 Fellow. On campus, you can usually find me at Firestone (third-floor reading room), in the USG office, or at Terrace. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music (and going to concerts), watching movies at the Garden Theater (almost every Friday through USG movies), and spending time with my friends.
I’m currently USG’s Treasurer. In this role, I manage our budget, collaborate with committee chairs to develop programming that supports student social life and well-being, and advocate for policy changes to better support students with University administrators. This past year, I’ve increased funding for Projects Board to make up for budget cuts in other departments and give students a greater say in how their activities fees are spent. I’ve also focused USG’s budget more on programs that can reach all students, like funding our discounted NJTransit pilot and increasing funds for USG movies. To help build community on campus, I’ve dedicated funds to promoting dialogue across political and cultural differences and supported outreach to marginalized students with programs like the DEI Committee’s prayer mat initiative and the Mental Health Committee’s identity discussion groups. In the past few months, I’ve been focused on combating the University’s proposed dining changes, working with USG’s President, Vice President, and USLC chair to reach out to students, organize meetings between students and administrators, and initiate a referendum opposing the University’s proposed changes. At the same time, I’ve been working with this team, students, and administrators to create a separate draw process for students in co-ops or on smaller meal plans if these changes go into effect.
In my first year at Princeton, I served as the chair of USG’s Sustainability Committee, where I ran campaigns and events to promote student awareness of sustainability projects and sustainable living on campus and worked to hold University administrators to their commitments on climate. I’ve also been a founding member of USG’s Civil Liberties Working Group and served on the Undergraduate Student Life Committee.
Throughout my time in USG, I’ve been one of the only members to vote against executive session in our Senate, which is used to make our meetings private, kicking out students and reporters. I believe that USG needs to be more transparent and engage directly with students. Keeping our meetings open to students, even when discussing polarizing topics, is a crucial first step towards this goal.
Apart from my work as Sustainability Chair and Treasurer, I’m most proud of my work on USG protecting students’ rights and civil liberties. During my second semester at Princeton, I pushed USG to stand up for students during our encampment and take action to protect all students at a time of protest, harassment, and University crackdown on speech. I forced a special meeting to help protect students who were being harassed due to their involvement in Lawnparties over opposition from the President. I also helped author and pushed USG to pass a resolution asking the University to commit to content-neutral restrictions on protest and not change free speech regulations arbitrarily. In my second year on USG, I led a mobilization of USG members to prevent the CPUC from abolishing the Judicial Committee, which safeguards due process for students facing disciplinary infractions. My leadership on USG has helped Princeton remain a place for debate and free expression and protected students’ safety.
I’m running for USG President to build on this work protecting students’ rights and to increase club funding, reform University disciplinary procedures, and enhance accountability and transparency. I believe USG should organize students and empower them to advocate for themselves. As President, I’ll directly connect University administrators with students most impacted by policy changes to give them greater say in University policy and support students’ voices.