Narrelle Gilchrist
Hi everyone,
I’m a G5 in the Politics Department, and I’m running for reelection as Lakeside’s Social Chair! Lakeside has been my home for over 4 years now, and I care deeply about cultivating a supportive and connected community among Lakeside’s residents. I would be honored for the chance to serve and represent you all for another year.
As social chair last year, I sent out a survey and solicited feedback so that I could plan events that best suited Lakeside residents’ interests and schedule. Following this feedback, I coordinated dinner events throughout the year, featuring catering from Efes and Nomad Pizza. I also have been working with the rest of the committee to invest our funds into improvements for the Lakeside gym and common area, including a rowing machine and a pool table. This upcoming year, I aim to replicate and expand on these successes. In addition to more dinner events, I plan to coordinate game nights and seasonal events such as a holiday gingerbread house night. My goal is to provide space for Lakeside residents to unwind and relax in the midst of our hectic semesters, while also potentially forging new friendships with grad students from outside one’s own department.
As a committee member more broadly, I have and will continue to advocate strongly for the needs of Lakeside residents. I participated in meetings last year to put pressure on ACC and university admin to deal with the system-wide HVAC problems, pressure which eventually succeeded in getting ACC to agree to a full overhaul of Lakeside’s HVAC. As an active participant in the Slack channels, I keep an eye out for any issues facing Lakeside residents, and ensure they are quickly brought to the attention of people who can take action on them.
In addition to my position as Lakeside Social Chair, I have also organized numerous events within my department, serving as the chair of the Politics Department Graduate Committee for 3 years and the lead organizer of Princeton Women in Politics for 4 years. This experience has given me lots of knowledge about how to plan events for Princeton grad students — such as which caterers are the best, what the optimal timing is for events, and how to maximize cost-effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness will be particularly crucial this year, as we navigate the new tightened budget environment. One of my goals for this year is to create better coordination between ACC, the Grad School, GSG, and the Lakeside Committee, consolidating these organizations’ resources around the events most desired by Lakeside residents, and eliminating events that are poorly timed or usually have low attendance.
I would be eager for the chance to represent and support the Lakeside community for another year, and do what I can do to make it an even better place to live!
Chris Catalano
Hi everyone! My name is Chris, and I am running for Lakeside Social Chair because I believe that we can build a Lakeside identity in which we feel a real sense of belonging. Undergraduates speak about their residential colleges with pride because they have traditions and a clear place on campus. Graduate students deserve that same feeling. I also believe that if we are united as a community we can hold the administration accountable for providing a basic, consistent standard of living.
In my time serving on GSG, I have never stopped fighting for graduate students to feel like equal members of this campus. I originated and championed the 12-free meals plan for graduate students, which I am now fighting to restore. I also led the GRAD sweaters initiative, bringing graduate students into a century-old, previously undergrad-exclusive campus tradition. And I led the push to cut copays for therapy in half from $20 to $10 for all students. These initiatives have mattered because they affirm our place and our value at this university.
As Social Chair, I will focus on building identity, connection, and leveraging our collective power to get accountability from the administration. I will:
· Launch a Lakeside community identity with events both on and off campus and community swag that residents help design.
· Integrate Lakeside residents with the campus through partnerships and events with Lakeside Nights at McCarter Theatre, Princeton University Concerts, and guided tours of the Art Museum.
· Host family friendly events like Bingo Night (with prizes!), community potlucks, and baking contests.
· Publish a calendar of events at the start of each term, including evening events, so we can accommodate all schedules and you can plan ahead.
I will also host social events where you can come and vent about any issues you are facing (we’ll call them Wine and Whine (and Cheese!)). This will allow for a more casual way for us to identify ongoing issues that Lakeside residents are facing. Too often I have seen how issues are punted from one office to the next and back (ACC, The Point, Housing, Facilities, etc.), with no one taking responsibility and solutions taking months or never coming at all. I am not afraid to keep up the pressure on the administration on these and other issues:
· HVAC and other appliance issues. I have fought all year to change policies around HVAC unit maintenance, and I got the head of Housing to commit to purchase enough temporary space heaters/cooling units for every resident who experiences HVAC issues.
· Package thefts
· Intercom and other repairs that somehow take years for Lakeside to complete. I worked with TPS over the past year to finally get a new bike pump installed!
· Leaks and other roof issues
· Improvements to the gym and shared sports equipment
· Common space and grill reservations
Princeton is a special place to live, and I have found that what sets Lakeside apart is its uniquely small and intimate community. I love our community, and I want to ensure that Princeton uses its endowment to support and empower graduate students. I am committed to building a Lakeside that is both a proud neighborhood as well as one that gets results.
Silvia Trinczek
Hi, my name is Silvia. I’m a fourth year graduate student in the Princeton Plasma Physics Program and I would be delighted to be your new social chair.
I was super happy to move into Lakeside two years ago and found it to be a great space for graduate students to live. I would like to make sure that it is also a great space to build up a social community.
I have worked as a social chair on student committees twice already – for my PhD program here in Princeton and previously for my college at Oxford. I have organized various events such as kayaking, pottery painting, laser tag, board game nights, wine and chocolate nights,…
As social chair at Lakeside, I would like to
· Ensure that events happen when most people can make it, i.e. evenings and weekends
· Organize a “meet-your-neighbors” event to facilitate us all getting to know the people in our respective hallways more easily
· Make use of the outdoor facilities that we have at lakeside for social events: Let’s run a volleyball tournament on the volleyball field or have a picnic by the lake with snacks and frisbees!
· Organize small group social events – not everyone is comfortable in a common room full of strangers. But how about teaming up with a randomly assigned group of four to solve some puzzles and make friends on the way?
Thank you for voting for me and I hope to see you around soon!