Jean Wang, Contributing Photographer

Austin Montini ’25 and Anouk Schembri ’24 have little overlap in the spaces they frequent at Yale, which they believe puts them in the best position to personally reach people from all walks of campus life.

Montini and Schmebri’s goal is to serve as a conduit between all students on campus and the administration. They said they have noticed that students and organizations from all corners of Yale do not feel supported by the University, and they believe that they can change that as Yale College Council president and vice president. 

“Meshing our ideas and experiences together has allowed us to come up with a more comprehensive platform that includes the experiences of people we’ve talked to all in one,” Schembri said.

Their different experiences on campus still led them both to run for election this year, although for two different reasons.

The impetus to run for president, for Montini, came from his experience on the Yale Men’s Track and Field team.

“It’s been interesting to experience the Yale culture surrounding athletics here specifically from the administration,” Montini said. “There’s not great policies surrounding mental health and people don’t feel supported in their athletic endeavors.” 

As he talked with other students on campus, both those involved in athletics and not, he realized that the issues that affect athletes also impact many other student organizations.

He believes that these problems derive from the administrators disregarding student concerns.

“It’s a very exploitative one way relationship,” Montini stated. “These [student organizations] are on the website and anything you see that Yale pushes out there. They’re very focused on showing what Yale has to offer, but not very focused on actually helping students when they’re in these programs.”

Schmebri’s decision to run for vice president was inspired by her experiences in Yale’s cultural centers and her interactions with the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid. She believes that there is a significant lack of assistance for students trying to understand the financial aid process and that the administration needs to do more to support the cultural centers.

“It’s important to me that all students from all backgrounds can feel supported here,” Schmebri said.

Although neither Montini nor Schembri have experience holding an elected position in the YCC, they believe that their experiences across campus and the supporting team they have built mean that they are well suited to carry out the duties of president and vice president.

Schembri, who transferred to Yale this year from the University of Colorado, noted her significant leadership experience in organizations at her prior school. At the University of Colorado, she served as the president of the main political science club and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps liaison between the university’s leadership and the ROTC student advocacy group.

“I think that you don’t necessarily have to be on YCC to acquire the skills to be an effective leader,” Schembri said. “Being an effective leader will translate across a lot of experiences.”

Montini believes that as neither he nor Schembri are coming from a perspective focused on the YCC, they are more connected to the Yale community and the interests of the students. They maintain that although they may not have the same experience as other candidates, they still maintain the institutional knowledge of the YCC that is necessary to thrive in their positions.

“We are definitely more grassroots candidates,” Montini said. “We aren’t career YCC people, but we still know everything about it, and we still have the team in place to help us with the specifics.”

The election this year will run from Wed., April 12 at 9:00 a.m. to Fri., April 14 at 9:00 p.m. Results will be announced by Sat., April 15 at 9:00 a.m.