Jean Wang, Contributing Photography

If Julian Suh-Toma ’25 and Maya Fonkeu ’25 could synthesize their campaign for Yale College Council president and vice president into one word, it would be “transparency.”

Both Suh-Toma and Fonkeu have experience within the YCC which they believe places them in a unique position to accomplish the goals they have outlined in their campaign.

This year, Suh-Toma served as a YCC Senator for Benjamin Franklin College, acting on both the Health and Accessibility Policy Team and the Religious and Cultural Accommodations and Advocacy Policy Team. Fonkeu, on the other hand, served on the YCC Executive Board this year as the Career Resources Policy Director. The candidates said they believe that their wide range of experiences within the YCC — serving in both elected and appointed positions — gives them a unique blend of perspectives on the organization’s operations. 

“We’re both running because we have been part of YCC in some capacity since our first year, and in a really unique way we have seen all the branches of YCC,” Fonkeu said. “We have a lot of ideas of things we want to see implemented in this next year, and because of our joint expertise, we know how to get that done.”

The platform of issues they hope to tackle center around the two core goals of transparency and accountability, both from the YCC and University administration. In addition to YCC emails and social media, Suh-Toma and Fonkeu plan to institute town halls twice a semester where students can discuss issues with the president and vice president in person.

“We want to see transparency in the financial aid process, we want a full breakdown of the financial aid package, we want more transparency in the Title IX to UWC process,” Fonkeu said. “In terms of YCC, we want the president and vice president to have a more transparent role.”

The pair have a history of working together in YCC, and they have faith in each other’s ability to accomplish policy goals.

Suh-Toma approached Fonkeu to be his running mate because he said he respected her effectiveness in the positions that she has held in YCC in the past.

“I approached Maya because I knew that she had a lot of experience and a really strong track record as career resources policy director this year,” Suh-Toma stated. “I thought we’d make a great team.”

The ultimate aim of Suh-Toma and Fonkeu’s campaign, connected to their primary goal of transparency, is to ensure that students have someone fighting for them in administrative decisions.

This year, the University has made multiple major student policy decisions, including eliminating summer storage or ousting multiple student organizations from their office space, without receiving any student input. Suh-Toma and Fonkeu hope to put an end to that. 

“The Yale administration has a history of putting the administration first and the students second, which is ridiculous because Yale is nothing without its students,” Fonkeu said. “What we envision for YCC is fighting for the students and holding Yale accountable for putting the students first.”

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