Below are the candidates for the 2024 Young Alumni Trustee election, in alphabetical order: Aisha Chebbi, Sydney S. Johnson and Chioma Ugwonali.

Candidates have agreed that they will not engage in any organized solicitation of votes during this primary election, nor will they ask any other student or organization to do so. 

Disclaimer
The role of a Young Alumni Trustee is to serve the long-term interests of the University as a member of the board, bringing to the role an important perspective informed by their recent experience as an undergraduate student. It is not to represent or advocate for a particular constituency or point of view. The views, information and opinions expressed by the candidates in their statements are solely their own. Further, the University does not undertake to verify or ensure the accuracy of the candidates’ statements.

Aisha Chebbi
Miami, FL, USA
Major(s): Anthropology; Certificate(s): Global Health and Health Policy 

For Aisha Chebbi ’24, fostering dialogue across difference has been at the center of her commitment to service at Princeton, and it motivates her as a Young Alumni Trustee candidate. 

“The majority of my service to Princeton’s undergraduate body has been centered on bringing together student voices from different communities, particularly those that would otherwise fall along lines of marginalization, to engage in productive, action-driven discourse,” said Chebbi. “I see this as not just an act of speaking up for students for the long term, but also of finding tangible ways to improve everyone’s experiences in the present moment.” 

A medical anthropology major whose certificate will be in global health policy, Chebbi is from Miami, Florida, and has worked on behalf of health and wellness both on campus and beyond. She also has held leadership positions across many student and service organizations, and her interests include cultural affinity organizing and advocacy, student mentorship, podcasting and interfaith dialogue. 

As co-president of the Muslim Students Association (MSA), Chebbi collaborated with campus administrators and Dining Services to initiate new programming for the month of Ramadan, including streamlined meal pickup and consistent prayer spaces. The MSA also organized nightly prayer services and dinner distribution every day for the month of Ramadan and arranged programming for Eid. As a residential college adviser at Yeh College, Chebbi counseled first-year students, organized weekly study breaks and promoted college-wide events. 

Other activities include co-coordinating the Partners in Health Engage, which involved organizing campus-wide events to create awareness of global health issues; serving as student representative to the Global Health Program Advisory Committee; representing first-years on Class Council of the Undergraduate Student Government; chairing the Princeton Arab Society; serving as a fellow at the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding and as a Community Action Orientation leader with the Pace Center for Civic Engagement. 

“The coalescing of diverse student voices, University administration and alumni experience is an element of my leadership style that equips me well to tackle the difficult questions that being a Young Alumni Trustee poses,” Chebbi said. 

Beyond campus, Chebbi completed an internship at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva, Switzerland. She also created, organized, and led a trip to Havana, Cuba, through the Office of Religious Life. An avid podcaster, Chebbi created a personal podcast delving into questions of identity and belonging and has hosted another podcast highlighting inspiring career stories. 

After graduation, Chebbi will pursue a study/research award in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. This research will expand on her thesis work, which seeks to understand vaccine hesitancy in minoritized religious communities. Ultimately, she intends to pursue a career as a pediatric physician with an emphasis on global health in a role where she can directly serve patients, while also playing a formative role in shaping the policy that removes barriers to accessing health care.

Sydney S. Johnson
Piscataway, NJ, USA
Major(s): Spanish - Creative Arts; Certificate(s): Urban and Latin American Studies 

Sydney Johnson ’24 would use her term as Young Alumni Trustee to continue learning, leading and supporting others in order to improve the University experience. 

“I am running for Young Alumni Trustee to continue learning from and supporting others within the Princeton Community, while bringing a diverse perspective to all conversations concerning the development of the University,” Johnson said. 

Johnson is a Spanish and creative arts major from Piscataway, New Jersey, who has served as a class government officer all four years at Princeton. As the senior class president, she leads the Senior Commencement Committee, coordinates multimedia communications with more than a thousand students, facilitates alumni outreach and oversees the Class Day and Commencement Fair/Senior Checkout committees. 

“During my time as a class officer, especially in the past three years as class president, I have cultivated the necessary skills to understand and represent the needs of various demographics within a larger collective, as well as the ability to directly communicate with University administration, alumni and students,” she said. 

Through mentoring first-year students via the Princeton University Mentoring Program, assisting with the Orientation Welcome Committee and serving as a residential college adviser, Johnson noted she has developed a “deep understanding and respect for the needs of incoming Tigers as they become acclimated to our campus.” These peer-to-peer roles, she said, also enhanced her knowledge of campus resources, student health and wellness needs, and the impact of the residential college system. 

Johnson also served on both the Priorities and University Accreditation committees, the former helping her understand Princeton’s working structure and operating budget and allowing her to make suggestions for key focal points in the coming years. On the Middle States Accreditation Committee, she had the opportunity to speak to student experiences with large and small departments, technology, pathways into or away from majors, and practical concerns around space and resources amidst the University’s expansion. She also served on the Class Affairs Committee of the Alumni Council Executive Committee, learning about alumni engagement and governance as a representative of the student body. 

Active in women’s club volleyball and passionate about the entertainment industry, Johnson served on the Sport Club executive board and founded the undergraduate chapter of Princeton in Hollywood. “Founding a student organization this past year has demonstrated my capacity to identify key points for growth and petition existing structures to support new initiatives,” she said. “Since the fall, we have educated undergraduates and graduates interested in the entertainment industry via conversations with alumni, educational resources and speaker events, like the screening and talkback with filmmaker Barry Jenkins.” 

After graduation, Johnson will move to Los Angeles to work as an executive assistant at Peter Rice Productions, a film and TV company that collaborates with A24 and across Hollywood.

Chioma Ugwonali
Arlington, TX, USA
Major(s): Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Certificate(s): Environmental Studies 

As a candidate for Young Alumni Trustee, Chioma Ugwonali ’24 is committed to reinforcing the University’s values of service and belonging. 

“Service is inherently generous, communal and healing,” said Ugwonali, who is from Arlington, Texas. “Countless people and places have poured love, encouragement and guidance into me that have shaped who I am today. I have tried to do the same for those around me, at Princeton and otherwise, and would love to continue to do so for the University at large.” 

A major in ecology and evolutionary biology, Ugwonali has promoted student well-being, serving as head of the Butler College Council’s Civic Engagement Committee and co-launching the Peer Health Advisers’ (PHA) Wellness Is Worth It Initiative, part of the TigerWell Initiative. The wellness initiative included Wellness Chats, a Wellness Partnership Luncheon and a series of Mental Wellness 101 workshops. 

Ugwonali served as PHA’s head of external relations, bolstering partnerships between the student volunteer group and the Princeton University Library, Campus Recreation, Campus Dining and the Undergraduate Student Government Mental Health Committee. During her junior and senior years, she was a residential college adviser for Butler College. She was also one of the inaugural recipients of the Emerging Peer Leader of the Year award granted by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. 

“My first year at Princeton being virtual reminded me that nothing in life is guaranteed and that there is so much to be grateful for,” said Ugwonali. “I endeavored to make each day count.” That approach led her to collaborate with a group of fellow community members to bring the “Telephone of the Wind” to campus, an interactive art exhibit incorporating a rotary phone used to “call” someone they love who has passed away, is incarcerated, lost or otherwise distant. 

In her senior year, she coordinated the arts programs for the inaugural Community Care Day, worked as a student fellow for the Office of Campus Engagement and served on committees such as the TigerWell Grant Selection Committee, University Mental Health Taskforce and the Student Health Advisory Board. 

Beyond campus, her focus on social justice and the environment led her to organize Roots Community Cookout, a mutual aid cookout for individuals in need in Fort Worth, Texas. Following this, Ugwonali organized Roots Collective, an event including an environmental justice workshop for high schoolers, urban agricultural tours and a public wellness festival amplifying the efforts of local environmental justice and well-being advocates. 

“I have embraced a plethora of learning opportunities Princeton has to offer outside of the classroom and have built many meaningful relationships along the way,” Ugwonali said. “It is never too late to reimagine one’s Princeton experience and how we go on to engage with the world.” 

Following graduation, she plans to apply to medical school while working as a community health program coordinator; she will also volunteer at local community gardens and environmental justice organizations.