Name: Danny Seifert
College: Timothy Dwight
Year: 2009
Hometown: Brookfield, WI
Major: Undeclared
Self-described “adventure junkie,” Danny Seifert ’09, vice presidential candidate for the Yale College Council, describes the uniqueness of his candidacy and his willing to go to the extreme to accomplish his goals.
“I suspect the [other candidates are] not genuinely committed to the reform they’re promising,” Seifert said.
Part of Seifert’s “real reform” is his dedication to refurbish the YCC structure, especially in terms of how it communicates with the students.
“[The] YCC has gotten bogged down in bureaucracy,” Seifert said. “I want to streamline the whole process to secure the interest of the student body.”
Seifert also said the University’s standing committees — for which the YCC selects student representatives — need to be revamped to make them more accountable to the students.
“Sometimes they don’t even meet,” Seifert said. “[We should] open up meetings to the general student body … [and increase] access for students who are willing to participate.”
Seifert’s other plans include increasing Yale’s dedication to environmental sustainability and reforming financial aid, especially with respect to expected summer earnings contributions. Under the current system, students who receive financial aid are expected earn between $1,800 and $2,350 each summer, which may disqualify them from taking unpaid internships.
Seifert connected his interest in reducing summer contributions with his experience as an unpaid intern teaching English to young students in Taiwan.
“[It was my] coolest experience since going to Yale,” Seifert said. “Yale has the responsibility to ensure that if a student gets this opportunity, they should be able to go.”
Throughought a breakfast interview, Seifert described how he went sky-diving hours before his flight for Taiwan and how he is addicted to dining-hall waffles, while also asserting his uniqueness and dedication to the YCC.
Seifert criticized the other candidates, saying they have made the race unduly competitive by spamming panlists and creating “an e-mail arms race.”
“I’ll be the one VP candidate who actually delivers what he’s promising. Give me the chance. Let me prove it,” he said in an e-mail.
Jason Chu ’08, who served with Seifert on the Freshmen College Council, believes in Seifert’s capability for the office of vice president.
“I think he’s a pretty solid guy. From what I’ve seen he takes on responsibility well,” Chu said. “I respect him very much from that.”
Seifert points to Campus Cash — the campus pay plan that will allow students to pay for printing, food at certain restaurants and other campus-related purchases with their student IDs — as an example of his accomplishments on the YCC.
“I helped get [it] established,” he said in an e-mail.