As a sun-loving Californian, Xie likes relaxing on Old Campus under the sun. But when it comes down to business, she’s serious about her work.
One of four candidates running for Yale College Council treasurer, Xie served as political chair of the Taiwanese American Society and is currently a representative of the Sophomore Class Council. As treasurer, Xie wants to make the YCC budget more accessible and accountable. She also wants to increase awareness of Eli Days, a program that connects Yalies with New Haven juniors to help them through the college application process.
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“I want to propose suggestion procedures to student groups to see what they want to happen to their money,” says Xie. She said once students propose programs through initial surveys, YCC can determine the feasibility of the events.
She also wants to increase YCC budget transparency. YCC began making its budget public last year, but much of it consists of estimated costs, rather than actual costs, said Xie. She wants to make detailed spreadsheets that show all costs of YCC programs so the student body can judge whether the programs have been successful. She cited Eli Adventures, which did not have a survey or detailed report about which recreational locations were more popular.
Finally, she seeks to make Eli Days a priority. She co-chaired the program as a freshman, and she said having enough resources and attention from the Yale community is crucial for the program’s success. She hopes to use additional funding to organize college fairs for New Haven students.
“She’s hyperenergetic, very detail-oriented, very creative,” said Samer Sabry ’13, who has seen her work in the past.
“You kind of want to hug her, she’s super happy all the time,” said fellow Trumbullian Tori Westerhoff ’13, who is also a representative of SCC. “Even if she’s stressed out, she’ll say, ‘Wow, this morning is really busy!’ with a smile. I think that’s important for the job.”