Jean Wang, Contributing Photographer

Sanya Abbasey ’25 and Craig Birckhead-Morton ’24 want to return power to the people — that is, the student body of Yale and the people of New Haven. They just need to win Yale College Council president and vice president first.

As the director of the Cultural and Religious Policy Team in the YCC this year, Abbasey said she felt that she had the ability to enact true change in the Yale community. She has worked alongside student activists to accomplish multiple goals in her role, including expanding religious accommodations for on-campus housing and increasing allergen labels in University dining halls.

“Going into my sophomore year, I felt like I really had no choice but to try to improve my community members’ lives, and the one way that I saw that I could do that was through the YCC,” Abbasey said. “I want to continue this energy and advocacy into the presidency.”

Outside the YCC, he has been involved in various student organizing efforts. Birckhead-Morton has worked with undergraduate advocacy group Students Unite Now and as the undergraduate representative for the Yale Police Department’s advisory board. 

Birckhead-Morton also served as the inaugural student organization liaison for the YCC this year. Current YCC President Leleda Beraki ’24 and Iris Li ’24 created the position.

“We’re running, not to put power in our hands, but to put power in the hands of the student body and to put power in the hands of the people of New Haven who are excluded from the center of power that is Yale,” Birckhead-Morton said.

Although Abbasey and Birckhead-Morton recognize that many people in the student body may not have faith in the YCC, they want to emphasize that the organization can make effective changes — even if those changes are small.

Abbasey herself did not necessarily believe in YCC’s capacity to achieve change during her first year, although she quickly changed her mind once she became more involved with the council.

“At the end of the day, people think the YCC is all talk, but we’re here to bring deliverable results on things that are affecting students’ lives at Yale,” Abbasey said. “Some of the achievements that we’ve had may not be flashy, but they’re effective. That is the energy we plan to bring.”

In addition to giving power to students and student organizations, as president and vice president, Abbasey and Birckhead-Morton want to enact mental health policy reform.

Birckhead-Morton said that in his three years at Yale, he has watched many students fail to receive adequate mental health support from the University.

“They approach mental health in a really transactional perspective and see us more as liabilities than as students,” Birckhead-Morton shared. “Sanya and I have been affected by the mental health crisis, and we’re serious about addressing that issue.”

Ultimately, Abbasey and Birckhead-Morton want to ensure that students have the ability to advocate for and achieve success in addressing the issues that they care about — whether it be mental health, union organizing, religious accommodations or anything else that may be plaguing the student body.

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.