Undergraduate President’s Report – Claire Guthrie
Hi everyone, I’m Claire Guthrie. I was elected Undergraduate President of the Club in late February. I am a junior from New York City and am studying computer science. Needless to say, the world quickly turned upside down in these past couple of weeks for all of us and we have each been working to make the best of the situation.
The first weeks of the spring semester were obviously incredibly challenging ones. As the University made decisions to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the Princeton community, here at Ivy, we grappled with our own challenges in our efforts to keep our members safe while also maintaining the home and the community that makes our club so special. It started with late night ICC meetings with administrators, countless emails to the Graduate Board, and many conversations with the members. We had to make a lot of hard decisions, and eventually had no other option but to close the Club. In our last days together, we did our best to give our seniors a proper send-off, bring together all our members, while keeping everyone safe and healthy. Our “Last Supper” was full of a lot of laughter, tears, music, dancing, and a few too many hugs (social distancing is hard when you’re saying goodbye).
I am so proud and grateful to have worked with an incredible group of officers as well as the group of the outgoing officers to lean on throughout. We are so thankful to David, Tasha, Couty, Nate, and Shehab for all of their support, as well as for their incredible leadership throughout this past year. I am very excited to introduce the new group of diverse, talented, and passionate Ivy leaders: Sydney Maple (Vice President), Alexander Jacobson (Social Chair), Edward Mowinckel (Treasurer), and Sasha Culley (House Manager/Bicker Chair). I cannot wait to work, live, and learn so much from and with all of them next year.
The rest of this semester will undoubtedly be different from what we were expecting this spring, but we are doing our best to try to keep the Ivy community strong. Although 43 Prospect Ave may be empty, we are in the process of planning some fun virtual ways to connect with each other and keep our traditions alive. We are even planning our first Zoom members night!
Despite all of the challenges, I am really excited to announce that we admitted a great new sophomore class this spring. I know I am speaking for all upperclassmen when I say I cannot wait to get to know each and every one of them better when we return to campus next fall. I really do believe that this unprecedented time is bringing us closer not only as an Ivy community, but also as a Princeton community. Even though this spring has been challenging, I am confident that we will look back on even these memories fondly. In the end it is all about our relationships and the experiences we share together. One thing is for sure, we will never forget this one! I encourage you all to come back to Princeton and visit Ivy sometime next year, and hope that I get the opportunity to meet many of you soon.