J.P. Swenson ‘25 has been elected by the undergraduates to serve a two-year term as a voting member of Cornell’s Board of Trustees. Swenson’s term begins July 1, 2023 and runs through June 30, 2025
Swenson beat Bahram Mehretu by 874 to 825 in the final round of ranked-choice voting. Three other candidates were eliminated in rounds of instant runoffs, leaving Swenson victorious with 51% of the final round’s vote.
Six students had signed up to run, but one dropped out before the election. Students voted from May 1 to May 4 with a total of 1,910 ballots cast. Of the 15,024 eligible voters as reported by the election website, 12.7% voted in this election. This is a massive decline from the previous student trustee elections in 2021, where turnout was 23.63%.
In his prepared candidate statement, Swenson promised to work on improving mental health services. “I believe that the biggest problem that plagues students at Cornell is the hardships that occur when attempting to acquire assistance from therapists and doctors from Cornell Health.” Swenson also promised “[T]here must be a better effort on behalf of the school to support and interconnect marginalized groups at Cornell. We must build upon the strong diversity at Cornell, with a stronger emphasis on cultivating an inclusive culture and embracing all people.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Please stay tuned for continuing coverage of elections, including upcoming results for the Student Assembly.
An earlier version of this story misstated Swenson’s class year as 2026. It has since been corrected.
