Shruti Shah pledges to reorganize student government

12:08 p.m. Jan. 29: An earlier version of this article referred to Rinchen Lama as a man, which is incorrect. The story has been updated to reflect the changes.  The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Shruti Shah wants to shake things up in student government.

Running on a platform that pledges to reorganize several of student government’s structural components, the junior student body president candidate said her experience will give her the perspective needed to streamline student representation.

“I’ve done student government for three years,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of what worked and what hasn’t worked.”

Shah, a political science major from Memphis, Tenn., has focused her platform on the reworking of the student government’s executive branch, calling for a reduction of the Cabinet by shifting committees and re-assigning responsibilities — an idea that could drastically alter the structure of the executive branch.

This differs from other candidates’ platforms, which focus more on external initiatives than the structure of student government.

Shah has served as co-chairwoman of the women’s affairs committee and as an executive assistant to the student body secretary and student body vice president.

She has also served as a member of N.C. Fellows, a leadership development program, and the Admissions Ambassadors.

Shah said she wants to reduce the size of the Cabinet — which has grown to more than 40 members this year — by no longer requiring special projects groups to attend weekly meetings.

Shah said this could make the organization more efficient.

“You don’t get anything done in a large cabinet,” she said.

Instead of creating committees to tackle problems or issues on campus, Shah has proposed appointing liaisons to connect student government resources with existing student groups on campus, to avoid overlap.

“I want to make us more effective in reaching students. We’re not reachable or accessible,” she said.

Shah’s friends said her platform reflects plenty of thought.

“It’s really something she’s put a lot of thought into, like everything else she does,” said senior Rinchen Lama, who met Shah through N.C. Fellows.

Lama said she has always been impressed by the candidate’s modesty when it comes to her success.

“Shruti is incredibly accomplished, except you would never know that because she would never tell you that,” she said.

One of Shah’s three campaign managers, Kylie Spangler, said Shah once casually mentioned she had met Oprah Winfrey at a ceremony where Shah was honored for organizing a 5K to raise money for the Memphis school system.

“I thought, ‘This is ridiculous. Who are you?’” Spangler said.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.