For Joshua Hochman ’18, a combination of realism and idealism forms the basis of a YCC presidential campaign that emphasizes social issues on Yale’s campus.

Hochman, who currently serves on the YCC’s Executive Board as academics director, is running on a platform of “equity and accountability,” promoting social equality in areas such as racial equity, sexual climate and financial aid. His platform — measuring 32 pages — is divided by “what Yale should do, and what the YCC can do,” creating a set of ideas he called both visionary and realistic. Hochman further emphasized that the platform is a result of conversations he has already conducted with students and group leaders, ranging from the president of the Student Athlete Council to members of Next Yale.

“A lot of candidates in this race are saying ‘I don’t want to give you a big platform because you are my platform,’” Hochman said. “What I am saying is that my platform is your platform. I don’t want to start listening to people once I become president; those conversations have started already.”

Hochman said he wants to expand financial support of the cultural centers and demonstrate a commitment to further developing ethnic studies, an area he has already worked on as YCC academics director. Sexual climate, he continued, should be improved by ensuring that resources are reaching students as efficiently as possible, and that confidentiality is preserved. In terms of financial aid, he said that though a long-term goal would call for the elimination of the student income contribution, initial steps include eliminating course-drop fees and setting up criteria for emergency funds in the residential colleges.

Even so, Hochman said that he is “extremely cognizant” of the fact that he is running on a platform of issues that he has not personally experienced due to his being a “white man on campus.” Despite his apparent position of privilege, Hochman emphasized that he has actively listened to concerned students and incorporated these conversations into his platform.

This year on the YCC, Hochman worked on a dozen projects, including changing the Credit/D/Fail-conversion deadline from two weeks to four, a project during which he successfully advocated to Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway and began productive conversations with administrators. He also worked with the Sophomore Class Council to develop sophomore seminars for next year.

“[Hochman] is the type of leader and personality on the YCC that makes for a very good president, but at the same time a very unexpected leader,” said Larry Fulton ’19, who serves on the YCC with Hochman as Jonathan Edwards’ Freshman Class Council representative. “His commitment to the YCC has been unyielding for his entire time since he has been at Yale … He is the type of leader who you want to work with, who you want to mentor you and guide you through successful projects in order to make the entire organization work as it is supposed to.”

Dasia Moore ’18 spoke also to Hochman’s character, referring to him as a “welcomer” who actively works to make fellow students feel comfortable and included. She emphasized that Hochman’s strength lies in his ability to listen, and added that he is adept at making students feel heard as they share personal experiences on the road to schoolwide policy reforms.