Zach Murn ’17, who served as the treasurer of the Freshman College Council and was a member of the Sophomore College Council, is running for the YCC finance director on a platform of increased transparency.

Finance director, as a member of the YCC executive board, is responsible for allocating the annual budget and securing funds. Traditionally, about two-thirds to three-fourths of the YCC budget goes to planning for Spring Fling. This year, Murn is running for the position uncontested. He is also the only rising senior seeking a board position.

“I thought that there haven’t been any seniors who have been on YCC for a while, so I thought it could be interesting to have a senior who could do this position,” Murn said. “Next year I’ll have much more time than a lot of juniors who would be applying for jobs and going to interviews.”

Murn added that there is no rule banning rising seniors from running for positions, though some assume that only rising juniors may run.

Murn runs mainly on the platform of pivoting the budget more toward career services and increasing transparency. Murn said that he would be willing to take some of the budget toward YCC’s own events and put it toward career events for students earlier in the school year.

Friends and colleagues attested to Murn’s personal quality and work ethic. “Highly intelligent,” “organized” and “on top of his game” were some of the words frequently used to describe him.

Leah Motzkin ’16, a former YCC presidential candidate who came to know Murn during her own campaign, said that it is extremely important for a finance director to always be attentive and keep track of the records. Adam Zucker ’17 also spoke to Murn’s accountability, adding that Murn’s past role as the treasurer of FCC gave him sufficient experience in financial matters. Michael Park ’17 said that Murn once reached out to the Yale College administration to extend opening hours of the Ezra Stiles dining hall during finals period, an anecdote he felt qualified Murn for the position.

“It is rare for someone to follow through with something you said in passing, and I think Murn has that admirable quality in him,” Park said.