The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Mental Health Committee and the Princeton Alumni Mental Health Coalition recently launched a new mental health campaign, “One Too Many,” in response to recent student suicides. The campaign aims to improve mental wellbeing on campus by proposing policies informed by student feedback.
“Princeton is in crisis,” the campaign’s homepage reads. “Since 2021, we’ve lost 7 students to suicide. The system is broken, and we are demanding action.”
The USG Mental Health Committee partnered with the Coalition, a group of over 40 alumni formed over the summer of 2025, to launch the campaign in December 2025. The two organizations are currently preparing a letter of policy proposals regarding student mental health to send to University administration.
While the two groups planned to send the letter by December, former Mental Health Committee Chair Allen Nieva ’26 told The Daily Princetonian that while refining a previous version of the letter, they found themselves “[facing] the scarcity of available data and wanting to generate momentum behind this initiative.” They decided to launch “One Too Many” to solicit feedback from students to inform their policy proposals.
Nieva said that the letter, which is not yet complete, “will directly demand policy reforms for various areas of Princeton’s wellness system, including counseling services, campus cultural norms, academic stressors, and transparency for data.”
Having collected feedback, “One Too Many” plans to send out the letter in the coming weeks. In early February, the campaign set up a table in Frist Campus Center to spread awareness about the initiative and gather insights about students’ mental health. The committees also sent the student body an anonymous online survey to gather more information.
Aakansh Yerpude ’27, the 2026 USG Mental Health Committee chair, said that the tables were intended “to create low-pressure spaces where students can speak openly without feeling like they’re the problem. Often, campus culture encourages conformity because outwardly everyone appears to be thriving; we’re trying to create room to challenge that and build a stronger culture of care.”
In a presentation to the USG senate on Feb. 15, “One Too Many” organizers said the campaign aims to aggregate feedback rather than focusing on individual insights.
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“The name ‘One Too Many’ acknowledges a difficult reality without centering specific people or events. Our focus is on prevention, collective responsibility, and responsiveness when students raise concerns, rather than on retelling individual narratives,” Yerpude told the ‘Prince.’
This campaign is supported by a vast network of students and alumni, some of whom have been working to improve student mental health for several years. Tiffanie Cheng Wu ’24, the Coalition lead, discussed the challenges of mental health advocacy in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
“I have been in this mental health advocacy space at Princeton for a very long time, and it can get really frustrating, and I have burned out from it, and I stepped away from it, and now I’m back.” Wu said.
Wu told the ‘Prince’ that she and other alumni in the coalition recognize the importance of on-campus wellness even after graduating. She said that she believes that after enduring the challenges of Princeton, alumni want to support current students who may be experiencing struggles similar to their own.
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The campaign plans to continue its work this semester after the submission of the letter. “Looking ahead, we plan to collaborate with student groups and campus offices on programs that expand awareness and reinforce the message of collective care and agency,” Yerpude said. He also told the ‘Prince’ he hopes to continue incorporating alumni voices, as “hearing from people who’ve navigated similar challenges can provide perspective and reassurance.”
Gus Vogel is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Brookline, Mass. and can be reached at gv6325[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
