New USG members appointed

The USG senate approved selected appointees for a range of positions last weekend, USG president Shawon Jackson ’15 said.

Although public elections took place in November, only one student ran for Class of 2015 senator then, prompting Jackson and Class of 2015 president Jonathan Ma ’15 to send out additional application notices.

Nihar Madhavan ’15 will serve alongside Mariana Bagneris ’15 as 2015 class senator. He applied because he wants to give back to the University community, he said.

“I really love Princeton, so I guess I just wanted to get more involved with USG,” he said.

When asked why he didn’t run for the position during the elections, Madhavan responded that he recently stepped down from other leadership roles, allowing more time in his schedule.

“I guess [the opportunity] was just more highlighted so I thought about it more,” he explained, adding that the later date gave him more time to consider the commitment.

In addition to improving communication between USG and undergraduates, Madhavan said he would like to steer the University towards more sustainable food practices and improve access to fresh groceries for upperclassmen on the independent meal plan.

Claire Nuchtern ’15 will serve as a U-councilor, taking over the seat that was vacated when former U-councilor Paul Riley '15 was elected as the new Campus and Community Affairs chair.

U-councilors take on many of the same functions as class senators, but are not assigned to a specific year, Nuchtern explained. In addition to attending weekly senate meetings, councilors join project teams and represent the undergraduate student body during the Council of the Princeton University Community meetings led by University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83.

Nuchtern said that she is excited to become involved with another student organization towards the end of her University career. Nuchtern is also a member of the Pace Council for Civic Values and participates in the local prison tutoring program.

“To be honest I had never really thought about [the position] before this year. Since the election was back in April, it just wasn’t on my radar at the time,” Nuchtern said of her decision to apply later. She added that her priority is to maintain the quality of current projects rather than to start new ones because of her limited time in office.

Former U-councilor Yifan Zhu ’15 resigned this week because of a conflicting time commitment, he said.

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"I’m bummed to have to leave, but it’s really definitely not anything because I was not happy," Zhu noted.

Jackson said an email was sent to undergraduates advertising the opening of the U-councilor position.

"We hope to hear of [U-council] finalists late next week and have a nominee confirmed by Sunday, Feb. 23," he added.

The USG also confirmed Aleksandra Czulak ’17 as the new executive secretary, Richard Lu ’16 as the new director of external affairs, Annie Tao ’16 and Kristen Coke ’16 as the new public engagement officers, Simon Wu ’17 as the new chief of design, Katherine Chow ’17 as the new website manager, Amara Chukwu Nnaeto ’17 as the new chief elections managerand Jeffrey Silverstein ’16 and Clement Lee ’17 as the new IT chairs.

Tao is a Street Writer for The Daily Princetonian. Coke is a Street Writer and a member of the Design section.

The second round of interviews for the new Class of 2016 social chair has concluded, and an appointee will soon be presented to the senate, according to Lu. The new social chair will replace Molly Stoneman ’16 who won her bid for USG vice president in November.

Correction: Due to an editing editor, a previous version of this article did not disclose that Kristen Coke '16 and Annie Tao'16 are staff members of The Daily Princetonian.