Ninety-seven files, 20 stenographer's notebooks, more than 1,200 email messages pertaining to USG business, dozens of University reports and strategic plans, and three-and-a-half years of public service: they form what outgoing USG president Jeff Siegel '98 calls "institutional memory."
This knowledge of University policy – past and present – has allowed Siegel to develop strategies to enact his agenda in the past year.
Siegel said he hopes his administration made changes that will be imprinted on the institutional memory of the campus for years to come. "I'm most proud that we've been able to focus the efforts of the student government on campus life," Siegel said.
The list of positive reforms and events during his tenure is an impressive one. Siegel's USG helped develop a new financial aid policy that will cater to lower-income families and consulted with administrators to make the Campus Center a reality.
Positive ideas
The USG successfully pushed for increased hours at Firestone library during exam periods and at Dillon Gym, undergraduate CIT dorm consultants and buses to football games. New special events were introduced, such as two successful concerts, and the Prospect Avenue "block party," while the USG instituted a regular movie shuttle and a supermarket shuttle that is gaining popularity.
In addition, the Siegel USG worked toward student discounts at stores in town, increased safety on Washington Road and made significant progress on the P/D/F-rescind option and the proposal for flexible finals.
In addition, Siegel said that he is pleased with the USG's progress on two other fronts.
"We set the ball in motion for Career Services' move back to Clio Hall," Siegel said, adding, "We strengthened USG's relationship with the clubs."
These changes reflect Siegel's view of the student government as a suggestion box and advocate for students who present him with complaints and recommendations. "I don't think you can be a good leader unless you listen to people," Siegel explained.
He represented students in the two major public fights with the administration during the past year – the halogen lamp ban and the 24-hour prox policy.
Despite delaying these safety precautions, Siegel extracted concessions from the administration in exchange for the new rules– a 39-watt fluorescent bulb and a $25 check for each student in the halogen case, and combined prox/I.D. cards next fall to make the lockdown less inconvenient.
Despite these battles, Siegel said the USG's relationship with the administration has "improved dramatically," laying the groundwork for approval of future USG proposals.
Because he has attempted to implement change, Siegel's personal relationship with the administration has sometimes been rocky. He said he can recall rifts with administrators as a member of the Undergraduate Life Committee, as chair of the campus College Democrats and during the halogen controversy.
"I think he's done a really terrific job," said Dean of Student Life Janina Montero, who has worked with Siegel since his freshman year. "He's done a great job balancing often mundane matters of the student body with institutional processes."
Race relations
As for issues more weighty than the movie shuttle or a particular administrator's opinion of his success, Siegel noted that his public discussion on race relations with Third World Center president Kevin Hudson '98 has been enlightening.
"I think we spoke very honestly about it," Siegel said of his discussions with TWC representatives. "Talking about race can be very difficult, very wrenching, but I think everyone involved was honest about it."
"He has approached the race-relations dialogue in a way that it needs to be: student-driven," said Montero.
As president, however, Siegel has also had to deal with the internal matters of the USG. Fall semester senate meetings were more smoothly run and contained less controversy than last spring's.
However, Siegel said he encouraged discussion and differing opinions on all issues, and was pleased that consensus could often be reached.
He admitted that he has asked certain students to run for particular USG positions – often against one another. However, he said the '97 USG was not an elite insider's group.
"From the beginning, it has been more representative of all the groups on campus than any USG in recent memory," Siegel said.
He said he is optimistic about the next USG administration and said he feels confident new USG president David Ascher '99's experience as Academics Chair will help him push the '98 USG agenda.
Regardless of its composition, the USG can exert a lot of power, said Siegel.
"Students have more of an influence at Princeton than at any other university. Students set the agenda for this University on major substantive issues, including academics, the budget and safety," he said.
Siegel added he would not rule out the possibility of running for public office in the future.
"We'll see what opportunities come up. I know I love politics," Siegel said, adding, "There's a wonderful satisfaction that comes from working for people."
"The last year has been the most exciting, rewarding and exhilarating time of my life," Siegel said in his farewell speech to the USG.
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