Students should not be surprised if they notice their classmates discussing race and women's issues around campus during the next few weeks. At least that is USG president Joe Kochan '02's goal, as he sets up two committees to study these issues on campus.
The first task of these two committees — which will include Kochan as well as various members of the campus community — will be to draft a list of questions that will be used to interview students on campus in order to present a broad scope of students' views on race and gender issues.
"My idea is that the new [University] president will probably ask me and the rest of the USG to discuss . . . what undergraduate life is like," Kochan said. "We want to make sure we don't overlook these very important issues."
Kochan has already appointed a leader for each group, who will then select the other members of their committees.
Vanessa Bartram '02 has been tapped to lead the committee on women's issues. Adamma Mba-Jonas '02 will be in charge of the committee on racial issues.
Kochan said he chose the leaders of the committees because he knew they were "close to the issues."
He added Mba-Jonas is part of several minority groups on campus, and Bartram is president of Princeton Pro-Choice.
Both Mba-Jonas and Bartram plan to gather a well-rounded group of people with strong opinions on the issues at hand.
"I want to get a committee together with all kinds of links to facets [of campus life]," Bartram noted.
Mba-Jonas shared similar sentiments and noted she has already talked to some people about joining the committee. She said she wants to compile "a good compendium of ideas together."
Kochan has left the selection of the members of the two groups up to the leaders. "I've tried to leave it open ended . . . in forming their committees," he explained.
The goal of each group is to look into how these issues are dealt with by students, faculty and staff on campus.
"It's really an investigative project to see what issues women here are dealing with," Bartram explained in describing her committee.
Mba-Jonas said she plans to use the committee to examine various racial issues on campus including the hiring of minorities in Princeton's faculty, the racial polarization of Princeton students and what the new University president can do to address these problems.
"Basically . . . I want the president to know that these are concerns, that these are things people are thinking about . . . about how we relate to each other," Mba-Jonas said.
She also noted that she will form her committee early this week and will meet with Kochan to form a plan of action next weekend.
Kochan said he hopes both committees will produce a clear idea of how racial and women's issues are dealt with on campus.
"I have tried to give a good picture of what undergraduate life is like," he said. "There are a lot of things that go undiscussed here."
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