Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Fred Hargadon discussed several issues during the Sunday USG Senate meeting. The primary issue was concern about an anti-intellectual sentiment among University students.
U-Councilor Brad Simmons '03 said Hargadon was receptive to USG concerns about the issue, but cautioned students to be precise in their discussion of it. Many students have presented "multi-faceted" concerns about the intellectual climate on campus, Simmons said.
"The theme connecting these concerns is pretty straightforward — students' experiences at Princeton should be characterized primarily by their interest in learning," he said in an e-mail. "As much as possible, student attitudes should center around this principle."
Hargadon's lead role in admitting students to the University makes him an important voice on the question of intellectual pursuit once on campus, USG vice president Sonya Mirbagheri '04 said.
"We thought it would be interesting to talk about anti-intellectualism with the person who actually lets people into Princeton," she said.
"It is definitely worthwhile to talk about this if there are students who feel like it is an important issue," she said.
At the meeting, the USG also heard the report of U-Councilor David Gail '03, who presented the information from his interviews with several undergraduate students regarding the work of the USG. He said there was a general feeling among those with whom he spoke that the USG does little meaningful work for the student body.
"I found that students mentioned that all they know that the USG does is plan concerts and put on some social events," he said. "Another one mentioned that nothing substantive ever seems to be done by the USG."
However, the survey only represented a narrow perspective from a handful of students, USG president Nina Langsam '03 said.
"We have been working a lot on outreach efforts, and we are continuing to do so," she said.
A member of student government does similar interviews about the USG each week. Gail said the sentiment he found toward student government has been a trend.
"There seemed to be a feeling that the USG does not even try to tackle substantive issues that impact the entire University community," he said.
Langsam also said many students are not always aware of the things USG does.
"Obviously things that are in progress people don't know about," she said, adding that the website is regularly updated to keep students abreast of ongoing projects.
However, the recent work by the U-Council's precept review and reform committee was an exception that students noticed, Gail said.
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