Spurred by the Supreme Court's hearing of the University of Michigan affirmative action case on Tuesday, the USG took steps to engage the student body in a debate about an issue that affects current students and the future of higher education.
USG President Pettus Randall '04 circulated an email last night to all undergraduates asking them to vote on a resolution in support of the Bakke decision and the University's current admissions.
This referendum came about after the USG voted yesterday on U-Council Chair Joshua Anderson's '04 suggestion to involve the student body in a referendum, thereby making a collective statement to the larger world about its stance on affirmative action.
"We need to be an activist body," Randall said, "and focus on broader issues. But we should be wary of making political statements that don't directly affect our campus."
"We want to give this issue to the student body," Randall said.
Randall said the USG faced the questions of if and how to proceed. A week after Spring Break, the USG formed a committee to investigate the student government's role in the affirmative action debate. As the discussion went on, Randall said, USG members felt compelled and obligated to make a "Princeton-specific statement."
"This is one of those rare political issues where a policy in the larger world profoundly affects life on our campus. It is incumbent on us to take some sort of action," Anderson said.
"[This issue] had already affected our campus," Randall said, pointing to the recent restructuring of the Woodrow Wilson School Summer Program, which eliminated the race-based admissions criteria.
"I think it's a tremendous opportunity for us to get a clear picture and a powerful statement how this campus feels about affirmative action," Anderson said. "There's no better way to do it. Suddenly there are stakes."
Anderson said he was unable to anticipate how the student body would vote.
Voting will take place on the USG website and will conclude Saturday at midnight.
If the referendum passes, Randall said, the Princeton referendum would be added to a statement made previously by the Ivy Council, a consortium of other Ivy League student governments.
Randall said contributing to the statement already issued by Princeton's peer institutions would "add to the strength of the statement." He said the USG would disseminate the opinion further by issuing a press release to "let people know that students at Princeton care about this issue."
"We have a unique opportunity to be a part of this movement and the student government wants to provide students with that opportunity," Randall said.
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