The 2006 class government is altering its structure by organizing five student committees, each headed by a class officer and focusing on a specific class concern.
The Alumni Relations, Social, Newsletter, Publicity, and Community Service/Color Wars committees will each comprise four to five members meeting once per week.
The idea to form committees arose after the 2006 class officers devised a mission statement outlining their plans for the year. First on the list: fulfilling a common campaign promise to make student government more relevant and inclusive.
"We were looking for a way to have as many people participate [in class government] as possible," said Class President Chris Lloyd. "Creating a committee system fit the goals of our mission statement."
In addition to seeking more student input through non-elected committee members, the committees themselves will be responsible for increasing class unity and student awareness of class government accomplishments.
The newsletter committee, headed by Lloyd, will write and publish news to all undergraduate students. The Publicity committee under Treasurer Misha Renda will notify sophomores of class council decisions and upcoming events.
Committees already play a role in Princeton's student government, both in the USG and the senior class government. The USG instituted committees more than five years ago to deal with campus-wide concerns and delegate responsibility. "Very small committees with very specific roles make student government more efficient," USG President Pettus Randall '04 said.
Alumni relations committees within undergraduate class governments began with the Class of 2005 freshman class government headed by Beau Harbour, and have since become a standard part of class government.
Temporary committees have also been formed to plan formals and large events. Underclassmen class governments have never formed permanent committees to deal with other issues.
"Class government has a smaller budget and a more focused responsibility," said Randall. "It's a productive and great idea for the Class of '06, but maybe it doesn't work for all class governments."
Randall said the necessity of instituting councils depended on the leadership style of the class officers. Officers from other classes said committees are not necessarily the best way to deal with class government concerns.
"The '05 officers have found that the focus of our events has changed from previous years away from formals - large events that could very well benefit from committee involvement - to events that cater to more diverse interests, which I feel would most likely not benefit from a committee system," said 2005 Class President Azalea Kim.
However, both Kim and Eli Goldsmith, 2004 Class President, commended the 2006 class officers for trying the new committee approach. "I applaud Chris and the '06 officers for attempting to try a different way to utilize the input of classmates." Goldsmith said.
As for Lloyd and the other '06 officers, they said they hope the committee system will help them serve as a role model for future classes. "I really want the Class of 2006 to define themselves on campus. We don't necessarily want to follow the pattern of year after year."
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