USG creates undergraduate survey on race

The USG sent all undergraduates an online survey on Monday that will examine campus minority affairs and race relations. The USG hopes to collect student opinion on campus race-related issues, identify the problem areas and attempt to rectify those troubles, according to its website.

Matt Margolin '05, USG president, sent an email to the undergraduate student body explaining that the purpose of the survey is to build on the initiative begun by the USG Committee on Minority Issues in 2001. "Since their report was based mostly on anecdotal evidence, we wanted to issue a more scientific survey to get an accurate portrayal of student sentiment," he said in the email.

Margolin said the survey would help the USG take action on important issues relating to race at Princeton.

"After extensive meetings with minority groups on campus, we developed a few questions that we hope will produce specific numerical results that will not only aid in analyzing issues that have been voiced on campus, like self-segregation in housing and segregation at the street, but also present specific evidence to the administration — evidence that demands attention," Margolin said.

The "last thing" Margolin said he wants is another committee to discuss campus issues. He said he hopes the student body recognizes that the USG has chosen to take action rather than "initiat[e] more dialogue."

William Robinson '04, former chair of the Undergraduate Life Committee, conceived the idea of a student survey on race. He said the wide array of opinions on campus prompted him to push for a USG action that would give every student a voice in the matter.

"Issues that I found students had strong opinions on included the eating clubs, perceived discrimination, social life and the diversity of the faculty," Robinson said. "I thought it would be fascinating to give every Princeton student a chance to speak up on these and other issues."

The USG website explained how the survey was formulated. "A committee consisting of undergraduate students from each class and a number of racial and ethnic groups crafted the questions that appear in this survey, and various student leaders and administrators offered their input as well."

The questions in the survey will accurately reflect student opinions on race relations, according to the site.

Robinson said he simply hopes the USG can learn about students from this survey.

"I hope that by writing a report that accurately portrays student opinion based on free responses, the USG will help all students better understand why other students have opinions that may contradict their own," he said.