The Fields Center Undergraduate Student Governance Board hosted a discussion Tuesday to address affirmative action issues with President Tilghman over Indian cuisine.
Vice chair of the governance board Omar Raddawi '07 and political chair Amar Trivedi '06 organized the event to allow students to voice their opinions on the controversial topic of affirmative action to the administration.
"I think with affirmative action, we have reached a point of stagnation," Raddawi said. "We need to find a constructive path that addresses the problems of affirmative action and still achieves its goals."
Trivedi said he believed this event would allow students to engage in an area of student life in which they do not typically have a say.
Initiating the discussion with a reference to the University of Michigan court case, in which the university was accused of using a point system to evaluate prospective students, Raddawi asked the group of 30 students how they felt Princeton could best take a lead in matters of affirmative action.
Student response was wholly in favor of enhancing diversity on campus by strengthening affirmative action in admissions and hiring.
In her brief description of the University's stance on affirmative action, Tilghman established that the University agreed with the principles that underlie the system.
"I can't imagine anything more important than using our resources at Princeton to train a broad array of students to be leaders in society," she said.
Among the topics brought up by the students were affirmative action policies regarding non-student groups on campus, including the hiring of construction workers, faculty and administration.
"Our faculty is not nearly as diverse as our student body," Tilghman said.
Tilghman said several times that the administration is working diligently to improve the representation of minorities among the different groups at Princeton. Incentives such as increased resources for departments that hire more professors with diverse backgrounds have been offered in some cases.
Tilghman also said admission officers are seeking to expand the application pool from high schools in areas that notoriously do not send many students to Princeton, such as Stuyvesant High School in New York City.
With students actively voicing their opinions during the discussion, Tilghman consistently responded in favor of affirmative action.
"I and the University agree that a diverse student body is more interesting and can educate more effectively," she said.
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