The student body learned that day that, among other pet projects, "hammocks and toilet paper" had emerged as primary USG priorities. We can also potentially look forward to vending machines in dorms and extended hours in Stephens Fitness Center. These are all certainly noble goals, but one cannot help but be concerned that, at one of the premier undergraduate institutions in the country, the president of the student body labeled such creature comforts "really critical to the overall success of the USG."
Where is the ambition? Where is the drive for excellence? Where is the audacity to fight not just for ephemeral change but for revolutionary transformation of the aspects of Princeton that truly matter to undergraduates?
Hammocks will be a cute, comfortable addition, particularly when exams come around. Two-ply toilet paper will certainly make it more comfortable when (insert raunchy joke here). But when I am sitting in Wu Dining Hall with friends, these issues are rarely topics of discussion.
Rather, many students are extremely unnerved by the absorption of one fourth of the Spelman conglomerate by the ever-expanding Whitman College. The subject has been treated in multiple editorials on this page and has generated much discussion as prospective independent students scramble to find appropriate housing options. The USG has yet to show any open support for the student body whom it, in theory, publicly represents.
Another source of substantial student concern is the current Pass/D/Fail policy. Some well-argued proposals have been floated, but again the USG has not yet forcefully come to the aid of its constituents. The student body would nearly unanimously trade a convenient vending machine for a fifth P/D/F option.
I could spend this entire column summarizing the substantial student life issues that deserve the attention of our representatives. Many students favor a more environmentally sustainable campus. Issues of sexual health such as the release of information regarding STIs by McCosh Health Center are causes of wide concern. The continued success of the eating club system prompts many to question the administration's antipathy toward Prospect Ave. The USG need not solve all (or any) of these issues; I only ask that sustained public effort be shown on behalf of the true concerns of the undergraduate population.
Even if work is being done behind the scenes, the USG should inform students on progress on important issues and make its efforts public to enlist the passion of its peers and increase pressure on the administration to change. It is not sufficient, let alone professional, for a USG representative to refer a student with a substantial concern about undergraduate life to the office hours of the President of the University. This fate befell a friend of mine, and I am sure he is one of many. The students of Princeton University deserve an efficient, transparent and ambitious student government.
Adding to the USG's bureaucracy does little to solve these issues. In fact, by creating small Balkanized dominions of power, encouraging myriad pet projects rather than University-wide change and instituting a new class of middlemen, the latest USG reforms threaten to only enhance the USG's current problems.
A decade from now, when we look back on our years at this University, will we remember the addition of two-ply toilet paper or the placement of hammocks? When a new generation of students has taken our place, will their academic and personal experience be significantly improved by such token achievements? Or should we instead focus on true change, on the transformations that we will remember and for which we will be remembered? The reunification of Spelman, progress on sustainability, improved academic policies: These are the types of achievements for which we as a student body and the USG as our representatives should be striving.
I do not ask for a revolution. I merely request an ongoing, public commitment from the USG to the widespread and substantial concerns of this student body. Only then can the apathy of students like me be dispelled; only then can we achieve true change.
Brandon McGinley is a sophomore from Pittsburgh, Pa. He can be reached at bmcginle@princeton.edu.
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