USG brainstorms elections, virtual community building

During their second virtual meeting on March 28, members of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) discussed the logistics of the upcoming U-Councilor and Class Officer elections and brainstormed ideas for virtual community building.

The Senate discussed at length how to best proceed with spring elections, especially to ensure that all candidates receive equitable opportunities to connect with students. Regulations to prevent listserv spamming, as well as ideas to showcase the candidates on social media, were proposed.

The Senate will vote on whether to adjust the dates for campaigning and voting at next week’s meeting.

Social Chair Sophie Torres ’21 announced that although spring Lawnparties has been cancelled, the fall Lawnparties budget will not be doubled. Instead, part of the budget allocated for spring Lawnparties will be used in the fall, and the rest may be used this semester. Torres also said that the same headliner who was booked for spring will perform in the fall.

Undergraduate Student Life Chair Aaron Leung ’23 gave an update on Buds at a Distance (BuD), a joint project between Letters to Strangers and USG.

BuD started as a way to continue the Meals with a Stranger program after students dispersed across the globe. BuD provides the opportunity for students to connect with each other remotely. BuD has released a signup form for interested students, and will provide participants with discussion starters.

“I think it would be a great way to get students out of the quarantine mindset and meet new people,” Leung said of the initiative.

The Senate also offered ideas for virtual community building. While no plans have been confirmed, members discussed hiring a comedian to perform a show and hosting trivia nights, a cappella shows, and movie or game nights — which would be held over Zoom, the video conferencing platform adopted by colleges across the country, including the University.

The meeting saw Senate members, who tuned in from a variety of locations, make good use of Zoom’s virtual background tool: Vice President Andres Larrieu ’22 teleported in from the Jurassic, Senator Ryan Cho ’23 visited from the break room of “The Office,” and U-Councilor Sarah Elkordy ’21 transplanted herself into the “this is fine” meme.

All USG meetings will now be held on Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

Several USG members will be present at tomorrow’s Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meeting, which will be held at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

The meeting is open to the public and accessible through Zoom.