The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) discussed campus responses to recent student loss, confirmed new members of the Honor Committee, approved USG movies and Projects Board funding requests, and discussed upcoming community programming in its meeting on Sunday, Nov. 6.
The meeting also included an address by Campus and Community Affairs (CCA) Chair Isabella Shutt ’24 during the Q&A period of the meeting. Shutt expressed a wish for USG to “disrupt [its] ‘business as usual’ response” in light of recent student deaths, most recently Misrach Ewunetie ’24. Shutt shared a number of comments that she collected from fellow students via the residential college listservs in the past week.
“I think we learned during the pandemic that Princeton cares way more about maintaining an image than it does about its students,” she quoted from an anonymous posting.
“Then [the student] go[es] on about how the University's response during the pandemic mirrors the response we've seen after Misrach’s death, as we get promises of safety without true support for students,” Shutt added.
Afterwards, USG President Mayu Takeuchi ’23 and U-Councilor Stephen Daniels ’24 shared takeaways from a recent meeting with Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun and other administrators to discuss community care in light of tragedy.
Daniels also mentioned the possibility of installing a “wind phone” on campus, inspired by those that originated in Japan, to give people space to hold one-way conversations with lost loved ones.
Later in the meeting, USG voted unanimously to confirm five new Honor Committee members: Nadia Makuc ’26, Vasila Mirshamsova ’26, Connor McCord ’26, David Shao ’26, and Genevieve Shutt ’26.
Honor Committee Chair Dylan Shapiro ’23 gave a brief explanation of the selection process for the Honor Committee, which emphasizes, among other factors, candidates’ capacity for empathy towards students brought before the Honor Committee.
“One of the most important attributes for members of the Honor Committee is their ability to put themselves in the shoes of those who have come in front of us, and I think everybody here demonstrated that very strongly,” Shapiro said.
Takeuchi presented a budget request from the USG Movies Committee on behalf of committee chair Addele Hargenrader ’24. The request — for $2,000 for an off-campus trip to see “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — was unanimously approved.
USG also unanimously approved a Projects Board request of $2,000 for a speaker event hosted by the Princeton Black Business Association on Sunday, Nov. 13.
Takeuchi presented a resolution to the Senate that “would amend the USG Constitution to set an expiration date for ad hoc committees,” which are distinct from the core committees of USG and can be established at any point.
Ad hoc committees “kind of just exist forever,” said Takeuchi. “For all we know, there could be five or six ad hoc committees out there that we just don't know about because they haven't been passed down through Senate institutional memory.” She noted that she recently discovered that the longstanding Mental Health Initiative (MHI) is technically considered an ad hoc USG committee.
In response, the Senate discussed possibilities for instituting a system whereby USG would determine whether to renew ad hoc committees at the start of each term. No vote was held on the topic.
Sustainability Chair Audrey Zhang ’25 presented a detailed plan for her committee’s upcoming Eco-Festival event, which will include a plant-based food sampling event with Campus Dining, a speaker panel, mug painting, succulent potting activities, information sessions with student groups, a “Bougie on a Budget” fashion show, and music and dance performances. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Isabella Shutt also initiated a discussion around future plans for the Tigers in Town program. Proposals included Tigers in Town events that focused on celebrating specific communities but would be open for all students to attend, and a proposal to randomly pair students with each other — especially across class years.
She encouraged USG members to help staff the next Tigers in Town event.
“You don’t know everyone on campus, and so, I would love for you to meet the people that you represent,” she said.
USG Senate meetings are held in Betts Auditorium in the School of Architecture at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoons and are open to all.
Annie Rupertus is a sophomore from Philadelphia, an assistant Data editor, and a staff News writer who covers USG for the ‘Prince.’ Please direct any corrections requests to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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