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Good morning!
On Sunday, April 16, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) convened their weekly meeting, during which the group deliberated a proposal that would increase student activity fees.
According to Daniels, Princeton students currently pay $91 in annual activity fees compared to peer institutions like Yale and Stanford, where students are paying $125 and $537 in activity fees, respectively. Students on financial aid are not required to pay activity fees to the University. Daniels argued that the $91 activity fee should be increased to account for current budget constraints, a measure that would necessitate approval from the University administration.
The move has been championed by Daniels and Treasurer Walker Penfield ’25 since February. Daniels brought the issue of budget shortfalls to the USG’s attention in February, calling on the group to endorse student activity fee increases in order to expand USG programming. Penfield additionally voiced support for the measure, noting that it would be vital to consider “longer-term solutions with increasing student fees to match inflation.”
Evidently, the pair think that with a larger allotted budget, USG would be able to expand programming in ways that would be popular with the student body. “Any money spent by students through their student fees should be spent on them during the semester,” Penfield said in February. He added that his goal was to “really push for more large-scale projects that utilize that whole reserve so that the impact of USG can be seen.”
The senate debated how to get a student mandate, with student life committee chair Caitlin McNally '24 saying: “Focus groups would be useful to essentially cover our ass to show that we polled students.”
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Analysis by Amy Ciceu
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