At the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) meeting on Nov. 2, University administrators announced that the University will cover the full cost of the Block 32 dining plan for all students, regardless of aid status. Students also heard five proposed amendments to the of the USG Senate’s constitution.
Under the new dining policy, the University will pay for the Block 32 plan for all students. Independent students will still need to buy a meal plan, this time the Block 128 program, to give them 10 meals a week in a dining hall. Students on financial aid will effectively see no change from the policy announced Sept. 29, which quickly drew backlash from students and alumni.
Vice President for University Services Chad Klaus called the update “positive news” and thanked USG for its hand in making the change. Administrators said that details about Spelman Hall’s housing process, previously reserved for independent students, will be finalized by Thanksgiving.
USG Senator Samuel Kligman ’26 presented the first of five amendments, proposing the removal of Woodrow Wilson quote, “We shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts … for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments,” from the constitution’s preamble.
“Woodrow Wilson is a very complicated figure to say the least, but the quote itself is also just not really that great of a quote,” said Kligman. In June 2020, Princeton changed the name of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to the School of Public and International Affairs following student and public pressure to distance the University from Wilson’s legacy.
USG Senator Hriday Unadkat ’26 presented the second amendment, which clarifies verbiage to Section 304 of the constitution on budget and spending in order to streamline the budget approval process. The senators advocated for a single election to approve the budget instead of separate votes in the Summer meeting before the fall semester and the first regular meeting of the spring semester.
The final three proposed amendments, which Kligman and Unadkat presented together, aim to add specific language to separate working groups from standing committees and formalize the working groups in the Constitution. “[Working groups] are outlined for very specific tasks in short timeframes,” said Unadkat, with current examples of working groups on topics like athletics, international student experience, and dining.
The amendments were all proposed in the “spirit of open discussion,” Kligman said, with no date set to vote on them. Amendments to the constitution require the Senate to pass a “two-thirds vote at two consecutive meetings.”
Mental Health Committee Chair Allen Nieva ’26 also announced the upcoming Ivy League Mental Health Conference, which will take place next week from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9. The conference will focus on policy and programming, with three speakers currently slated to present.
“This is the revival of a conference that has been suspended for about five or so years after the onset of COVID and the dissolution of a lot of the connections and partnerships across different Ivy League mental health organizations and student governments,” said Nieva. “I’m really happy and proud to say that across our eight institutions, we currently have an estimated total of about 80 delegates, which is really fun and exciting.”
Chloe Long ’26, Student President of the Center for Jewish Life (CJL), also presented on the history of the CJL and its current programming, highlighting the weekly Shabbat dinners on Friday nights.
“Every Friday night, we have a lot of people come and sing, and we do [free] meals … accessible to all students no matter what,” Long said. “Each meal, we have about 150 to 200 students join us,” she said.
Additionally, Executive Secretary Karen Villanueva ’27 announced that USG will be hosting TigerTies in Frist Campus Center on the night of Nov. 15, an event that celebrates cultural diversity on campus. “It’s kind of like a festival … where student groups who represent the vast array of cultural and international communities on campus can come together and host student booth performances,” she said.
USG Meetings are open for all students to attend and are held on Sundays from 5–6 p.m. in Robertson Hall 016.
David Estrada is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Los Angeles, Calif. and can be reached at de8214[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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