USG exit interview: Kho ’26 and Swamidurai ’26 reflect on 2025

Over the past year, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) navigated changes to campus dining and spearheaded advocacy efforts with the University amid a shifting institutional and national landscape. Outgoing USG president Enzo Kho ’26 and vice president Aishwarya Swamidurai ’26 sat down with The Daily Princetonian for an exit interview to reflect on their tenure.

Kho named two priorities going into his year as president: improving USG’s internal structure and making the organization more accessible to students.

“We added new roles in USG, like appointing a Projects Manager, Deputy Projects Manager, [and] Chief of Staff position … to add more oversight in the entire work that we do,” he said. “We can’t really do our work effectively if the students aren’t aware of us, or [if] the students don’t know how to engage with USG.”

The Chief of Staff position has since been eliminated under the administration of current president Quentin Colón Roosevelt ’27.

Kho acknowledged concerns about USG’s connection to the student body. “People say that USG is out of touch sometimes … because a lot of the work it’s doing is pretty high level,” he remarked.

USG has also made inroads with the University over reforms to the disciplinary process, which led to a vote at the Feb. 2 faculty meeting codifying the standard of a presumption of innocence during Faculty-Student Committee on Discipline proceedings.

“So the first thing, if you were to ask about a change that I think I’m especially proud of, is actually successfully getting Rights, Rules, Responsibilities minimally reformed,” Swamidurai told the ‘Prince.’ “We’ve heard a lot of no’s on that front so for it to get to a faculty vote is really exciting.”

These changes follow a formal resolution passed by USG last May outlining key due process principles to guide future disciplinary reforms. In Oct. 2024, USG amended the Honor Committee Constitution to formalize the suspension (not served) policy.

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A new University recording policy that went into effect Jan. 1 prohibits recordings of any event deemed to be private without explicit consent from all parties. The policy passed with no opposing votes in the Nov. 10 Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meeting. Both Kho and Swamidurai are voting members of the CPUC committee, along with 10 annually elected U-Councilors who are a part of USG.

When asked if USG leadership can do more to leverage its role in CPUC to represent student voices, Kho remarked that there could be “room for improvement.”

Kho went on to highlight key differences between the spring and fall semesters last year, namely the elimination of the “independent” dining status.

The University announced its changes to campus dining on Sept. 29, 2025, and USG said current students were sidelined in the decision-making process. The decision followed months of sporadic communication between USG representatives and University administrators, which included an abruptly canceled meeting that was intended to review a USG dining proposal to the University.

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After weeks of sustained student and alumni criticism over dining changes, the University walked back on its policy requiring all students to purchase a meal plan, agreeing to cover the cost of the Block 32 plan for all students. University Services announced a new Spelman Hall room draw process for upperclass students.

“We successfully got an agreement from the University to reserve Spelman,” Swamidurai said. “If USG had not brought up Spelman, it would have continued to be open to general draw.”

Swamidurai noted that she was proud of USG’s advocacy on behalf of students in response to the dining changes.

“USG’s advocacy in the spring, I think us staying firm in our position about how current students were not meaningfully consulted was something that we’re proud of and something that we stand by,” she told the ‘Prince.’

Kho and Swamidurai were succeeded in their roles as USG president and vice president by Quentin Colón Roosevelt ’27 and Anuj Krishnan ’27, who assumed office at the beginning of the spring semester.

Kian Petlin is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’ He is from San Francisco and typically covers University administration and the state of higher education.

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