Amid chaotic student travel and technical difficulties during the meeting, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) met Sunday via Zoom for their sixth meeting of the spring semester.
The USG senate approved funding for upcoming cultural group events, highlighted the Athletics Working Group’s initiatives, and gauged the status of the budget with less than two months remaining in the academic year.
Departing from standard procedure for USG meetings, the Projects Board funding approval process preceded reports from the President and Treasurer. During the meeting, the Projects Board reviewed the Taiwanese American Student Association’s (TASA) $2,000 request for a night market event in the East Pyne courtyard on April 11.
Alton Young ’28, co-president of TASA, said, “we have a lot of booths in which other affinity groups, cultural affinity groups, can cater food that demonstrate[s] their culture.”
The projected 600 to 800 student attendees will receive raffle tickets that they can exchange for food while they watch performances. “We have a stage [on] which a lot of the Asian affinity dance groups perform, like Triple 8, … Naacho, et cetera,” Young noted.
The Projects Board approved the request, committing to funding around a fifth of the $9,761.60 total cost for the event.
The Pan-African Student Association (PASA) requested $3,200 dollars for their Sankofa fashion show, which will be held on April 18. The show will take place in the Princeton University Art Museum, which houses a substantial collection of African art.
D’Schon Simmons ’27, co-artistic director of PASA, said that 32 student models will “put on outfits from all over the country to celebrate Pan-African diasporic art.” PASA expects 400 attendees at the show. Their total cost for the event will be $17,600, with the requested USG Projects Board money potentially supplemented by sources like the Africa World Initiative, the Program in African Studies, and the Department of Near Eastern Studies.
Simmons is the president of the 2027 Class Government, which is a part of USG.
Simmons said that, in light of departmental budget cuts, PASA has “done some extra reaching out and looking for collaborations across even more academic departments than [those that] have previously supported our event.”
USG Treasurer Marvel Jem Roth ’28 noted the role of USG in funding these programs in the context of tightening budgets across the University. “Budget cuts have happened, so we’re trying to get as much USG money out there to students,” she noted.
The Senate voted 21 to 3 to simultaneously address the proposals from PASA and TASA. However, there were some complications in the process, with several Senate members confused as to whether they were supposed to raise their actual hands or their virtual Zoom hands. Eventually, the allocations passed unanimously.
USG President Quentin Colón Roosevelt ’27 then delivered his weekly report, recapping the Council of the Princeton University (CPUC) executive committee meeting from before spring break, and previewing the next USG meeting scheduled for March 23.
“We talked about the recording policy for CPUC. We also talked about the agenda for the next CPUC meeting, which is going to be a DEI annual report,” he said. Colón Roosevelt added that the next CPUC meeting will feature a presentation from Assistant Vice President for Public Safety Kenneth Strother and Executive Vice President Katie Callow-Wright, as well as presentations from the Graduate Student Government (GSG) President Jan Ertl GS and Colón Roosevelt himself on presidential priorities.
Roth then presented her weekly Treasurer’s Report, including a summary of tax refunds from previous events and a layout of the budget in the context of the whole spring semester. The report persisted despite a technical snafu which rendered Roth unable to share her screen because Executive Secretary Amy Park had created the meeting, but was joining from a different device.
USG has spent $112,075.92 out of $603,512.55 so far in the spring semester, totalling 18.6 percent. Subtracting the $260,000 budgeted expense for Lawnparties, 32.6 percent of the budget has already been spent.
“Spending is higher in the second half [of the semester] because there’s planning that goes into a lot of events that happen in late March, April, May, and over reading week,” Roth noted. “So we’re on track spending-wise. But again, the goal is to end the semester with minimal rollover.”
Finally, Malcom Tafadzwa Dzimiri ’28, co-chair of the Athletics Working Group, outlined updates for the group. According to tabling feedback, students were excited by merch as well as free food and giveaways at athletic events, especially for items like Airpods and digital cameras.
Additionally, Dzimiri laid out the working group’s long term strategy, which is focused on building partnerships with students and the University. For example, he said “we’re basically looking to establish food trucks as a standard collaboration with Princeton Athletics.” In fact, the group will host events with food and giveaways during the women’s lacrosse game on March 25, the men’s volleyball game on April 4, men’s lacrosse on April 11, and the baseball game on April 18.
Roth raised concerns about the relatively small number of women’s sports games at which the Athletics group is scheduled to host events. Initiative members responded that Princeton Athletics proposed the four upcoming games, but working group would make an effort to promote equal representation going forward.
Colón Roosevelt and USG Vice President Anuj Krishnan ’27 noted the difficulty of meeting amidst student travel at the end of spring break. University Student Life Committee Chair Oscar Barrios ’27 had to catch a flight midway through the meeting; and Vivian Chang ’28 appeared to be in a moving car. However, attendance was strong overall, with only two recorded absences.
The USG Senate meets on Sundays at 5 p.m. in Robertson 016, and its meetings are open to the student body.
Gray Collins is the assistant News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading university administration coverage. He is from outside of Philadelphia and can be reached at graycollins[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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