USG discusses Women's Center, women's leadership task force at weekly meeting

The Undergraduate Student Government discussed resolutions created by the Women's Student Leadership Task Force in their weekly meeting on April 9.

U-Councilor Executive Committee Chair Miranda Rosen '18 presented two resolutions, both of which were the culmination of two semesters of work with the Undergraduate Women's Leadership task force.

The new resolution is addressed to the University and calls for the creation of a task force to analyze the impact of 50 years of coeducation at the University. The task force would collect data on women's engagement with Women's Center's programming, as well as conduct a University-wide survey of undergraduate women to gather opinions and experiences of female students on campus. According to Rosen, while the University will celebrate 50 years of coeducation in 2019, the creation of this task force would "make sure that this effort will have as much attention as it deserves."

Rosen indicated that this resolution is a follow-up to a recommendation made in a 2011 report of the Steering Committee on Undergraduate Women's Leadership, which suggested a University-wide review of women's leadership at Princeton as part of this upcoming coeducation celebration.

Additionally, the resolution requests an expansion of post-first year student diversity training, including women's empowerment education in partnership with the Women*s Center.

The second resolution contains recommendations for the Women*s Center aimed towards engaging more undergraduate students. The recommendations include new undergraduate programming, such as "Coffee Chats" with current and aspiring female leaders on campus, as well as a program that allows for meal exchanges between female upperclassmen in eating clubs and underclassmen female students.

"[The recommendations] allow upperclass women and men to be able to be more engaged with the Women*s Center, not only with the Center itself, but with other undergraduate women and men. We feel that this is something ... that can really strengthen networking and mentorship opportunities," said Rosen.

Both resolutions were approved by the Senate with unanimous consent.

The USG also confirmed Rushy Panchal '19 as the new committee chair for TigerApps. TigerApps was created to support and provide funding for app developers on campus. It currently manages many apps that are used universally by students, including ReCal and TigerBook.

The current TigerApps chairs Maxim Zaslavsky '17 and Ben Parks '17 stated that Panchal is widely recognized on campus for his technical skills, and he has also contributed significantly to the technical leadership of the program. Panchal stated that his goals as chair are to revitalize the committee and to focus on maintaining and improving existing apps.

USG Social Chair Lavinia Liang '18 also presented an update on the Artist of the Year Competition. The competition solicited six student submissions across different genres. Voting will close April 14, with the winner to perform at Lawnparties in the spring.

The weekly meeting took place in Lewis Library Bowl 138 at 5 p.m. on Sunday.