USG discusses partnership with PCCV, voting procedures, Wintersession

The Undergraduate Student Government discussed a possible partnership with the Pace Council for Civic Values (PCCV), the upcoming campus elections, and the creation of a resources page for students during its weekly meeting on Dec. 2.

Emma Coley ’20 and Charlotte Champ ’20 talked about the mission of PCCV and asked the Senate to consider potential avenues for partnerships in the future. As a student board of the Pace Center, PCCV helps organize the Civic Engagement Student Activities Fair and coordinates “Find Your Pace Coffee Chats,” which offer one-on-one peer service advice.

“Our whole idea, our whole ethos of service is really rooted in the idea that you can build a community around service,” Coley said.

Coley and Champ also emphasized PCCV’s current effort to promote equitable access to service, especially for first-generation or low-income students and students of color. However, Class of 2020 Treasurer Juston Forte challenged the reasoning behind this goal.

“Statistically, on Princeton’s campus, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to go into service and public sector work,” Forte said.

After recognizing the validity of Forte’s objection, Coley responded that PCCV wished to remove barriers to service and did not want to place the onus on low-income and students of color to get involved.

USG president Rachel Yee ’19 then reviewed changes that might be made to voting procedures in campus elections going forward. Potential adjustments included not releasing vote counts for first-year elections anymore.

“I was asked by multiple people who had run for freshman class council and were now juniors and seniors to take that information down,” Class of 2020 Senator Brad Spicher said. “People really don’t want this online or available.”

Spicher is a photographer for The Daily Princetonian.

Next, Yee introduced Project 50, which would seek to increase voter turnout among the student body to 50 percent. Members of the Senate who are not running in this election will participate in door-to-door campaigns, tabling, postering, and social media publicity.

U-Councilors Isabella Faccone ’21 and Matthew Bomparola ’21 requested that the Senate help with the planning of Wintersession, through email initiatives and recommending gift ideas for instructors.

Social Chair Liam Glass ’19 underlined the importance of maximizing the experience of those who stay on campus for Wintersession.

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“Part of the campus is having wild, extravagant trips, and half of the campus is just on campus which really divides the community,” Glass said.

Lastly, Bomparola and U-Councilor Aditya Shah ’21 proposed to the Senate that a section on the USG website be devoted to centralizing and institutionalizing resources for students. One of their suggestions was that the resources page include a guide for independent life.

The next USG meeting will be on Dec. 9.