The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) election for USG President, beginning on Monday Dec. 5, features a number of qualified and impressive candidates. Audrey Zhang ’25 has a passion and a vision for improving students’ sustainability practices and Isabella Shutt ’24 seeks radical change in increasing academic flexibility and decreasing student stress. However, we believe that Stephen Daniels ’24’s platform is the most realistic, with the clearest ideas regarding practical change across several key areas of University life.
One of the main goals of Daniels’ campaign is to broaden the Pay with Points program to include both juniors and seniors. As a USG U-Councilor, he has expanded the Pay with Points program into its current form, with underclass students being granted $150 per semester to spend at many locations around town. This previous success is impressive, and makes him a trustworthy candidate to achieve this expansion.
Additionally, one of the biggest issues that the USG has dealt with this semester is the announcement of the new University upperclass student dining pilot program. This pilot program has received a significant amount of pushback from both USG members and students alike, including this Board. Daniels’ plan appears to be a realistic alternative that would better serve the upperclass student population.
Finally, we believe Daniels’ plan to address academic impacts on mental health is both realistic and exciting. He proposes implementing guidelines or rules that prevent courses from requiring work to be due during or directly after breaks. We feel Daniels’ experience as Chair of the Mental Health Resources task force and his advocacy for the mental health of students through the CPS cares line has provided him a crucial understanding of student’s needs. Shutt’s goal — as communicated in an interview with members of The Daily Princetonian Editorial Board — of implementing a peer representative program for courses which assign over 10 hours of work per week seems to infringe on faculty freedoms and to support an unrealistic vision of coursework at this University. Daniels’ plan serves to benefit students without overcomplicating the jobs and visions of the faculty.
To see tangible and fruitful change over the course of the next year, we encourage every student to vote for Stephen Daniels ’24 for USG president in this election cycle.
We also call on students to vote yes on Referendum 1 put forth by Uma Fox ’26, which calls for the creation of a commission to assess how to increase the number of single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms in Princeton’s residential facilities. We view the referendum as a significant step forward in improving bathroom accessibility and inclusivity for transgender and gender-nonconforming students, and hope that the creation of this commission will work to alleviate the mental toll of these issues on transgender and gender non-conforming students.
Online voting begins Monday, Dec. 5 at 12 p.m. and lasts until Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 12 p.m. We urge all students to vote and take part in this important process.
Signed,
146th Editorial Board
Chair
Rooya Rahin ’23
Members
Caitlin Limestahl ’23
Genrietta Churbanova ’24
Mohan Setty-Charity ’24
Abigail Rabieh ’25
Ndeye Thioubou ’25
Lucia Wetherill ’25
Editorial Board member Rohit Narayanan ’24 recused himself from this editorial due to a conflict of interest.
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Eleanor Clemans-Cope“The current curriculum fails to equip our future policy leaders with the economic knowledge most relevant for their roles. For SPIA majors, Princeton’s introductory macroeconomics course is arguably more useful than its introductory micro, and this should be reflected in the curriculum.”
“The current curriculum fails to equip our future policy leaders with the economic knowledge most relevant for their roles. For SPIA majors, Princeton’s introductory macroeconomics course is arguably more useful than its introductory micro, and this should be reflected in the curriculum.”
It’s time to change how we talk about abortion
Lily Halbert-Alexander“When we don’t question disengaged language like this at Princeton, we excuse anti-abortion advocates from being present in the facts. We excuse them from talking about Amber Nicole Thurman, Josseli Barnica, Nevaeh Crain, Candi Miller, and countless other women who have lost their lives as a direct result of abortion bans and restrictions.”
“When we don’t question disengaged language like this at Princeton, we excuse anti-abortion advocates from being present in the facts. We excuse them from talking about Amber Nicole Thurman, Josseli Barnica, Nevaeh Crain, Candi Miller, and countless other women who have lost their lives as a direct result of abortion bans and restrictions.”
