The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate convened for its second meeting of the Spring 2025 semester on Sunday, Feb. 16 to discuss a second budget review, a Project Board budget request, a Communications Committee Decision, and a review of Student Group Recognition Committee guideline changes.
The meeting began as usual with the Presidential Report from USG President Enzo Kho ’26. Kho opened the meeting with a quote from former USG president David Calone ’96. “A large part of our efforts will be geared toward proving to the students that the USG can and does make a difference in their lives,” Calone said in 1994.
Kho said that the Senate had finalized position papers on the referenda that passed in November. The position papers were sent to University administration, although Kho noted that the University is not obligated to provide formal responses. “Next week, we’ll be reaching out to the sponsors, and we’ll be scheduling one-to-one meetings with [the referenda sponsors],” he said.
Position papers are reports written by the USG that explain the position of the undergraduates as reflected in each referendum, outlining next steps for the USG Senate and recommendations for University administrators. They are typically written by various members of the Senate directly following the passage of referenda.
Following this, USG Treasurer Quentin Colón Roosevelt ’27 reported no changes to last week’s budget allocations and noted $53,000 remained unallocated. Roosevelt also mentioned that the USG still had $53,000 unallocated before the budget for the Spring 2025 semester was passed. There was not any discussion at this week’s meeting regarding the use of the unallocated funds.
Evan Callas ’27 outlined the goals for a new Communications Committee, including providing event photographers and a student engagement coordinator. However, Aly Rashid ’26 raised some concerns about increased bureaucracy within the organization, a sentiment that was not echoed by any other members of the Senate.
“While I understand the purpose of this, I want to raise the fact that we have so many sub-divisions in USG and I understand that it is a big thing to make the work that the USG does more communicable, but I don’t know what how having a communications committee set up is more beneficial,” Rashid expressed.
Student Group Recognition Committee (SGRC) chair Arosheny Puvanenthirarajah ’26 discussed changes to the SGRC structure. She explained that, for student groups, the period between the submission of documents to meet with the Senate and the actual meeting date has been extended to allow more time for review.
“That is just an effort to make sure that more student groups who actually plan things in advance, and have their documents ready, are able to meet with the Senate,” she explained.
Senior Developer and Co-President of Tiger Apps Joshua Lau ’26 introduced Tiger Apps, explaining its purpose, team structure, and accomplishments. Lau said that around 2,500 unique users use one of the 13 apps weekly and 95 percent of students annually.
“All of our infrastructure costs are fully supported by USG,” Lau added.
As the meeting neared its end, Daniel Shaw ’25, the U-Council Executive Committee Representative, explained that a new U-Council Chair will be elected to fill the vacancy that opened when then-U-Councilor Swamidurai took up her current position as Vice President at the start of this new year.
A motion was then passed to allow for a 10-minute executive session discussion, at which point the meeting was closed to the public, and media was asked to leave.
USG Meetings are open for all students to attend and are held on Sundays from 5–6 p.m. in Robertson Hall 016.
Andrew Arthur is a staff News writer, from London, England and typically covers USG, CPUC, Princeton's institutional legacy and administrative matters.
Correction: A previous version of this article said Enzo Kho ’26 claimed to be reaching out to University administrators. He actually claimed to be reaching out to referenda sponsors. The ‘Prince’ regrets this error. The piece has also been updated to better define the term “position paper.”
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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