The Daily Princetonian
Thursday october 13, 2016
page s1
PAGES DESIGNED BY ANDIE AYALA AND CATHERINE WANG :: STREET EDITORS
THIS SIDE OF PRINCETON:
SPACES
STREET led by editor Andie Ayala ‘19, looks into the idea of “SPACE” on campus The e ver-elu sive “space” is a word spoken into a great ex panse of hopes and fears and delusions : “safe spaces,” “inclusive spaces,” “open spaces,” “green spaces,” “learn ing spaces.” In th is space, word s f loat a rou nd abst ract ly, a l most effor t lessly, seem i ngly w ithout the weight of any grav it y; appearing to be a distant glimmer of an idea, a once bright and assu ring light, wh ich — w ithout much def in ition — easi ly fades into obscu rit y. Com ing to Princeton, it’s tempting to feel as though the rhetoric su rrounding the term “space” stretches the word out, magn i f ies it, and tacks it onto wel l-designed brochu res and anony mous inv itations. Yet the question remains — how do you com fortably situate you rsel f w ith in the incredibly abstr use concept of “space,” especia l ly when you happen to ex ist in a territor y that has been occupied and claimed by an endless sea of others, and wh ich has been upheld by an impregnable and deeply rooted h istor y? In the process of inter v iew ing various members of the Un iversit y, one th ing has become clear; the question of space is an issue that is pertinent to al l members of the Princeton com mun it y. Since the Black Justice League protests were held in Nassau Hal l, numerous articles, conversations, and com m ittees have emerged to reevaluate and discuss the meaning of “inclusive spaces” on campus. According to a ‘Prince’ article at the time, du ring the in itia l comprom ise, the adm in istration decided to “designate fou r rooms in the Fields Center for u se by cu ltu ral groups, and prom ised to have members of the BJL involved in a work ing group to discuss the v iabi lit y of form ing black aff init y housing.” A mong these in itiatives, the Carl A. Fields Center Renovation Project Steering Comm ittee as wel l as the Campus Iconography Com m ittee were born. Br iana Ch r istophers ’17, who was part of the Fields Center Renovation Project Steer i ng Comm ittee, described how the center partnered w ith the Isometric Studio to conduct student focus groups. She said that the student discussions u ltimately helped def ine the the Fields Center as a space where students cou ld feel at home. Ch ristophers noted that since the renovation, the space
ANDIE AYALA::STREET EDITOR
A room at the Prospect St. entrance of the Carl A. Fields Center which was renovated over the summer of 2016.
has been transformed th rough the w riting on the wal ls, the fu rn itu re, and the pictu res that constantly rem ind people of the pu rpose of the space. In response to student feedback, the f irst f loor and entr y ways were redesigned to ex press certain sentiments, as seen in the w riting on the wal ls that read “We’ve Been Here,” “We’re Here,” and “We’re Loved,” thus celebrating the h istor y, the cu rrent ex perience, and the hope of diversit y on campus. With in each of these spaces there a re pict u res and quotes from national f igu res of various eth n icities and backgrounds, as wel l as students from Princeton itsel f who have ex pressed ideas about the role of diversit y on campus. Last yea r, Chase Hom me yer ’19 worked for Jarrett Drake, the Un iversit y digital arch iv ist, on a project cal led “A rch iv ing Student Activ ism,” and since then has become a st udent member of the Campus Iconography Com m ittee. Hom me yer stated that, look ing for ward, she th in ks there shou ld be more ways in wh ich students are able to leave their mark on campus spaces, as a way of recording student presence and h istorical change. She com mented that “time and time again students have broken dow n the rigidit y of the Un iversit y in various ways th rough activ ism,” as demonstrated th rough the repercussions of the BJL pro-
The first floor lobby of the Office of Religious Life located in Murray-Dodge.
tests. Howe ver, Hom me yer remarked that each time students cha l lenged the stat u s quo at Princeton, “it seemed as though they had to reinvent the wheel, because there isn’t a continuous stor y of student life on campus” or a “legacy of students who have broken the mold of t rad itiona l arch itectu re and space creation.” “Sometimes at Princeton, people equate the word ‘man icu red’ w ith the word ‘beautifu l’... I th in k I wou ld prefer campus if it were a little bit more w i ld, and that cou ld come from letting students have a little bit more of a v isual impact on it w ith art or graff iti,” Hom meyer added. In a sim i lar vein, the Vice Provost for Institutional Equit y and Diversit y, M ichele M inter, said she hopes that spaces on campus are able to change often th rough the prom inence of active student roles, in order to real ly al low students to be the ow ners of the places that they occupy. Minter added that creating space doesn’t necessari ly have to require erasing the past, but rather, can manifest itsel f as an additive process directed towards en riching v isual cues on campus. Minter remarked that, for her, an inclusive space “is about ever yone feeling that they belong and that they can be authentically themselves and feel that they can be treated fairly and w ith respect.” The Executive Vice President of Princeton and cu r rent co-chai r of the Campus Iconography Comm ittee, Treby Wi l l iam s, shared how th is year’s efforts to evaluate campu s por t rait u re, publ ic spaces, and h istor y represent “the f irst time we’ve had a central mu lti-constituent com m ittee that is considering these issues [about space] in the abstract.” Accord i ng to Wi l l iam s, the com m ittee is focu sed on how spaces can be en livened in order to ref lect the “d iversit y of ou r com mun it y, prov ide v isual cues and represent nuanced inter pretations of Princeton’s h istor y.” Wi l liams noted that th is is an especial ly critical time in the h istor y of the Un iversit y, becau se there is a sig n i f icant campu s plan n ing effort dedicated to how the school w i l l be bu i lt in the nex t ten years, w ith in the frame
of a th irt y-year v iew. In addition to the renovations in the Fields Center, w ith in the past year other spaces such as Mu rrayDodge, the LGBT Center, and the Women’s Center were transformed to welcome students of different backgrounds and identities to the Princeton campus. Dean Matt, the associate dean of the Off ice of Religious Life based i n Mu r ray-Dodge, com mented
creations made by queer people. Judy Jar v is, the director of the LGBT Center, emph asized the necessit y of cu ltivating “ brave spaces,” such as the dialog ue faci litated after the v igi l for Terence Cr utcher and Keith Lamont Scott, in order to accom modate for diversit y w ith in the campus com mun it y. She ex plained that to for m spaces that are f u l ly inclu sive, we have to ack nowledge that the har m cau sed by the h istorica l presence of racism, sex ism and other forms of discrim ination on th is campus is real. As a resu lt, she stated that we have to bui ld “t r u st w ith in com mu n ities so that we can share authentical ly and v u lnerably w ith each other.” Professor Pat r icia Fer nandezKel ly of the sociolog y depar tment, who teaches cou rses on u rban st udies, said that w ith in her discipline, “space may be seen as v isual representations of the way in wh ich resou rces are distributed in a societ y,” such that “space itsel f produces for m s of inequalit y in the larger societ y,” wh ich are general ly “a resu lt of ineff iciencies in policies.” In effect, she stated that she was supportive of but remained war y towards, the formation of “safe spaces,” because they have the potentia l to “contribute to more segregation along class and
Photographs and writing of students displayed on the walls of the Field Center.
that since being temporari ly situated in Green Hal l,“It’s been real ly remarkable com ing back to th is space.” He noted that the Off ice a l lows variou s rel igiou s com mun ities to feel at home, by prov iding fu r n itu re that ser ved the needs of different faith-based groups, such as bath room faci lities for Muslim foot wash ing ritua ls, a Hindu sh rine room, an Orthodox Ch ristian altar, among other featu res. Josh Faires ’19, who worked w ith the LGBT center over su m mer, noted that part of the transformation of the space included modif y ing the logo, wal l color, and art pieces w ith in the center to ref lect
income lines.” With in the realm of arch itectu re, Professor Stan ley A l len stated that space is a paradox ical subject. According to h im, although we are respon sible for creating the physical str uctu re, “it’s the negative space, the void that these wal ls def ine that real ly counts.” In th is way, he believes that “perhaps the primar y responsibi lit y of the arch itect u re is to create public space : places where people come together to exchange ideas.” Ultimately, A l len com mented, “Space is an abst ract concept, but it becomes real when spaces are occupied by people, meeting, tal k ing and exchanging ideas.”