The Daily Princetonian: October 27, 2023

Fall break caps week of prayer and mourning for Israel and Palestine

By Haley Champion, Bridget O’Neill, Julian Hartman-Sigall & Miriam Waldvogel News Contributor & Assistant News

Reactions on college campuses to the recent terrorist attack and ensuing conflict in Israel and Palestine have garnered significant national attention. As controversy over responses has roiled universities across the country, the conversation on Princeton’s campus has centered around vigils and grief thus far.

U. AFFAIRS

In the week preceding fall break on campus, students mourned the dead and displaced at a major event held by the Center for Jewish Life (CJL) and Princeton Chabad, and smaller events by Princeton Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Alliance for Jewish Progressives (AJP), in a marked contrast to controversy among donors, contentious rallies, and even violence at other institutions. With students returning, rallies and a walk-out are planned for the

Kidnapping of Princeton graduate student raises questions about University travel policies

By Olivia Sanchez Staff News Writer

After Elizabeth Tsurkov, a graduate student in the Politics department, was kidnapped in March while conducting dissertation research in Baghdad, the University’s processes for travel approval have been under the spotlight. In interviews with the Daily Princetonian, two graduate students discussed a culture where graduate students are primarily responsible for considering safety regarding travel plans related to research. The University responded by noting numerous resources graduate students can use to assess the safety of their travel, along with processes as a part of official travel approval.

According to her sister, Emma Tsurkov, Elizabeth Tsurkov’s research prospectus was approved by her dis -

sertation committee, which was chaired by Amaney Jamal, Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA). The prospectus mentions travel to Iraq as part of Tsurkov’s research.

University spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss had previously told The Daily Princetonian that the prospectus approval process is distinct from that of approving travel plans.

Sophie Brady, a graduate student in the Department of Music who conducted dissertation research in France, Senegal, and Guinea between 2021 and 2022, told the ‘Prince’ that “the University’s travel approval process is almost certainly separate from prospectus approval.”

Brady, said that much of the onus of ensuring travel safety fell on students and their advisors. Brady arrived in Guinea nine months after a coup d’etat had occurred in the country, but she said in the process of getting her travel approved, “90 per -

cent of the conversation was about COVID safety.”

“I submitted a proposal in fall of 2020, right in the midst of COVID, and they approved it, and I almost wonder if maybe there was less concern about whether or not it’s actually feasible given the political situation,” she said.

Brady added that she “was probably the most concerned about it than anyone else.”

“I think the attitude is, you’re an adult. We’re no longer liable for you in the way that we are for undergraduates, so long as you feel comfortable doing it,” Brady shared. She said she was told to look at the State Department website’s travel advisories for Senegal and Guinea.

Brady said that her fellowship was external, meaning she was not being funded by the University, which she speculated may have “decreased their liability.” She noted that her external grant applications included

The best retro Halloween films to watch this spooky season

By Tyler Wilson Senior Prospect Contributor

Every October I find myself swept up by the mystic, spooky spirit of Halloween. I have wonderful memories of the holiday, from dressing up in costumes with my family to traversing the neighborhood with my elementary school friends. It is a holiday steeped in a particularly potent nostalgia that I am always excited to reconnect with.

My love for Halloween movies — not limited to just horror films, but also the generally spooky, campy, and macabre — helps me lock into the season’s spirit. This past month, I stumbled upon a TikTok trend that took me way back to my trickor-treating days: edits of retro Halloween movies. These compilations of movie clips perfectly capture the warm, spooky fun that colors my memory of the holiday.  If you’d like to immerse yourself in this cinematic aes-

thetic, I recommend you check out a few of my movie picks below. Happy Haunting!

1. “Trick or Treat” (1956) It’s Donald Duck versus a witch — a guaranteed good time. This animated short from the 1950’s is a great example of the lush colors and bouncy movement of the classic 2D Disney animation we grew up with. Not to mention that Huey, Dewey, and Louie would be a great costume idea for any trio.

2. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) Wes Craven’s classic slasher

See FILMS page 19

ZEHAO WU / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Posters outside Frist Campus Center.

Freshman class council election sees nine candidates break rules, one disqualified

By Victoria Davies News Contributor

Five candidates emerged victorious from a crowded field of 23 candidates in the Class of 2027 Class Council election, nearly double the size of last year’s field. The USG Fall Elections penalty report reveals that over the course of the campaign, nine candidates broke official USG election rules, with two candidates sanctioned. The most common violation was a failure to submit their expenditure report on time. While submitting late did not incur a campaign restriction for most candidates, penalties increased sharply, with a candidate submitting two hours late losing their ability to send electronic messages and a candidate being disqualified after submitting 12 hours late. Only four candidates reported any expenditures at all during the campaign, meaning at least some of the candidates submitting late were submitting no expenses.

The freshman class council candidates have a number of rules that they must follow both within their campaigns and, for the elected members, in office as class councilors. The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate and Class Government elections are guided by the elections handbook, which details petitioning and campaigning rules, penalties, voting procedures, and election cycle calendars.

The violations reported this year primarily addressed the delayed submission of an expenditure report to the chief elections manager and treasurer. This requirement, detailing any expenses incurred by the campaign leader and the number of pages of paper used within the campaign, applies to all candidates, regardless of whether or not they spent anything. 18 of the

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23 candidates spent nothing according to the reports. The elections handbook outlines the various restrictions which can be placed upon candidates after receiving different numbers of penalty points. Failure to comply with campaign restrictions leads to disqualification of the candidate according to § 606. (d) of the elections guidebook.

Failure to provide an expenditure report by 8 p.m. on Sept. 29 cost candidates 10 penalty points per hour delay. Additionally, the elections handbook limits campaign expenses to $50. According to the report, Harry Hurley ‘27 was disqualified for submitting his expenditure report 12 hours and 45 minutes late.

Other violations of this rule came from Oscar Barrios ‘27, Mya Koffie ‘27, Marianna Cheely ‘27, Muhammad Elkayal ‘27, and Skyé Lowe ‘27.

Readlinger received 20 penalty points for submitting two hours late. This meant for Readlinger that “A campaign representative may not send an electronic message in furtherance of the campaign leader’s campaign.” For Cheely and Koffie, who submitted their report 80 minutes late, there was no additional penalty.

Koffie is a contributing Humor writer for the ‘Prince.’

Disqualification of campaigns can occur in two scenarios: a representative of the campaign — whether that is the campaign leader or another representative of the campaign — violates a rule for which the penalty is disqualification, or the campaign receives at least 50 penalty points through any rule violation. For Hurley, 127 penalty points more than doubled the threshold for disqualification of 50 points.

The expenditure allowance for each candi-

date’s campaign is $50, and third-party expenditures are prohibited. The elections guidebook dictates that “An expenditure in furtherance of a campaign may only be made by that campaign’s leader.” The paper limit for each campaign cannot exceed the area of 100 sheets of 8.5” by 11” paper.

The placement of posters within non-designated areas was the only other cited violation.

D’Schon Simmons ‘27 and Emily Dickinson ‘27 both broke this rule, however received no penalty as their posters were taken down after a warning takedown notice was issued to the candidates.

USG provided The Daily Princetonian with the expenditure reports of the election of the freshman class council. Of the candidates that had expenses, “the majority of expenditures involved purchasing consumable goods, especially foods and beverages.” According to the reports

acquired by the ‘Prince,’ only four candidates claimed expenses, spending $6.30, $28.99, $45.28, and $46.44.

Forming the freshman class government, the elected members hold positions of equal responsibility. The class governments are responsible for planning social events for their year and creating and distributing class gear. During their time in office, the councilors must hold at least one public meeting per month to provide opportunities for their peers to provide suggestions for the class government in addition to publishing the budget and report for each semester.

Victoria Davies is a News and Newsletter contributor for the ‘Prince.’

After sending a truck accusing SPIA Dean of coddling antisemitism, off-campus group issues private apology

By Sandeep Mangat Head News Editor

On Oct. 18, a truck with the message “DEAN JAMAL: WHY DO YOU CODDLE ANTISEMITISM” appeared on Nassau Street with photos of the recent terrorist attack in southern Israel. The truck circulated in town for three days during fall break, targeting Amaney Jamal, Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA). The group in question has since apologized to Jamal, noting a previous statement she issued condemning Hamas.

The truck was sent by Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF), a group which claims to “counter antisemitism and the demonization of Israel on college and university campuses across the nation.”

The ACF is a national organization with 66 chapters at colleges and universities across the country, including at Princeton.

This is the second truck sent to campus this semester. One which appeared in September had slides with messaging targeting President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 and the Alliance of Jewish Progressives, following controversy over the inclusion of the book, “The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability,” on the syllabus of a University course. The University defended the inclusion of the book on the grounds of academic freedom.

According to Avi Gordon, the ACF executive director, the truck was sent because the group wanted a condem -

nation of Hamas terrorism in Israel from Jamal. However, Jamal had issued a statement to that effect on Oct. 12, six days before the truck appeared in Princeton, saying in a panel discussion that “I am absolutely horrified by the brutal attacks on innocent Israeli citizens by Hamas. I condemn this atrocious violence.”

“As a mother, I have and always will condemn the killing of innocent civilians, and there is no exception here,” she said.

According to an Oct. 23 email exchange between Gordon and Jamal obtained by The Daily Princetonian, Gordon apologized, writing, “On behalf of Alums for Campus Fairness, we want to apologize to you directly for calling on you to condemn Hamas terrorism, not knowing that you had already done so.”

“We appreciate your voice against Hamas terrorism during this difficult time,” he added.

Gordon told Jamal that “everything has been wiped from our website regarding pressuring you to speak about this issue.”

Jamal wrote back thanking Gordon for his emails and added that “the tactics you use are irresponsible and they can cause real reputational harm, as they have done to me.”

Jamal also requested that Gordon issue a public apology.

“Would you kindly make an effort to clear my name with the same zeal you deployed in falsely accusing me? You might start by posting your apology and retraction on

your website. Please also consider renting the same billboard truck and having it display your apology and retraction around the Princeton campus,” Jamal wrote.

Gordon did not respond to requests for comment from the ‘Prince.’

ACF previously weighed in on campus debate during the 2022 Caterpillar referendum, in which the Princeton Committee on Palestine, now known as Princeton Students for Justice in Palestine, called on the University to disassociate from Caterpillar machinery given the use of the company’s equipment to tear down Palestinian homes.

ACF, in April 2022, called on then-Undergraduate Student Government Chief Elections Manager Brian Li ’24 to resign due to controversy over a miscommunicated election guideline.

A statement of support for Jamal in the wake of the truck’s appearance on campus was circulated on campus by SPIA students and alumni, saying that the truck constituted “harassment” against Jamal, “a Palestinian-American and Muslim.”

“As current and former students from SPIA, we will not entertain the baseless and Islamophobic accusations leveled against Dean Amaney Jamal which deliberately ignore her clear, expressed stance on this issue,” the statement reads.

As of Oct. 23, the statement has 364 signatories.

An Oct. 22 email from Dean of the College Jill Dolan, Dean

of the Faculty Gene Jarrett, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun, and Vice President for Human Resources Romy Riddick was sent to the Princeton community and called on students “to continue to be civil with one another.”

The email also acknowledged that “Over the break, we’ve seen a few attempts by outside activists to inflame and divide the Princeton community, levying false accusations against some of our members.”

“We’re also aware of a few interpersonal provocations in various campus spaces,” the email read.

Several people also personally reached out to Jamal following the incident.

One of them was Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91, who serves as the Executive Director of the University’s Center for Jewish Life (CJL) and Jewish Chaplain at the University. He told the ‘Prince’ that “Dean Jamal has long been a leader in fostering relationships of understanding and connection between Muslims and Jews.”

“She brings exceptional understanding, nuance and compassion to both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and deserves nothing but praise and support for her efforts and her work,” he wrote.

Melissa Lane, a professor in the Politics department and director of the University Center for Human Values also reached out to Jamal, and told the ‘Prince’ that she has “been a steadfast partner in dialogue for members of the

Jewish community at Princeton and more widely.”

“This includes her attendance at Shabbat dinners, her role in bringing a conference of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom — an organization of Muslim and Jewish women — to Princeton, and her teaching of the politics of the Middle East in a consistently exemplary way,” she wrote.

Daniel Kurtzer, a professor in SPIA and former ambassador to Egypt and then Israel, also reached out to Jamal. He wrote to the ‘Prince’ that “Amaney Jamal is one of the finest, fairest people I know.“

“Her only bias is in favor of dialogue, reconciliation, and peace,” he added.

“I thank our students, colleagues and the University’s leadership for their embrace and support,“ Jamal wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ “I am deeply grateful for everyone at Princeton University. I thank our students, colleagues and the University’s leadership for their embrace and support.”

“I am also grateful to all my friends from different communities, including my dear Jewish friends, who immediately reached out, outraged on my behalf, and professing their support in the face of this inflammatory campaign. This attack deeply hurt so many members of our wonderful and beautiful community. In the end, it brought us even closer together.”

Sandeep Mangat is a head News editor at the ‘Prince.’

ROHIT NARAYANAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Brady: “I think the attitude is, you’re an adult.”

more detail about her proposed travel than did her prospectus submitted to the University, which she said is typical in the music department.

Brady said she also received help in determining the feasibility of her travel from her adviser, Gavin Steingo.

According to Brady, Steingo “went above and beyond to try to help me, but not every adviser is equipped to do that, I don’t think they get really any training, and I wonder if there are other ways the University can support advisers and also students to make that process easier.”

Megan Kang, a fourth-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology who is currently conducting research on gun violence in Chicago, told the ‘Prince’ that “the weight of fieldworker safety and well-being falls on individual students, advisors, and sometimes, departments.”

“This sort of decentralization isn’t intrinsically problematic, especially since it allows for more flexibility which is important given the diverse range of fieldwork experiences, goals, and issues. However, allowing fieldworkers to continue to have flexibility in their work and not introducing red tape while also providing them with a source of external support for potential safety issues seems like a reasonable ask of the University,” she said.

“The needs of fieldworkers may be hard to anticipate upfront — as is inherent in the fieldwork enterprise — but could possibly include personal safety concerns while in the field, financial support for safe travel and living, and legal support for questions that can arise when researching at-risk subjects. All of these would have been helpful for my research,” Kang added.

In a written statement, Hotchkiss told the ‘Prince’ that graduate students who want to conduct research abroad “are expected to engage as early as possible with their advisers and other University departments with requirements and processes for international travel and research.”

He pointed to the Graduate School, Research Integrity and Assurance, Global Financial Services, Export Controls, and Global Safety & Security as relevant departments.

“It is also important for graduate students to check with their home government embassies, consulates, or other institutions to be sure they are aware of any specific risks and legal requirements (ie. visa requirements) for their chosen destination,” he added.

Hotchkiss also said that University Health Services offers consultations about health concerns while abroad, while Global Safety & Security (GS&S) is available for trip planning consultation.

Referring to GS&S Hotchkiss said it “can provide tailored information and risk mitigation advice for a particular traveler’s destination, traveler profile, and activities.” He added that the University’s Enroll My Trip system also “directs stu -

dents to travel resources, which includes risk resources, pre-departure consulting, and emergency support while abroad.”

An additional point of concern for Brady is the perceived pressure on students to conduct research in unsafe countries: “It’s a higher risk, but then there’s potentially a higher reward,” she said, adding that, “I think that’s part of why students are encouraged to do this.”

Brady told the ‘Prince,’ “If you go to lengths that other people aren’t willing to go to, you find things that other people haven’t found, and you have an advantage when it comes to writing a really great dissertation.”

Brady referenced Xiyue Wang, a Princeton graduate student who was held in Iran for 40 months from 2017-2019, as an example. Wang filed suit against the University in November 2021, claiming that he suffered “severe personal injuries and other irreparable harm” due to the University’s “reckless, willful, wanton, and grossly negligent acts.” The lawsuit was settled out of court this August, following mediation. According to court documents, Wang alleged that “Princeton urged, advised, and directed him to go to Iran to do research.”

Hotchkiss told the ‘Prince’ that graduate students have the freedom to select their research areas, and to alert the Graduate School if they feel “they are being pressured to conduct research in a location they would rather not travel to.”

He added that “the University denied and continues to deny the allegations in Mr. Wang’s lawsuit.”

Hotchkiss also provided a list of emergency funds graduate students involved in University Travel abroad can use. These include the University Safety-Net Fund, the Aryeh SteinAzen Memorial Fund, the Special Needs Fund, and the Medical Expense Assistance Program. “Whether these funds can be used to cover specific expenses is determined on a case by case basis, and depends on the totality of the circumstances at

issue,” Hotchkiss said.

Hotchkiss added that when graduate students are in the field, they should call International SOS for medical emergencies and crisis response.

“International SOS is the University’s international medical and security assistance provider. Graduate students have international insurance coverage when traveling on Princeton University Travel (as de

fined in the Permitted Travel Poli

cy), and services can be coordinated

through International SOS.” International SOS also contacts students if any major incident occurs near a traveler’s destination.

Olivia Sanchez is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’

By Sabrina Effron Senior Constructor

Growing Armenian community mourns Nagorno-Karabakh exodus in campus vigil

By Elisabeth Stewart News Contributor

As night fell over the University chapel last Thursday, about 50 students, faculty, and community members gathered to commemorate the lives lost during the mass exodus of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians from the breakaway state of Nagorno-Karabakh following Azerbaijan’s recent invasion. Until this month, upwards of 120,000 Armenians lived in the contested region and their departure in the face of fears of ethnic cleansing has been referred to as a cultural genocide.

On Sept. 19, Azerbaijan launched a military attack into Nagorno-Karabakh, known by ethnic Armenians as Artsakh, and took control of the region, following three decades of territorial conflict and a months long Azerbaijani blockade. As of late September, over 80 percent of the region’s inhabitants had fled their homes, and the government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced that it would dissolve itself by January 2024. While Azerbaijani officials have denied reprisal against Armenians, Armenians have fled in the face of longtime violent anti-Armenian rhetoric and policy from the Azerbaijani government.

The vigil was organized by the Princeton Armenian Society (PAS) “in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and self-determination of the land’s Armenian population,” according to the flyer for the event. It marked an important moment in the relatively new society’s efforts to serve Armenian interests on Princeton’s campus.

At the event, PAS Co-President Hayk Yengibaryan ’26, spoke about the cultural importance of Artsakh. Yengibaryan shared that Artsakh was an Armenian cultural and religious hotbed, the site of the first Armenian school in the early 400s, and the birthplace of the Armenian alphabet.

“This vigil was to come and commemorate not only the rich history of this region, but also all the fallen soldiers, the innocent civilians, the women, the children, the fathers, the sons, the daughters, and everyone who passed away due to the attack,” he said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.

Yengibaryan is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’

Among the attendees to the event were University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, representatives who spoke on behalf of Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ-04), and the University’s Orthodox Chaplain Father Daniel Skvir ’66 who led a closing prayer

PAS Co-President Katya Hovnanian ’25 said at the vigil that the seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh marks “the second darkest moment” in Armenian history, following the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire following World War I.

“Our diaspora is bonded by this trauma — the Armenian Genocide — that happened over a century ago, and that was recognized just recently by the United States and 33 other countries,” she said. “That trauma brings us together, but it’s also such a tight knit community. It’s like this vast network, and we’re all truly brothers and sisters.”

A growing community

Since 2015, the Princeton Armenian Society has represented the Armenian diaspora community on campus. After its founding, the PAS experienced a period of inactivity from 2018 to 2020.

“When I was a freshman here in 2019, I thought I was the only Armenian student on campus, which wasn’t true,” Lena Hoplamazian ’24 said. “It wasn’t until [Hovnanian] came in 2021 and kind of rebooted the Armenian society that there actually was any type of student organizing or community on campus.”

Born in New York City, Hovnanian grew up in Armenia and participated in the protests during the peaceful 2018 Velvet Revolution which displaced a longtime political leader, thus, in Hovnanian’s opinion, bringing “democracy to Armenia.” In 2020, during the Second NagornoKarabakh War, a 44 day conflict in which Azerbaijan regained control of most of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven thousand soldiers and civilians were killed, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that Hovnanain ran delivered humanitarian aid to displaced Armenians, along with serving other global causes like helping survivors of a port blast in Lebanon.

“Then I come to college, and I’m completely in a frenzy. I just witnessed the most atrocious event in Armenia’s history, and no one on campus seemed to be aware of it,” she said. “Very few [Armenians] were here, and we didn’t feel like our voice was supported just because we were so few.”

Hovnanian said that PAS “tried [their] best to get dinners every week to talk about Armenia, its history, and its culture,” and brought the Ambassador of Armenia to the United States, Lilit Kamo Makunts, to speak on campus. Members attribute PAS’s growth to the leadership of Hovnanian and Yengibaryan in the past year.

Yengibaryan was born in Armenia’s capital city but grew up in Los Angeles, home to the largest Armenian population in the United States.

“When I came in as a first year student, I was wanting to get involved right away because I was coming from a city where there were so many Armenians and there were constantly events and advocacy happening,” he said.

In the month before Yengibaryan submitted his application to Princeton, the Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia hosted a talk with Khazar Ibrahim, the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United States.

“I immediately was outraged about this event happening at a campus that I wanted to attend,” Yengibaryan said. “[In my application], I wrote about how if I come to Princeton, I may even challenge the powers at Princeton and [use] my academic freedom of speech to challenge things that I don’t necessarily agree with.”

Yengibaryan said that the University admitted six Armenian students into the Class of 2026 which has enabled them to restart PAS.

“We were able to figure out how to get funding, start an Instagram page, start outreaching to students and kind of being present and putting ourselves out on campus,” he said. “We’ve been able to grow tremendously, and an event like this [vigil] is a top reason why. It goes to show

how much we’ve grown in the past year and two months.”

This year marks the first year the organization has formed an executive board with a vice-president, treasurer, marketing, social, and outreach positions.

“We want everyone to feel like they have a role in our society, that they’re doing something for the good of the Armenian cause, and spreading our culture and our history and our roots to so many other people on such a diverse and beautiful campus,” Yengibaryan said.

With ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the issue has been key in the organization’s events. In September of last year, PAS collaborated with Armenian students from 15 other universities to write an open letter to “denounce Azerbaijan’s invasion of Armenia” in “defense of democracy.”  Since then, they’ve brought speakers on Armenian topics to campus, hosted an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Lecture in April, and have continued to collaborate with the University of Pennsylvania’s Armenian Students Association.

“We have a lot of plans to continue to build off of this momentum, and one of the issues that we are trying to tackle as a society is actually within our Near Eastern Studies Department,” Yengibaryan said.

Armenian scholarship at Princeton

In their interviews with the ‘Prince,’ PAS members mentioned that Princeton’s Department of Near Eastern Studies has no courses, programs, or professors who specialized in Armenian studies, in contrast to other leading institutions such as Harvard University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In a guest contribution to the ‘Prince’ last year calling on Princeton to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide, Hovnanian described what she views as anti-Armenia bias in the history of Princeton’s Department of Near Eastern Studies:

“Princeton’s Near Eastern Department is notorious among Armenians,” she wrote. “In 1996, a New York Times article exposed links between large payments of the Turkish Government and the appointment of Professor Emeritus Heath Lowry, a genocide denialist, as the Chair of Princeton’s Near Eastern Department. Professor Emeritus Bernard Lewis, another notable historian of Turkey and Middle Eastern Studies,

and a peer of Lowry at Princeton’s Near Eastern Department, refused to call the atrocities a genocide — he said there was a lack of evidence in the Ottoman archives.”

“As a leading institution, we feel that the school needs to address its Armenian presence on campus, and rightfully, hire faculty and teach Armenian courses,” she said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

PAS member Mikaela Avakian ’24 is pursuing a certificate in Near Eastern Studies.

“It’s important to fill these academic [gaps] in regard to Armenian studies so that people can know what Armenia is beyond the Armenian Genocide, that we are not a country that’s merely gone through trauma, but that we’ve made realtime contributions culturally, politically, literally,” she said.

Avakian added that as “an ancient kingdom, a New Republic, the first Christian Nation, and one of the ex-Soviet Bloc countries, there’s various academic angles from which you can approach Armenian studies.”

In the absence of Armenian studies, Avakian said PAS creates “an environment where talking about Armenian politics, Armenian language, Armenian culture is prioritized.” She inherited most of her knowledge of Armenia through personal research and her family’s stories of Artsakh, which she recounted at Thursday’s vigil:

“I always took pride in the fact that my family, my ancestors, had cultivated a heritage and an identity around their land, a land that existed outside of the political imagination,” she said. “I’ve never been to Artsakh, but my memory is veneered with… images, tales and stories that keep me oriented to this land, to my ancestors’ land.”

Avakian concluded with her grandmother’s words: “My child, keep your head high, stand strong. Everything will be as it should.”

“I am heartbroken and I know that I’m not alone in this heartbreak as such is the burden that weighs on the hearts of all Armenians, on the hearts of all that are gathered here in solidarity today,” she said. “Even still, even in the most trying of times, we must live with hope and prayer.”

Elisabeth Stewart is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Princeton sues two recent graduates for failure to

By Eden Teshome Senior News writer

Princeton University has launched two separate lawsuits in New York against recent graduates over defaulted loans. Both lawsuits began in spring of 2023 and are ongoing.

The University is suing over defaulted payments totaling $7,080.43 and $23,644.64. The cases are proceeding in Suffolk County Supreme Court and Nassau County Supreme Court, respectively. As of 2022, the University’s endowment totaled $35.8 billion.

Students are able to take federal student loans through the University. Although the loans are funded directly by the U.S. Department of Education, Princeton University serves as the loan holder. Therefore, the University is able to take legal action to repossess the loan. The University offers two kinds of loans, one that defers interest while a student is enrolled and a second that offers no special interest deferment. The amount of

deferred interest loans that a student is eligible for is determined by their financial need.

While Princeton has said that it meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need and tout a “no-loan” policy, 1.27 percent of students in the 2020 fiscal year had taken out a loan from Princeton. This is not the first time that Princeton has sued graduates over unpaid loans. The Daily Princetonian has independently found similar, yet already settled lawsuits over debt repayment against alumni by the University from prior years in several U.S. jurisdictions, including New Jersey, California, and Washington State.

The University has won at least some of the cases. For example, in Washington State, a lawsuit was first filed in September 2017 and resolved in December of the same year. The case resulted in a “Default Judgment,” which occurs when a defendant does not appear in court or fails to reply to court summons. This judgment, according to court records, was upheld, and the alumnus who

defaulted on loans was made to pay $6,371.10.

Around six months have passed since the New York cases began so far. The students at the center of the lawsuits in New York took loans from the University from 2014–2018 and 2013–2019, respectively.

The loan contracts signed onto by the two defendants were issued by the University’s Office of Finance and Treasury.

The University publishes data on the rate of default on loans each fiscal year. In fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2019, the University reported a 0.0 percent default rate. In fiscal year 2018, one borrower was reported in default, with a rate of 0.7 percent.

According to University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss, the University does not commonly take student borrowers to court over payment issues.

“In most cases, students whose loans fall into default are able to work with the University, the loan servicer or collection agency to address the issue,” he wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ Hotchkiss did not comment on why these cases in

repay loans

particular are being litigated.

Princeton is not alone among peer institutions to pursue legal action over defaulted payments. Also in New York, Harvard University is currently pursuing legal action against an alumnus. Both Harvard and Princeton are working with the same law firm, Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh, which specializes in collection law and often handles student loan accounts.

If a borrower defaults on a federal student loan, the entire unpaid balance is “accelerated,” meaning both the balance and interest on the loan become immediately due. Defaulters may also have their wages garnished to repay the loan. In their complaint, the University is asking that the defendants pay the University’s collection and attorney fees in addition to the loan and its interest. Both current defendants have not yet replied to their court summons.

Eden Teshome is the head Podcast editor and senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’

ELISABETH STEWART / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Those who gathered for the vigil left roses and candles on the University chapel’s steps.

Students and faculty see opportunities for growth in South Asian Studies

By Christopher Bao, Sonia Cherian & Owen Yu News Contributors

The South Asian Studies (SAS) program at Princeton was first established in 2007, making it the youngest area studies program at the University.

Its institution at the University came from much lobbying from students, who felt the need to increase the breadth of Princeton’s international curriculum, especially given the East Asian Studies (EAS) certificate dated back to 1927.

Sixteen years later, while the University offers more coursework on South Asia, there are only three core faculty members in the program itself, which students and faculty members have said limits the extent to which the program can expand and offer more courses for students. Out of the eight courses the program offers, six are language classes covering Hindi, Urdu, and Sanskrit.

Mollika Singh ’24, who is pursuing a minor in South Asian Studies, told The Daily Princetonian that the program’s slate of languages is overly narrow.

“It really is a shame that the South Asian language offerings here are so limited, and really restricted to these languages that have historically and recently been glorified and elevated. There are no southern Indian languages, for example, or more minoritized languages,” Singh said.

Singh is a former associate Opinion editor for the ‘Prince.’

Nataliya Yanchevskaya, who teaches Sanskrit, wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince’ that in the past,

University

there have been students “who wanted to take more Sanskrit courses. Because the number of courses I can teach is limited to five registrar-listed courses per year, I have met students’ demand for advanced courses in Sanskrit by teaching multiple reading/ individual courses. Usually, almost each semester I have a group of advanced students who participate in such a course.”

“The problem is that, because such courses are not announced via the registrar, I have to make extra effort to publicize them,” she added.

Robert Phillips, who teaches Hindi and Urdu in the SAS program, also wrote to the ‘Prince’: “Given that we three lecturers located within PIIRS have the languages (HIN/URD/SAN) as our primary teaching responsibilities, we aren’t able to offer the same number of concurrent SAS tagged courses as we do for our languages, but our 300-level topics language courses can also apply towards the certificate and the minor.”

Students alluded to the consequences of a smaller department.

Robert Mohan ’26, a prospective Economics major pursuing a minor in South Asian Studies, said that “there’s so many professors who have a great teaching record in South Asian studies, but because their home departments are elsewhere, it leads to a pretty small number of dedicated lectures in South Asian Studies.”

“Recently, a new course became part of the required electives for the minor — Introduction to South Asian Studies. And when that got implemented, all of us were kind of wondering who’s going to teach it, because there’s only three lecturers,” Mohan

continued. The University has not yet announced who will teach the new class.

Mohan is Design Director for the Business Board of the ‘Prince.’

A number of classes in departments like the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and History are cross-listed in the department and taught by non-affiliated faculty. There are six cross-listed classes this semester. Those courses are determined by there home departments, rather than initiated by the program. Some classes in South Asian studies that don’t fit neatly in another department may be currently beyond the capacity of the program.

The EAS Department, which boasts 38 departmental faculty members, has had more time than the SAS program to find its footing. The Department is thus able to provide not only language classes but also, as EAS Chair Anna Shields told the ‘Prince,’ to offer “bigger, more dynamic content courses.”

Shields specifically referenced Professor Brian Steininger’s class on Manga and Professor Federico Marcon’s course entitled “The Global History of Monsters.”

The establishment of the South Asian Studies department came shortly after the introduction of Hindi to the University as a four-term language sequence, further expanding the subject offerings related to South Asia. Previously, in order to take classes in South Asian-related subjects, students would have had to find other means — for instance, studentinitiated language seminars were taken by students at various points to help obtain higher levels of language proficiency.

Today, students and staff emphasize the continued importance of South Asian Studies on campus.

“If you think about where we are in New Jersey and where we are at Princeton, there’s such a large and passionate South Asian undergraduate population who really wants to engage with the languages they grew up around, the cultures they grew up around,” Mohan said.

Yanchevskaya added that the study of South Asia is important to modern day, saying that “learning about ancient and medieval South Asia is crucial for understanding South Asian modernity, international politics, and even certain prominent phenomena of modern Western culture.”

Students have found their experiences with the program to be engaging and valuable, and hope to see more improvement for the future. “All the [crosslisted] classes I have taken for South Asian Studies [have] been so thoroughly engaging and enjoyable,” Mohan said. “If the cross-lists for this program are so great in number and so great in depth and value, then shouldn’t the actual department that they belong to, that their content belongs [to], shouldn’t that be wellfunded and well-supported? With SAS right now, the cross-lists are through the roof in excellence, but that home department is lacking in support.”

Christopher Bao is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Sonia Cherian is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Owen Yu is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

considers extending time between classes for easier commutes,

By Hannah Gabelnick

The University is in the process of a major academic change, the transition from certificates to minors. At a meeting with the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Academics Committee on Sept. 29, representatives of the Office of the Dean of the College (ODOC) indicated that further changes may be coming. The group discussed initiatives to extend the passing time between classes from 10 to 20 minutes and extend the due dates of papers into finals period.

According to the senior associate dean of the college and director of the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning Kate Stanton, the Registrar’s Office prepared two models that would extend passing time to either 15 or 20 minutes.

The proposal to extend passing time was motivated by the expansion of the University’s physical campus, according to Stanton. The proposals also come amidst a recent ban on personal electric vehicles, which some students argue “slow commute speeds.”

USG Academics Chair Srista Tripathi ’25 wrote to the Daily Princetonian that “as the campus continues to expand, it becomes more difficult for students to travel between classes, extracurriculars, and other activities within the allocated 10 minutes. This is especially true for injured students, students with a disability, or students who are partaking in interdisciplinary courses which may take place all around campus.”

An additional motivation for the schedule remodeling is that many classes are compressed into the 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. class time slots, leaving the first morning time slot underutilized, according to Stanton.

A ‘Prince’ data analysis found that 365 class sections start at 11 a.m., 237 class sections start at 10 a.m., while 117 started at 9 a.m.

In an email to the ‘Prince,’ Stanton clarified that “extending passing time would not affect the length of classes. Both models start the teaching day later and preserve the 4:30pm-7:30pm ‘blackout’ period.”

In an effort to get student opinions on the matter, the Academics Committee plans to send out a university-wide survey for students to share their perspectives on both the 15– and 20–minute plans. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee was also consulted to discuss which plan offers

a more equitable and inclusive option for all students.

Tripathi wrote, “Implementing a longer passing time would give students time to have breaks for meals, prayer, or other needs, allowing for a more sustainable schedule than what many students have now.”

According to Tripathi, the Academics Committee currently shows a majority preference for the 20–minute model. The Faculty Committee on Classrooms and Schedule is reviewing the two models and will recommend one to the full faculty, who will eventually vote to approve the new model, according to Stanton. If approved, the earliest a new model would be implemented would be the Fall 2025 semester.

At the Academic Committee meeting, ODOC staff, including Dean Cecily Swanson, Dean Claire Fowler, and Dean Katherine Stanton, as well as the University Registrar, Emily Shandley, also proposed an initiative to create a staggered deadline schedule for final assignments.

Currently, Dean’s Date serves as both a deadline for end-of-term written assignments and is the last day in which term-time work can be submitted from the semester. Under the new model, Dean’s Date would no longer function as a deadline for end-of-term written assignments. Instead, “assessment deadlines would be staggered during the finals period,” Tripathi shared.

According to Tripathi, “the goal of this proposal is to allow for a more balanced final assessment period, where students do not have a large number of assignments clustered at certain points based on whether their final assignments are mostly exams or mostly papers.”

Furthermore, according to Tripathi, in the proposed model, students will be able to see final assessment dates when selecting courses, allowing students to better structure their final assessment schedule and plan their travel plans earlier in the semester.

The Academics Committee will meet with two faculty committees, the Committee on Examinations and Standing and the Committee on Calendar and Scheduling, to further discuss this proposal and possible changes as needed. According to Senior Associate Dean of the College Claire Fowler, this proposal is in its early stages of discussion and therefore has no timeline.

The Academics Committee is currently working with ODOC to develop both of these proposals.

sustainable schedules

Tripathi wrote, “The academics committee feels very positive about [both] proposals, however, it hopes to be able to gain more student perspectives through survey and focus group initiatives prior to having these proposals implemented.”

Hannah Gabelnick is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

News Contributor

Hundreds of students attended three vigils held by various groups in the days prior to break

those killed or kidnapped by Hamas following the first attacks on Oct. 7. Students and professors also lit candles for the victims, hostages, families, and soldiers in the war.

coming week.

National spotlight on college campuses

At Columbia, administrators closed campus to the public for competing pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrations on Oct. 12. Meanwhile, after an open letter that held Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” was issued by a set of student groups, Harvard has faced significant national criticism and disassociation from alumni and scholars. Signatories have seen personal information shared, as well as job offers withdrawn after Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, called on the names of students who joined the statement blaming Israel to be released.

At Stanford, about 1,000 people gathered on campus on Oct. 20 to call on the university to acknowledge war crimes committed by Israel. Also on the 20th, a rally at University of Pennsylvania in support of Israel attracted more than 400. At a protest at Cornell, a professor said he was “exhilarated” by Hamas’ attack on Israel, although he later apologized for the comment.

Response from Princeton alumni has been comparatively muted. At the University of Pennsylvania, a number of major donors have resolved to stop giving to the university following its response to the war, as well as previous controversy surrounding a “Palestinian Writes Literature Festival,” which had received pushback from students and national Jewish groups.

CJL and Chabad host “Princeton stands with Israel” vigil

Before fall break, a vigil in support of Israel organized by Chabad and the CJL attracted over four hundred students, professors, and community members to the south lawn of Frist Campus Center.

Mourners gathered in front of photos of

In an email statement to The Daily Princetonian, Rabbi Eitan Webb, a co-director of Chabad, called the vigil “a tremendous display of unity in the face of a horrible event.” Webb, along with co-director Gitti Webb and CJL Executive Director Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91, was one of the speakers at the event.

For many on campus, the war hits close to home.

“Almost all, if not all, of the Jewish students here are one connection away to people who are currently in Israel,” said one student at the vigil, who asked that their name not be used.

“In addition to all of the family and friends that I have in Israel, I knew that dozens of students at Princeton would be affected,” Webb wrote, describing his reaction to hearing the first news of attacks on Israel.

“It’s one thing to read the news and watch the news and listen to the news, but to come together to feel things as human beings is really important,” said Dean of the College Jill Dolan, who attended the vigil, in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

Following the official end of the event, many students lingered to listen to and sing songs. Nearly an hour later, a small group remained on the lawn.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Steinlauf emphasized solidarity among the University’s Jewish community.

“It’s a time of unity to stand with all the Jewish people living in Israel under the threat of war.  And it is also a time of unity with all innocent human beings — Jewish and nonJewish — in all the land, in all areas of this conflict, who are in harm’s way,” he wrote.

“The inhuman and terrorist ways of Hamas victimize everyone in the region — Jewish and Palestinian.”

Jewish progressives hold additional vigil

The Alliance of Jewish Progressives (AJP)

held its own vigil the following morning in Firestone Plaza. Alongside prayers and singing, attendees read excerpts from the Palestinian-American poet Suheir Hammad. Like the previous day’s vigil, a small circle of people remained after the end of the event for songs.

“We continue to mourn the loss of all life — those in Israel, Gaza, Palestine, here in the US, and beyond,” AJP wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’

“We join progressive Jews around the world, declaring that the horrific violence directed toward the Palestinian people and the ongoing attacks on Gaza are not in our name. We refuse to let our grief at the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks be weaponized to justify further violence,” they continued.

The vigil was supervised by two free speech coordinators, staff members who attend events where “where University policy on freedom of expression may be challenged.”

“We reaffirm the need for our campus to model thoughtful, sensitive, and equitable engagement with the crisis in Israel and Palestine,” wrote the AJP in their statement.

Students mourn Palestinian deaths in Gaza

Also that Friday, around a hundred students, faculty, and community members gathered at a vigil planned by Princeton SJP, formerly known as Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP), in honor of the then 1,800 Palestinian lives lost since the conflict began just six days prior.

A range of speakers delivered prayers, speeches, and testimonies from various demographics and faiths, including members of SJP, an anti-war union/working class activist, Muslim students, a U.S. military veteran, an Arab student, and a Christian student.

“I went to the Israeli vigil yesterday to pay homage to the Israeli citizens that were killed in what I believe to be a brutal terrorist attack,” said Jim Wells ’26, the veteran who spoke at the SJP vigil. “By the same token, there are innocent Palestinian civilians who are unfortunately being subjected to the same type of violence through indiscriminate drone strikes in Gaza.”

Wesley Tenney-Free, a fourth-year master’s student at Princeton’s Theological Seminary studying religious education, previously studied in Jerusalem and taught in the city of Beit Jalla in the West Bank. At the vigil, he told the ‘Prince’ he was inspired to attend this event because he believes it expresses solidarity with Palestinian students who have faced “discrimination” and have had to deal with having “school closed because there’s war outside.”

Tenney-Free expressed that it was difficult “to be far away from my students.”

At the event, many of the speakers shared prayers and hopes for Gazans.

In his speech, Wells said, “Today, I do not stand before you as a student, as a veteran, or as an American. I stand before you simply as a human being. The events of this past week have left all of us in a state of shock and despair that is absolutely unfathomable.”

One student who shared a Muslim prayer in honor of all the dead. Others spoke in greater detail about the present reality in Gaza.

One student speaker, at the end of her speech, asked the crowd to join her in an often controversial chant: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The majority of the crowd joined her in the chant.

Alexandra Orbuch ’25, who told the ‘Prince’ that she is “the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors,” shared her reaction in an interview after attending the vigil. “To look behind me and see fellow classmates nod, clap and yell ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ where essentially, the implication of that is the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel, was probably one of the most horrifying moments of my life.”

Orbuch is the Editor-in-Chief of The Princeton Tory.

The SJP also held a teach-in on Oct. 12, for, according to a promotional Instagram post, “learning, reckoning, and action-building in solidarity with Palestine.” The teach-in was held concurrently with the vigil held by the CJL.

Statements circulate online

When asked to comment on the event, SJP referred the ‘Prince’ to their statement made on Oct. 14.

“We, the Princeton Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), hold the Israeli apartheid state ultimately responsible for the tremendous loss of life in Occupied Palestine, Gaza, and the West Bank,” the statement read. “We hold the Jewish and Palestinian communities in our hearts, including many of our own family and friends, who are living through this trauma.”

Princeton SJP’s statement comes after intense backlash on Harvard’s campus for student groups who signed a similar statement seven days prior holding Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

Additional student groups and activists at Princeton have released statements on the conflict as well.

On Oct. 11, Windsor Nguyễn ’25 sent an email to the student body containing a petition written by “a group of concerned students and faculty” denouncing the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. The petition has now been signed by 250 students and faculty members.

In the email, Nguyễn clarified that he is neither Jewish or Israeli and admits that prior to Oct. 7, he “did not participate in IsraeliPalestinian discourse” but now feels a “strong moral obligation against the senseless murders of innocents.”

The petition details many aspects of the attacks by Hamas. “Each loss of innocent life on both sides is heart-wrenching. However, we should not blur the lines between the instigators and the defenders in this tragedy,” the statement said.

The petition vows “to take individual and collective action in denouncing the recent Hamas terrorist attacks” and invites all signees to “lend your voice to the call for peace and your support for the end of this senseless terrorism imposed upon innocent civilians.”

Some campus institutions have debated how to respond.

On Oct. 11, the party chair of Whig, Samuel Kligman ’26, and the party chair of Clio, Justin Murdock ’26, sent a joint statement to WhigClio members. The two represent the left-wing and right-wing groups of Whig-Clio, the University’s center of political debate.

The email condemned the attacks by Hamas, saying the organization is “driven by an [antisemitic] agenda, and these attacks are designed to realize that agenda.” The two chairs, in their email, prayed for the “vanquishment of Hamas” and “fervently condemn[ed] expressions of support for Hamas on this campus,” labeling these acts antisemitic.

“This war is not about liberation; it is about inflicting terror upon the world’s only Jewish state,” they declared.

Won-Jae Chang ’24, the president of WhigClio, responded to this email with another email sent to members clarifying that the message did not represent the “entire Governing Council’s nor the Society’s viewpoints,” but rather the beliefs of the two chairs.

The email reaffirmed the society’s encouragement of free speech, diversity of thought, and support for members.

“We recognize that this is an incredibly difficult time for all those affected by the situation, and hope for the safety and security of your loved ones,” the email concluded.

Protest expected to ramp up

Unlike many other peer institutions, the response on Princeton’s campus has so far not included rallies or protests, although that is likely to change. Few students were on campus during the week of Oct. 15 due to fall break.

This upcoming week, a rally organized by professors who wrote a letter “in solidarity with Gaza” and circulated among student groups is set for Tuesday, Oct. 24. A class walkout organized by SJP will take place on Oct. 25.

Miriam Waldvogel is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Haley Champion is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Julian Hartman-Sigall is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Bridget O’Neill is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Committee on Discipline caseload dwarfs the Honor Committee in most recent reports

By Charlie Roth & Ryan Konarska Head & Associate Data Editors

As Princeton students finish their last midterms before fall break, the Honor Code pledge is becoming second nature to many. Princeton’s Honor Code binds students to a set of academic integrity intended to be upheld by the student body. The Honor Code has been praised by some as a way to promote dignity and integrity, while its disciplinary process has been criticized by some as a mentally taxing and unfair.

How many students have dealt with the Honor Committee and Committee on Discipline, the two administrative bodies that govern academic violations and investigate and prosecute possible violations, in the last year? The Daily Princetonian looked at the statistics released by the two committees to see offenses students have been accused of for the most recent year with an available report and how many of these cases result in a student being found responsible. The statistics demonstrate again that the bulk of cases fall on the Committee on Discipline, whose case load is staggeringly high compared to the Honor Committee.

The Honor Committee is made up of 15 students, and decides on appropriate consequence after it issues a finding of responsibility – anything from a reprimand to an expulsion. Consequences can be appealed to the Office of the Dean of the College. Between fall 2017 and spring 2022, about 18 percent of cases referred to the Honor Committee resulted in a student facing punishment for their actions. A slightly smaller percentage of cases – 17 percent – progressed to a formal hearing, but did not result in a student being found responsible. This means that of the Honor Committee cases that had a hearing, just over half – about 52 percent – resulted in a punishment being handed down from the Committee.

The types of Honor Committee cases that had the highest percentage of students being held responsible were plagiarism and doctoring a regrade, though these categories only had one case each. Doctoring a regrade may mean changing a test that has been handed back and then returning it to ask for a regrade. Unauthorized use of materials had the next highest percentage of cases resulting in punishment, with 23 percent of reported cases leading to a student being found responsible of wrongdoing.

No students who were accused of removing an exam from a room, copying from a peer, or failing to submit an exam were found responsible by the Honor Committee for their alleged violations.

The most common type of Honor Code violation reported is the unauthorized use of materials, representing about 40 percent of all cases. More than half of the cases in this category did not specify the type of unauthorized material used, with almost a third of these resulting in punishments. Of the unauthorized materials specified by the Honor Committee, phones were the most common material used, with eight violations reported. Just two of these students were found responsible for unauthorized phone use during an exam.

Students have also been disciplined for breaking University policies outlined in the Rights, Rules and Responsibilities. These punishments are handed out by the Committee on Discipline, made of students and faculty. Since the Committee on Discipline has jurisdiction over a broad range of nonacademic violation and any academic violation outside of an in-class exam, the number of cases are much higher by an order of magnitude.

In contrast to the more limited role of the Honor Committee, the Committee on Discipline has a much wider scope in terms of types of violations and caseload. 1,072 cases were referred to the Committee on Discipline in one year compared to just 76 for the Honor Committee over four.

The most common Committee on Discipline case type from the 2021-2022 school year was Health and Safety, representing almost 70 percent of the case total. Of these 742 cases, 730 resulted in students being held responsible. According to the disciplinary report, “the vast majority of the health and safety violations were regarding noncompliance with COVID and public health policies,” with reprimands coming after a warning. Of the 164 alcohol cases reported, 157 resulted in students found responsible for violating University rules, 109 of which came from a single, off-campus case.

While fewer than 20 percent of Honor Committee cases result in students being held responsible, over 95 percent of Committee on Discipline cases led to a findings of wrongdoing.

The Committee on Discipline has been criticized in the past for a more opaque decision-making process. In an interview with columnists for the ‘Prince,’ one anonymous member of the Committee said that certain other members lack “even a pretense of impartiality” during Committee hearings as demonstrated by “extremely leading questions.”

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan wrote that “the Committee is explicitly told not to ask leading questions and to refrain from drawing any conclusions until they have heard from all parties during the hearing. We have not witnessed any student member of the Committee being pressured to assume anything about the facts until all information has been considered.”

For academic violations, the number of findings of responsibility by the Committee on Discipline seems to have declined over time, from 82 in the 2020-2021 school year to 50 in the 2021-2022 school year.

The harshest discipline the Committee handed down in the past school year was a one-year suspension, which they gave as punishment for a second academic violation in both cases where it was applied.

Students can be represented by Peer Representatives in cases facing both the Honor Committee and the Committee on Discipline.

Charlie Roth is a head Data editor and senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Ryan Konarska is an associate Data editor and staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Year-round Halloween: the gargoyles of Princeton This Week in Photos

By Louisa Gheorghita Staff Photographer

Gargoyles and grotesques are embraced through Princeton’s gothic architecture – some you may already know and love, but many that “you may have passed a hundred times but never noticed,” one tour’s guide suggests. Walking around campus, you may see a monkey with a camera on the archway of 1879 Hall, a chained dragon found at the University Chapel, various “educational gargoyles” surrounding Guyot Hall, an armless monkey clown located at Patton Hall, and hundreds of other gargoyles which call Princeton home.

Spend some time exploring when you’re next outside. There is always something else to discover on campus – see what gargoyles pique your interest. Louisa Gheorghita is a staff photographer for The Daily Princetonian.

Contributing News Writer Victoria Davies contributed reporting.

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First-year tests positive for bubonic plague, negative for COVID-19

By Spencer Bauman Head Humor Editor

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

Amid the rise of COVID-19 cases around campus, many students have been taking PCR and rapid antigen tests to prevent the spread of the virus. One student from the Class of 2027, although they tested negative for COVID-19, tested positive for the bubonic plague, also known as the “Black Death”.

A spokesperson from McCosh Health Center, Ann Tejin, commented on the “unprecedented illness.”

“Our top priority on campus is curbing the spread of coronavirus,” she explained. “We are relieved that this student has tested negative for COVID, furthering our goal.”

The sick student reported that they are still ex-

pected to “attend all classes” and “Zoom does not count.” Furthermore, the University will not be providing them with isolation housing, advising their three quad-mates to “try not to breathe so much when you’re in the dorm” and to “sleep facing away from the sick roommate.”

Editor’s note: All four roommates have tested positive for the bubonic plague at time of publication.

In an up-close, personal, and maskless interview with The Daily PrintsAnything, the plagued student expressed annoyance with the University and its policies.

“[Cough] Yeah, I’m not doing too well, I mean the plague sucks but what’s most annoying is that my writing sem professor wouldn’t give me an extension on my D2 [cough]. He said it would be different if I had COVID-19.” They continued, “at least I can’t taste

the dining hall food anymore, I guess.”

Editor’s Note: All Daily PrintsAnything staffers have tested positive for the bubonic plague at time of publication. Cough.

Among concerns for plague infection among students, University administrators have released a statement, reminding students to “not let the plague affect their academic performance during midterms week.”

Spencer Bauman is head Humor editor and a junior in the Chemical and Biological Engineering department. He has decided not to take any of his midterms, in case the exam papers have the plague on them. He can be reached at sbauman@princeton.edu.

University memo addresses appropriateness of Halloween costumes

By Sofia Varughese Associate Humor Editor

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

On Oct. 23, University leadership distributed a memo with guidelines on appropriate Halloween costumes, informed by mishaps from years past.

“Ideally, everyone could wear whatever they want,” said University spokesperson Andrea Brown. “However, many seem to treat Halloween like a tramp convention, ruining it for everyone.”

A close reading of the memo suggests that it is actually geared more toward professors than the students.

The memo singled out male professors planning to dress up as Borat, “for the sole purpose of coming to lecture wearing a speedo.” This year, these costumes

may only be worn while administering a seminarstyle class in which the professor’s bottom half remains under the table.

“We’re concerned about the jiggle,” said Brown. “Some students enjoy it, but others find it overwhelming.”

Halloween presents a heightened challenge for the Title IX office, which has already been overworked operating a 24/7 watch center that monitors professors’ social media profiles, dating apps, and early-morning Canvas posts, all as part of a court settlement.

Some members of the campus community have expressed disdain for the new rules, explaining that they infringe on their right to dress as they so choose.

“So now I can’t wear my full-body Catwoman costume after spending the last four months getting in shape for it?” said Dr. Daniel Gonzalez, a professor in the ecology and evolutionary biology department.

“It’s not my fault Professor Luong didn’t check if her students had a latex allergy before dressing as a used condom last year.”

Many students were more supportive of the new rules. “Last year, I bombed my econ final after not understanding the regression model, which our professor taught in a ‘slutty Bernie Madoff’ costume,” said David Morrison ’25. “I’m hoping to not see any semiflaccid penises popping out of costumes this year.”

“Last year, I found my religion professor’s sexy Jesus costume pretty offensive, and I’m not even Christian,” said Kelly Skinner ’24. “He practically forced us to shotgun cans of Fruit Punch Four Loko that had ‘the blood of Christ’ scrawled on them.”

Sophia Varughese is an associate Humor editor who rather enjoyed her Physics professor’s “naked Albert Einstein” costume last year.

Princeton decks out in orange and black for Halloween

By Mya Koffie

Writer

The following is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

In the spirit of Halloween, the University plans to celebrate with holiday-themed orange and black decorations all around campus, with the intention of once again “winning Halloween.” The University hopes to once again top the U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of schools’ Halloween celebrations, an achievement now held for 174 consecutive years.

The Daily PrintsAnything sat down with Dean of the College Jill Dolan for her comments on the hopeful “holiday victory.”

“We work 24/7 every year to maintain our position at the top of that Fright List.” She explained, “Ever since the embarrassing Harvard stint in 1849, our university

has been committed to festive excellence and being generally better than everyone else.”

Dr. Gloria Fontana, a professor in the classics department, affirmed Dean Dolan’s statement, emphasizing the University’s devotion not only during spooky season but all year long. “As Heraclitus said, ‘Big results require big ambitions.’ We are standing on the backs of giants at this institution, and furthering the legacy they have left behind requires drastic measures.”

Aforementioned “measures” involve an explosion of black and orange across campus. Perusing the grounds and its essential buildings, one finds that decorative orange lights adorn Nassau Hall, while festive orange mail carts zip in and out of Frist Campus Center. UStore management has similarly filled this shopping staple with orange and black merch to celebrate the fast-approaching, most-important day of the Princeton calendar year.

In addition, students have been finding festive orange food in the dining halls, including orange cookies, orange Fanta, and orange-colored chicken. One spokesperson from Campus Dining commented, “Oh, the chicken is orange? Yeah … that’s just … food coloring. Definitely on purpose.”

Dolan concluded her statements to the ‘Prints’ saying that she “hopes to make Halloween an even bigger event next year.” University administration has already designated a standing committee for organizing a PeRade (Petrifying Parade) to complement the Pre- and P-Rades observed throughout the year for next October. Additional plans to paint the steps of Blair Arch in an alternating pattern of these two scary colors — so as to ensure they better resemble Halloween Oreos — are well underway.

Mya Koffie is a first-year contributing Humor writer.

First-years head back to hometowns for much-needed confidence boosts

By Mya Koffie Contributing Humor Writer

The following is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

Following a humbling initial midterms season and challenging start to their Princetonian careers, first-years plan to seek solace by flocking back to their hometowns for fall break, where the standards and expectations are much lower.

“I miss being in an environment where getting into Princeton felt like an unique accomplishment,” says first-year and prospective politics concentrator Deb Baitte. “That was unfortunately the coolest thing about me, but everyone here has done it too.”

Baitte shares that her entire lived experience revolved around quirky but isolating character traits that would continue to set her apart.

She explains, “I was always told I would make a great lawyer because I was argumentative. Here, that’s half the politics department! And the other half had either already passed the bar exam, clerked for a Supreme Court justice, or helped their neighbor win their Senate race.”

Many students express insecurity evoked by similar situations and seem to suffer not from impostor syndrome, but instead from “uh-oh, I’m not special anymore” syndrome. To soothe seasonal flareups of this syndrome, the American Psychological Association recommends making regular visits to your hometown to flex your accomplishments to those who doubted you.

Additionally, first-year

Hum r RIP

Tiger Track Survey reports show that members of Princeton’s newest “great class” feel significantly less resentment towards their parents than they did just six weeks ago in a classwide survey issued right before move-in day.

“I wouldn’t trade Yeh dining hall food for what I got back home,” mentions Sasha Choi, a first-year from Lebanon, Tennessee, home of the original Cracker Barrel. “But I’ve forgotten what living at home was like, and I honestly just miss my parents and siblings. I think I judged them prematurely before.

I’ve changed now.”

In surveys issued specifically to upperclassmen who escaped the throes of various Princetonian “syndromes” commonly contracted by first-years, The DailyPrintsAnything finds older students increasingly less likely to return home to their families or towns of origin during recesses.

“Go home? When I can travel on Princeton’s money?” asks Marvin Boyd, a junior in the Economics Department on the political economy track. “Not when there’s cultural immersion waiting. With free room and board.”

Mya Koffie is a first-year and prospective Politics major from Appleton, Wis. She is excited to spend her fall break arguing with much smarter nerds at a British Parliamentary debate tournament in Toronto and enjoying a whopping four days in Appleton, where underclassmen at her old school will ask incessantly for college application advice and her mom will make her feel like the most special person in the world.

Ted Cruz delivers perplexing handwritten message to WhigClio

By Micheal Hwang Contributing Humor Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

This morning, an unexpected handwritten message from alumnus Sen. Ted Cruz ’92 (RTexas) was found in the mailbox of Whig-Clio. Unfortunately, the Daily PrintsAnything was unable to obtain a physical copy, because the last staff member to handle the letter disappeared.

The envelope was labeled “Opinion on the Expression of Free Speech at Princeton University,” though we are finding it difficult to determine what his opinion actually is. An image of the letter is shown below.

The letter was accompanied by a blood-soaked strip of what appears to be a paisley bathrobe. Cruz was infamous for donning a similar bathrobe while loitering around the dormitories of female students in his first year.

The Daily PrintsAnything staff attempted to contact the members of Whig-Clio to identify potential witnesses, but there were no members left to

contact. In accordance with ethical journalism practices, we instead began to speculate wildly.

Although it is unknown why Cruz chose to deliver his opinion in such a cryptic manner, we believe that it may be an antiliberal countermeasure against the prying eyes of the fake news media. This is corroborated by the fact that the entire staff of the Daily PrintsAnything could not understand the message, no doubt due to a surplus of wokes and socialists.

We instead invite the critically endangered campus conservative, Princeton Pro-Life, the Anscombe Society, and members of the Princeton Tory masthead to assist in deciphering this letter.

The Daily PrintsAnything reached out to Cruz for comment but has yet to receive a response in English.

Michael Hwang ’25 recently found a note with ciphertext painted in blood attached to his door. He was fined by Fire Safety.

Final preparations underway for the ‘Princeton Purge’

By Kareish Thony Contributing Humor Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

The University is preparing to commence the annual campus-wide Princeton Purge. Inspired by the hit 2013 media franchise “The Purge,” the tradition functions as a tool to address student stress. Morality will be suspended and students will be given permission to commit any action they like, whether it be partying on the Blair rooftop or vandalizing the Oval with Points statue.

Common to each year’s purge is the formation of multiple student factions. In previous years, the Lobster Club improv group performed outside of Nassau Hall using real swords and molotov cocktails as props, which led to some students being rushed to the hospital after delivering an overly passionate adaptation of Hamlet’s ending. A climate activist group attempted a coup on the student government last year in hopes of replacing toilet paper with more natural methods such as cactus fiber and bull testicle casings.

Some students anonymously shared words on their anticipation for this year’s purge.

“Me and the boys are trying to figure out how we’re gonna claim the blowjob statue for our dorm,” said one student referring to the Abraham and Isaac statue outside Firestone Library. “I don’t know, carpe diem.”

“Last purge I stole some scooters dressed as John Wick and made a killing by reselling them.

I’m planning to do the

same this year with zero remorse,” reported a student who requested to be identified by the name Winona Rider. “I’m doing everybody a service.”

While the purge may be popular among the student body, many administrators have expressed disdain in regard to its destructive nature. There were whispers of cancellation of this year’s event due to potential damage to the University’s current construction efforts.

“I can deal with the shelves of the U-Store being wiped clean, or a scooter lodged on the top floor of Firestone,” said a faculty member on the Committee on Discipline.

“But the most egregious sin is that we are allowing students to break the Honor Code. The sanctity of academic integrity is desecrated all for a Halloween event! It’s barbaric and definitely not in the nation’s service and the service of humanity.”

Though a notably controversial tradition, this year’s Princeton Purge appears to be scheduled as normal with the school encouraging students to “prepare accordingly” and “hide their personal belongings.”

“I’m literally only looking forward to using ChatGPT,” said one student requesting to be referred to by the pseudonym Fried Piper. “This paper would not have been written otherwise.”

Kareish Thony is a firstyear, prospective computer science major. Last Princeton Purge he snuck into the admissions office and wrote his name underneath “Accepted Applicants.”

MICHAEL HWANG / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The letter roughly translates to “I will have my revenge on Princeton Tower Club for hosing me three times. I will have my revenge on the liberal snowflake alumni who condemned me. Mark my words, vengeance will be mine.”

Hum r

Trick or treat on the street

By Emmett Sounder Contributing Humor Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

On Tuesday evening, Oct. 31, one fearless correspondent for The DailyPrintsAnything will again brave the cold to report on Prospect Ave’s little-known trick-ortreating event. Here is an account of last year’s adventure.

Accompanied by my videographer Holly Ween ’25, I set off from the quiet and cozy ‘Prints’ newsroom on University Place for the tricks, treats, and thrills across campus.

We started off at Charter, where we were just told to come back Friday night. I politely asked if there was anything they might have to offer to us trick-or-treaters now. Disappearing inside briefly, the guy who opened the door for us returned with some “Chef’s Whim,” something we were assured was “a Charter thing.”

Feeling rather athirst for a drink after the whim of the chef, Holly and I went directly to Tiger Inn. The line was short for TI, only 4 hours! I rang the doorbell and before I could say trick or treat, we were each handed a pint of beer. I’m pretty sure they were unaware we were trick-or-treating.

We then crossed back over Prospect Ave and knocked on the door of Cloister. As soon as it opened, we were knocked aback by the force of a literal firehose blasting beer. Soaked, we staggered away, having encountered our first trick of the night. “And people complain about getting a little pee-beer rained on them in the backyard,” Holly commented, wiping off her camera equipment.

Cap and Gown had a pumpkin full of BodyHype tickets that we helped ourselves to, and we decided against calling someone to the door and having to bicker to get in.

Cottage members were still reveling in Oktoberfest from earlier this month, and we joined the celebration of German culture and teenage drinking. We were told all Bud Light drinkers would be forcibly removed.

Next up was Ivy, where we were greeted at the door by a number of personal assistants and received chocolates from all over the globe, brought back by the many international students in the club. By all over the globe, we mean all over Europe.

Across the street at Colonial, we received what looked like a printed screenshot of one of those inescapable, omnipresent emails promoting a Taylor Swift night. Appearing quite excited, a number of members offered to do our physics homework while we roamed the street.

Crossing again to the Quadrangle Club, we were pleasantly surprised to find that our favorite party was still raging. Quad members loaded up our trick-ortreat bags with Shit that Glows: glowsticks, facepaint, and mixed drinks that look, taste, and have the effects of a radioactive ingredient. As we were leaving, we heard someone entering saying, “Hey, let’s go to quadrilateral!” That actually happened. I’m not making that up. I’m actually not making any of this up.

At Cannon, we were treated to a fun game of launching things from the cannon. Setting our bags down, we shot pumpkins,

basketballs, and other spherical objects at the Bendheim Center for Finance across the street. We had no idea that Cannon’s cannon was actually fully functional, or that the athletes were so adept at advanced ballistics.

At Tower, we found that the candy there, like alcohol, was free, if you paid for it. Declining to pay social membership dues, we were prepared to carry on empty handed, but spotted a hollow pumpkin. Inside were laminated resumes, and Holly took some hoping to hire someone to fix her beer-ruined videography equipment.

Like the health-conscious family of the neighborhood who gives a box of raisinets to each trick-or-treater, the Campus Club offerings were decidedly less exciting than the rest of the street. We accepted water bottles, toothbrushes, and floss, all with the Princeton logo. Someone said upstairs they were giving away bug spray, something having to do with a flea infestation?

Last up, at that point nearing morning, we stumbled to Terrace, so alternative it’s not actually on the street. Grooving to some unidentifiable sounds, ostensibly music, we enjoyed an end-of-thenight vibe sesh. Our trick-or-treat haul from the Terrans consisted of a CD of the band, a joint, and a painted flower pot.

Altogether, a successful night of trick-or-treating, and we look forward to doing it again this year.

Emmett Souder is a first-year contributing Humor writer. He wrote this piece, except for all the parts that weren’t funny.

Campus Construction

Listservs

By Raina Maldonado Contributing Cartoonist

By Madison Anderson Contributing Cartoonist

Letter to the Editor: A cemetery is not an attraction

Thomas H. Pyle ’76 Guest Contributor

The following is a letter to the editor and reflects the author’s views alone.

To the Editor: I have just read a recent article in the Daily Princetonian noting that the Undergraduate Student Government has approved and funded a plan to conduct a “Ghost Tour” around Princeton Cemetery. The article states the following: “U-Councilor Roberto Lachner ‘26 and Genevieve Shutt ‘26 presented planning for a USG-sponsored Princeton Ghost Tour around the Princeton Cemetery. The trip would cost $1047.50 and allow for 25 students to attend. The expense was approved in a unanimous vote.”

The approved funding suggests the possibility of a staged entertainment production. The article makes no mention of the tour’s organizers or details, but I note the Princeton Tour Company’s (PTC) own “ghost tour” description, which includes Princeton Cemetery, has the following description: “Our experienced Ghost Hunter Guides will train each guest to use dowsing rods, therma-meters while describing the controversial Psyleron Lamp to interact with the other side at an unmarked

burial ground. More importantly, they’ll carry all that heavy stuff.” Fortunately for my anxious first impression, I was relieved that PTC does not conduct investigations within the cemetery run by Nassau Presbyterian Church, noting that its status as “a resting place” would render such acts inappropriate.

As the father of a tragically deceased son recently interred next to my own father and mother in the old part of the

cemetery, I am a frequent pilgrim in mourning to my son’s grave. As a student of local history and funereal culture, I also often meander elsewhere about the cemetery to commune with several departed friends and notables who eternally rest as well in this precious local burial ground.

I don’t wish to be a curmudgeon or an old fogey. But Princeton Cemetery is like a church to me and others, a place where I of-

ten go to talk to and pray for my dearly departed son. No matter whom the USG will hire to stage the tour, there is something unseemly about a potential commercial tour for 25 University students amusing themselves in the dark by searching for “ghosts” with flashlights in a hallowed local place. Here’s hoping that the good folks of the USG will first check about their plan with the Nassau Presbyterian Church, the administrator

of the cemetery, to ensure that the dignity, beauty, historicity, solemnity, and propriety of the cemetery will be upheld and respected in any “ghost tour.” Thanks for your consideration.

Thomas H. Pyle ’76 is a resident of Princeton and a senior executive in mental health services and advocacy, with an MBA from Harvard and a MS from Rutgers. He served as the first chairman of the USG in 1975.

To combat inequity faced by international students, Princeton must expand its departmental classifications

Aly Rashid Contributing Columnist

As the Class of 2026 prepares to declare their majors this spring, sophomores anxiously dissect the options available to them. Which major would meet their academic interest? Which one would align with their career goals? But for international students, one more significant consideration weighs on their mind: which major would allow them to extend their time in the United States?

Normally, international students are accorded a 12-month Optional Practical Training (OPT) status by an American employer after graduation, giving them one year to apply for and receive a visa. The OPT, particularly the post-completion OPT, allows F-1 visa students to continue working in the U.S. after completing their studies in a field related to their area of study. However, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines, international students pursuing a STEM degree at an American university are eligible for an additional two-year extension. Among other benefits, the total threeyear period greatly improves job security and gives a college graduate more chances to apply for the H1-B visa lottery, which grants a more permanent work visa.

Many international students whose primary academic interests lie in a non-STEM field end up in a Catch-22.

They can prioritize majoring in a field that addresses their academic passion and potentially lose residency in the country in which they want to use their degree, or they can prioritize extending their stay in the U.S. postgraduation, only to be faced with job prospects that don’t interest them. Far too often, international students end up choosing the latter and sacrifice their primary academic interests for the sake of staying in this country, a place where they have oftentimes struggled significantly to access in the first place. To better support its international students, Princeton must expand its definition of STEM to include more A.B. fields and consider joint majors.

Many students must make difficult choices between their academic passion and a degree with higher job security. Yet domestic students can still maintain their primary areas of interest as their academic major and combine it with minors that help expand their skill set for employment purposes. For example, a School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) major who wants to explore consulting or finance could explore minors in Statistics and Machine Learning or Finance. However, if an international student took the same path, they would be held back by the fact their primary “area of study” is not a STEM field. From the very beginning, certain paths are mostly inaccessible to international students who want to live and work in America. Many international students who want to study SPIA, for instance,

may end up majoring in Economics because it is vaguely related to their passions and is considered a STEM field.

But it doesn’t have to be this way, and Princeton can improve some of its practices to better support the nearly 12.5 percent of its undergraduate student body that is international. There are currently two major additional obstacles unique to international students at Princeton which make these choices even more difficult.

Firstly, Princeton does not allow students to pursue a double major. At other colleges, an international student can combine a degree in Public Policy or Business with one in Data Science or Environmental Science. Since the latter two are STEM fields according to the DHS list, that student gets the best of both worlds: a degree in a field they are passionate about, and the ability to extend their time in the U.S. If Princeton cannot allow students to pursue two distinct majors concurrently due to their rigorous independent work requirement, they should explore the possibility of “joint majors” similar to those offered by Harvard. With this, joint major options such as Public Policy and Econometrics or Political Science and Data Analytics could provide a path out of the current either/or decision that international students face between their academic passions and visa status.

Secondly, there is a lack of clarity as to how Princeton categorizes STEM fields. Although the DHS maintains a

centralized list of fields that can count as “STEM or associated fields,” it is up to the institution providing the degree to make an application to DHS to have a specific degree classified as STEM. There is a lack of accessibility in terms of where the decision-making process takes place, what committees are involved and — most importantly — where the international students who are most affected by these decisions can voice their concerns. It is important to define more clearly to students how a Princeton degree is categorized as STEM and whom students can approach as the DHS continues to update its list of fields eligible for the OPT extension.

Recently, in their July 2023 update, the DHS added “Social Sciences, Research and Quantitative Methods” as a STEM field eligible for the OPT extension. However, the SPIA and Politics departments remain categorized as non-STEM fields by Princeton, despite having required research and encouraging the use of quantitative methods when studying social science. If Princeton explicitly added a STEM qualifier to these fields, students taking more quantitative courses in these fields could receive STEM degrees from these departments. While this would still require students to shape their studies based on their passport status, this trade-off would arguably be more digestible than having to change one’s major altogether and could be very useful in giving international students who are not pursuing natural sciences or engineering more flex-

ibility in choosing their major. In addition, while the Davis International Center does a great job in advising students on maintaining their immigration status while still a student, Princeton should invest in an immigration advisor(s) that specifically provides post-graduation advice for students who wish to remain in the United States.

With the current state of residency options available to non-Americans, the very important choice of one’s major can come down to fundamentally different reasons based on the country on one’s passport. While part of this inequity is beyond the control of Princeton or any other university, Princeton can and should do what it can to make pathways to U.S. residency more accessible. Princeton is known for its unique academic opportunities, rigor across all its degrees, and creative pursuit of research at the undergraduate level. If the University worked together with its international students, I am sure it could find a creative pathway that allows both domestic and international students to follow their passions. Change may only come in the long run, but the conversation has to start now.

Aly Rashid is a sophomore prospectively majoring in the School of Public and International Affairs. He serves as Associate Editor of the Newsletter, Deputy

of the

Captain

Princeton Model UN Team and International Student Leader with the Davis IC.

DAVID KEDDIE/THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN The Princeton Cemetery

vol. cxlvii

editor-in-chief

Rohit Narayanan '24

president

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Thomas E. Weber ’89

vice president

David Baumgarten ’06

secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07

treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90

assistant treasurer

Kavita Saini ’09

trustees Francesca Barber

Craig Bloom ’88

Kathleen Crown

Suzanne Dance ’96

Gabriel Debenedetti ’12

Stephen Fuzesi ’00

Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05

Michael Grabell ’03

Danielle Ivory 05

Rick Klein ’98

James T. MacGregor ’66

Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Abigail Williams ’14

Tyler Woulfe ’07

trustees ex officio

Rohit Narayanan ’24

Shirley Ren ’24

147TH MANAGING BOARD

Kalena Blake ’24

Katherine Dailey ’24

Julia Nguyen ’24

upper management

Angel Kuo ’24 Hope Perry ’24

Strategic initiative directors

Education

Kareena Bhakta ’24

Amy Ciceu ’24

Financial Stipend Program

Genrietta Churbanova ’24

Mobile Reach Rowen Gesue ’24

DEIB Chair

Christofer Robles ’25

Sections listed in alphabetical order.

head audience editor

Rowen Gesue ’24

associate audience editor

Paige Walworth ’26

head archives editor

Raphaela Gold ’26

Kaylee Kasper ’26

head copy editors

Jason Luo ’25

Nathalie Verlinde ’24

associate head copy editors

Tiffany Cao ’24

Naisha Sylvestre ’25

head data editor

Elaine Huang ’25

Charlie Roth ’25

associate data editor

Ryan Konarska ’25

head features editors

Paige Cromley ’24

Tori Tinsley ’24

associate features editor

Sejal Goud ’25

head graphics editors

Noreen Hosny ’25

Katelyn Ryu ’24

head humor editor

Spencer Bauman ’25

associate humor editors

Sam McComb ’25

Sophia Varughese ’26

head news editors

Sandeep Mangat ’24

Isabel Yip ’25

associate news editors

Lia Opperman ’25

Annie Rupertus ’25

Tess Weinreich ’25

head newsletter editors

Olivia Chen ’26

Sidney Singer ’25

assistant business manager,

director of sales

Aidan Phillips ’25

business directors

Benjamin Cai ’24

Jessica Funk ’26

Gabriel Gullett ’25

Andrew He ’26

Tejas Iyer ’26

Daeun Kim ’26

Jordan Manela ’26

head opinion editor Abigail Rabieh ’25

community opinion editor Lucia Wetherill ’25

associate opinion editors

Eleanor Clemans-Cope ’26

Ashley Olenkiewicz ’25

head photo editor Jean Shin ’26

head podcast editor Eden Teshome ’25

associate podcast editor Senna Aldoubosh ’25

Vitus Larrieu ’26

head print design editors Avi Chesler ’25

Malia Gaviola ’26

head prospect editors

Kerrie Liang ’25

Claire Shin ’25

associate prospect editors Isabella Dail ’26

Joshua Yang ’25

head puzzles editors Joah Macosko ’25

Simon Marotte ’26

associate puzzles editors

Juliet Corless ’24

Sarah Gemmell ’24

Jaeda Woodruff ’25

head sports editors Nishka Bahl ’26 Cole Keller ’26

associate sports editors Diego Uribe ’26

Hayk Yengibaryan ’26

head web design and development editors

Ananya Grover ’24

Brett Zeligson ’24

associate web design and development editor Vasila Mirshamsova ’26

147TH BUSINESS BOARD

Robert Mohan ’26 Kok Wei Pua ’25

project managers

Julia Cabri ’24

Jason Ding ’25

Bibiane Kan ’26

Kaustuv Mukherjee ’26

Shravan Suriyanarayanan ’26

My Ky Tran ’26

Brian Zhou ’26

147TH TECHNOLOGY BOARD

chief technology officer Roma Bhattacharjee ’25

software engineers

Anika Agarwal ’25 Pranav Avva ‘24 Carter Costic ’26

Jessica Dong ’25 Vishva Ilavelan ’27 Austin Li ’26 Allen Liu ’27

Isabel Liu ’26

Joyce Liu ’27

Tai Sanh Nguyen ’26

Hang Pham ’26

Aidan Phillips ’25

Joe Rupertus ’26

Joanna Tang ’24

Caitlin Wang ’26

Shannon Yeow ’26

Brett Zeligson ’24

business manager Shirley Ren ’24 THIS

Avi Chesler ’25

Malia Gaviola ’26

Invisible Borders: The case for diversifying Princeton’s international student body

Sophia Zuo Contributing Columnist

As one of only seven American institutions to offer need-blind admissions to international applicants, Princeton appears to do more than most universities to help students of all backgrounds from around the globe. This includes supporting a crucial, yet often overlooked group necessary to creating a vibrant campus community: low-income international students. Despite need-blind admission, the University still does not do enough to attract low-income students globally and integrate them into the community.

In order to achieve multifaceted diversity that goes beyond America’s borders, the University must acknowledge the impediments of class, province, and socio-economic background in shaping a truly diverse student body. Princeton should increase the accessibility of outreach programs and application information to schools of all sorts, extend holistic admission practices, and expand initiatives of financial support post-acceptance to mitigate barriers preventing international students from accessing elite American institutions.

There are structural truths inherent to educational systems that lead to a disproportionate representation of middle to high-income international students who hail from elite private schools and wealthier regions abroad. Students from high-income backgrounds who have access to English lessons, private schools, and external college counselors, are far more likely to be able to study in the U.S. Studying at international high schools provides the cultural and educational background necessary to have a chance of admission at highly competitive American universities, meaning that most international applicants ultimately come from them.

International schools are simply defined as institutions that use English as the primary language of instruction in regions where it is not. Originally meant to serve expats living abroad, they have transformed into highly versatile institutions that vary in terms of school system and curriculum, with an emphasis on a transient, multilingual student body. Staffed with well-connected admissions offices designed to enable admission into U.S. universities and taught under systems designed for the same goal, it is evident how pivotal international schools are in facilitating college admissions abroad. Comparatively, public schools are designed to meet local needs, not the standards of universities time zones away. Even with need-blind admissions and offering fee waivers, Princeton does not do much to equalize the playing field when its application favors international students who self-select before the admissions process can even begin.

of dimension in the voices of the international community on campuses.

International schools are often specifically modeled after Western education systems, offering extensive Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes, learning American history and government in lieu of the history of their native countries, and hosting Homecomings and spirit weeks just like an average American high school would, with the majority of teachers being white or American.

In fact, in Hong Kong and other countries, some international high schools require students to be foreign passport holders, which has led to many wealthy families purchasing a second passport for their child while making these schools inaccessible to the majority of students who can’t afford one.

The students at these international schools are by no means steeped in their local cultures and there’s growing recognition of this underlying Western influence: Calls for reform to decolonize the IB system and combat anti-racism are only growing in international schools. While having an American high school experience is by no means an objective negative, it does mean that the international student body, often celebrated as bringing new perspectives, experiences, and cultures, may be less diverse than we think.

We cannot view internationalism as a box to check. International students do not share the same opinions and experiences just because they share nationalities. The experience of an upper-middle-class boy in Jakarta attending an international school is going to be very dissimilar to a lowerclass girl who attended a public school.

Yet students who share cultural upbringings often do view the world in similar ways: In all likelihood, that boy from Jakarta will have more in common with an American student. With this in mind, are vital new viewpoints really being brought in to the fullest extent with the current system of admissions? Or are they simply the same ideologies in different packaging and passport colors? Thus, we arrive at a difficult but important question: What is the place of international students in the Princeton student body, and in colleges at large? It is unfair to place the burden of representing their entire home country on an international student, and it is far from true that every international student is swimming in cash and privilege. However, international students as a collective represent a unique channel which can support Princeton in better fulfilling its goals to foster a diverse campus with chances for students to interact with individuals from

completely distinct backgrounds and create dialogue across a wide range of issues. We need a broader range of students who have learned from curriculums resident to their native country, under teachers who aren’t Western, and with diverse cultural roots. For this reason, we should strive for more international students with a mosaic of backgrounds.

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action last summer, it has become more pressing than ever to maintain strong commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion on a global scale. When universities such as Princeton can no longer explicitly factor in ones’ racial/ethnic background, this hurts low-income, first-generation students living everywhere, including outside the U.S. For international students, the system is also so skewed against them, compounded by other factors such as the pandemic and geopolitical conflicts.

So what exactly can Princeton do? Unlike implementing fee waivers or financial aid, the solution is not a single policy, but rather a combination of measures that takes time to tackle the issue at the root. Making Princeton more accessible internationally to local, publicly-funded schools through information sessions and outreach would plant the seeds for diversifying the type of applicants received and from which schools and regions they come from. There still is much more to be done with financial aid post-admissions that would also benefit low-income international students and help shape whether they make the decision to attend at all.

The University must not restrict the recipients of its resources and connections to those attending international schools. This creates injustice that gives unfair advantages to already privileged students, when there exists equally qualified students in smaller, local schools across the world. Princeton should continue to develop holistic approaches to admission that consider the high school you attended, the region you are from, and household income brackets in order to prevent shutting out talent from disadvantaged households and to ensure that even though affirmative action has been banned, there still are ways to make higher education equitable to all. Princeton has the capacity to usher marginalized voices into classrooms, colleges, continents where they previously were unheard — all we need is for these initiatives to begin.

Cindy Chen ’26

However, the fact that wealth offers an advantage to applicants is not unique to international students. The bigger issue with accepting concentrated groups of students from such prevalent international schools is that they aren’t very “international” to begin with, which results in a lack

Sophia Zuo is a first-year contributing columnist from Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Princeton students: condemn Hamas’s ‘pure, unadulterated evil’

Elazar Cramer & Yohan Berenson Guest Contributors

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip killed, raped, kidnapped, and wounded thousands of innocent civilians in Israel’s Southern District on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. They took over one hundred and fifty civilians hostage, including American citizens, and they have threatened to begin executing them. At least 1,300 Israelis are dead. Proportionately, that’s as if almost 40,000 Americans had died on 9/11.

It brings us only distress to detail these horrific events, but we must because too few on this campus have expressed the repugnance that these murders must prompt.

The Princeton branch of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), in an Instagram post on Oct. 11, advertised a “teach-in … in solidarity with Palestine” and a “community vigil for all those grieving loss of life” with no mention of Hamas and its heinous actions. The same day, the group reposted on its Instagram story a statement from the organization’s Brown University chapter that “unequivocally” blames Israel for the terror attacks against Israel and says that “no people in history subjected to oppression of this scope have not responded,” justifying the heinous, bestial violence of Hamas terrorists. SJP is abso -

lutely wrong: No matter what you think about Israel, this response is not justified. There is no justification for Hamas’s barbarism. Executing babies is never justified. Kidnapping and murdering the elderly is never justified. Abducting a Holocaust survivor is never justified.

Other major campus organizations have also failed to fully acknowledge the scope and horror of these events. The Daily Princetonian, for example, is a major contributor to campus conversation, yet thus far, its reporting on the tragedy in Israel has engaged in despicable equivocation. An Oct. 11 news article purporting to cover the “college campus conflict on Israel-Palestine” references “a recent terrorist attack and subsequent rocket fire in Israel and Palestine that have led to at least 1200 Israeli deaths and at least 900 Palestinian deaths,” conveniently omitting the horror of Hamas’s actions. The article then spends multiple paragraphs chronicling how Arab students feel uncomfortable on campus, switching focus to passingly mention that Jewish organizations on campus have needed increased security after an attack that brutally targeted innocent Jewish civilians in a country where many Princeton students have friends and family. The ‘Prince’ should have made absolutely clear that these 1,200 Jewish civilians were murdered in a targeted, calculated attack, and it should have

been more attentive to the effects of this attack on the lives of Jewish students here on Princeton’s campus. Burying or eliding details of the vicious attacks contributes to students’ hesitance to discuss them and denounce them.

Hamas’s acts were, in the words of President Biden, “pure, unadulterated evil,” and it should not be controversial to condemn them. Doing so does not require support of Israel or Zionism, nor does it require that one oppose the right of Palestinians to national self-determination. That the victims were citizens of Israel or at least present in Israel (a number were foreign workers) does not justify their treatment or change the fact that they were innocent civilians.

The facts are clear; Hamas is proud of them, calling its murderous rampage a “dazzling triumph.” Over 260 people were slaughtered at a music festival. Some of the victims, including babies, were beheaded. President Biden compared the attack to the “worst rampages of ISIS,” noting that women have been “raped, assaulted, and paraded as trophies.” This was a depraved 21st-century pogrom of horrific proportions. This was Babyn Yar in 2023. These were the Einsatzgruppen in the Jewish homeland. And supporters of Hamas are celebrating.

Princeton students have the opportunity to speak out. Windsor Nguyễn ’25, prompt-

ed by his feeling of “strong moral obligation,” has been circulating a pledge condemning the attacks, which we encourage everyone to sign here. We urge you also to consider donating to one of the many humanitarian organizations working in the region if you are financially able, including Magen David Adom, which is Israel’s emergency medical service, or the International Committee of the Red Cross. Chabad at Princeton is also running a GoFundMe for emergency aid, to which you can donate here.

Nguyễn’s public stand for human dignity gives us hope. So does a joint message from the party chairs of Whig-Clio, as well as a beautiful vigil held by campus Jewish organizations and attended by Jews and allies alike. Yet far too few of our peers have made their voices heard. Perhaps they haven’t seen the reports. Maybe they are as scared to read and watch them as we are, in denial that such atrocities could really have taken place in a world that says “Never Again” to the Holocaust. This is the charitable approach, and if accurate, we challenge our fellow students to watch the videos of what happened on Oct. 7. Plenty have been independently verified. See if you can watch them without feeling sick to your stomach, and then decide whether you can still justify ignoring what happened. See if you can watch over 1,200 Jews being slaughtered and not respond

with unqualified condemnation of those responsible. The less charitable view, which is too horrible to imagine, is that our fellow students have seen the enormity of the atrocities and are unbothered. But if our peers are informed, then we have no choice but to take their silence as tacit approval. Approval means that Jewish lives are as worthless to them as they are to those who killed, kidnapped, and raped hundreds of innocent civilians, infants and seniors, men and women, boys and girls.

We challenge anyone who remains unconvinced that Hamas’s actions are deplorable: Do not remain ignorant. Ignorance is immoral. Silence is immoral. If ever you intoned “Never Again,” now is the time to think about what those words mean and what they require of you at this moment. Now is the time for men and women of conscience — men and women who pledge to serve their nation and all humanity — to denounce without reservation these acts of utter inhumanity.

Elazar Cramer is a junior in the Politics Department from Newton, Mass.

Yonah Berenson is a junior in the Politics Department from Los Angeles, Calif. Elazar can be reached at elazar.cramer@ princeton.edu, and Yonah can be reached at yberenson@princeton.edu.

An open letter from Princeton faculty and students in solidarity with Gaza

Guest Contributors

The following is an open letter and reflects the authors’ views alone.

Dear President Eisgruber, We write as bereaved members of the Princeton community — faculty, students, alumni, and staff — to express our unequivocal outrage over the tragic loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives during the past week as the region seems to careen uncontrollably towards an all-out regional conflagration. There is never any justification for the targeting of civilians, whether it be assaults on Israeli towns or the aerial bombardment and total siege of the Gaza Strip. We firmly believe that the only solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is a political one. The ongoing Israeli assault upon the Gaza Strip must be stopped. We call upon

the leadership of the University as well as that of elected officials in New Jersey and Washington D.C. to do everything possible to bring an end to the targeting of civilians by the relentless bombing of hospitals, homes, roads, schools, universities, and infrastructures of survival in the Gaza Strip. The international community must force Israel, Hamas, and all parties to the conflict to adhere strictly to the letter of international law, first and foremost by putting an immediate and complete halt to the unchecked collective punishment currently being deployed against Palestinians in Gaza. The free flow of humanitarian assistance must be assured for the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza who currently have no access to food, clean drinking water, fuel, electricity, and medical relief.

We write to voice our profound concern over the wide -

spread dehumanization and erasure of Palestinian life in the United States and throughout the Western world, in the media, public discourse, and official governmental statements. This political environment constitutes a clear and present danger to Palestinians, while also serving to justify rising threats to and criminalization of free speech and academic freedom around the demand to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories. University students and student organizations who issue statements critical of Israeli policies or express solidarity with Palestinians are continuously subjected to harassment, intimidation, imperiled job prospects, and threats to their personal safety. We demand continuous and ironclad guarantees of the freedom of speech for our faculty but especially for our students, including concrete protections from harassment,

intimidation, and discrimination. Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students have been attacked for their views, whether expressed or imputed, whether online or in the real world, but also on the basis of their identity alone, as we recently saw in the heartbreaking case of a six-year-old PalestinianAmerican child in Illinois being stabbed 26 times in his own home.

We welcome your statement of October 10 emphasizing that Princeton embraces both Israelis and Palestinians as part of its community, and that the situation is deeply distressing for us all. We appreciate the efforts made by the administration to reach out to Jewish community members as well as those with Israeli citizenship to check on their well-being. We find it unacceptable, however, that Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students were not and have not been accorded a similar

show of respect and care. We call upon the University administration to do everything in its power to ensure that all Princetonians are recognized and feel safe and seen in this moment of accelerating grief, horror, and outright danger. This is an epochal moment in the history of the Middle East. “In the nation’s service and the service of humanity,” we affirm. We call upon the University administration to uphold the values that Princeton stands for. We serve the nation and serve humanity by collectively working for peace and justice.

As of 4:30 PM on October 21, 2023, this letter had 595 signatories. For a list of signatories, see the dailyprincetonian.com.

ightm A re o N N A ss A u s treet ”

By Sydney Cha

1 Tropical fruit with white and pink varieties

En-force-ers?

Tip of a shoelace

15 Jordan's Gulf of ___ 16 One, in San Juan

Broadway bogeyman + covered corpse

20 Frenzied fixation

21 "Star Trek" role for Takei

22 Grain container

25 Greek gorgon + deathdevouring demon

29 Polish brand with shades like "Rust and Relaxation" and "Yay or Neigh"

30 "___ Miz"

31 Lions and tigers, but not bears (oh my!)

32 Swahili's language group

34 Morticia's husband

35 One-eyed ogre + seductive singer

39 Orchard fruits

40 Russian rulers before 1917

43 A double feature in "sidewalk chalk," for some 46 "___ and ty"

48 Ghosts' cry

49 Sinister spector + manyheaded myth

51 Functions

52 Stratford-upon-___ 53 Wee bits 55 Orchestra locale

56 A 1962 #1 hit for October ... or what you do around the circled letters of this puzzle 62 Helpful connections 63 Harry Potter villian Malfoy 64 Nibs used in Hershey's chocolate 65 Mary Shelley, __ Godwin 66 Affix, as a button 67 Bone-tired

Separation

High-grossing reaction?

Chicken __ king

Modern money mover

Roti flour 6 Foxx, Oliver, and Dornan 7 Princeton Building behind the twisted Clement Meadmore sculpture 8 Beaver's project 9 Company that created Watson

Perhaps 11 Spooky season 12 How one might be caught

Cider companions

"This round's ___"

Tyra Bank's signature expressions

Cry out loud

Bitter beer, briefly 24

for the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, with "the"

Crafts that were the subject of a 2023 Congressional hearing

They could be red, silver, or amber

What to do with the answer to this clue, maybe

Waze or Google Maps, for short

Catches in the act

Caviar, for example

The Minis

By Sabrina Effron Staff Constructor

43 Take someone's

Founder of Taoism (Var.)

Hydrogen has one

Witching hour, say

Place for a mirrorball

Classroom geography poster, for short

Iron, gold, or diamond, in

Nickname

South Asian groups on campus foster community, cultural belonging

By Mira Eashwaran Staff Features Writer

South Asian students find community in a myriad of ways, not least through student organizations and clubs. Some of these associations are new, while others can be traced back to the 1980s. These groups provide spaces of affiliation and cultural expression for students, helping to facilitate community building for students of these backgrounds.

The University’s campus today hosts a variety of South Asian affiliated groups, from dance companies centered around diverse South Asian dance styles, to religious or affinity spaces like the Princeton Hindu Satsangam (PHS) and Muslim Students Association (MSA).

The Daily Princetonian spoke with past and present leaders across several of the University’s South Asian student groups.

The early years of the South Asian Students Association (SASA)

Founded in 1986, the South Asian Students Association, commonly referred to as SASA, started as a cultural group focused on building community through cultural programming, movie screenings, film festivals, and lectures throughout its early years. At the time, the group was heavily focused on the South Asian graduate student population, with a substantial number for students coming directly from countries in South Asia.

When K. Balasubramanian GS ’91, one of the founding members and the first president of SASA, arrived at Princeton, “there was really no formal setting for people of South Asian background to get together.” He recalls himself and Anant Narayanan GS ’83 “march[ing] into the Dean’s office” and pitching the idea for a South Asian Students Association, with the goal of providing the Princeton South Asian community with cultural events.

As an official group, SASA was able to communicate with the New York Indian consulate, which connected them with Indian artists, singers and dancers.

South Asian life started showing up on campus in other ways. WPRB aired the radio show Sangeet, focused on Indian music and programming. According to Balasubramanian, the local Indian community started calling in after the show’s debut. With these budding connections, SASA became more than just a campus organization.

“[SASA] was not just for students,” said Balasubramanian, “but some place for the South Asian community to get together in the Princeton area, because back in ’84 [when he came to Princeton], a lot of the other what you may think of currently as social venues, like temples, mosques … did not exist in this area,” said Balasubramanian. “It was almost from day one, a community-focused organization.”

“If you asked me what [SASA] did,” explained Balasubramanian, “[SASA] connected the local community along with the students, and … it connected the grad students with the undergrads.”

Balasubramanian cites the international student network to be very helpful in aiding international students in their transition to Princeton in the 1980s, from things as everyday as traveling to “the local K-mart to get bedding.” There were even “weekly shopping trips” to the local Indian supermarket to get groceries.

“Back then, the nearest Indian restaurant to campus was about a 15mile drive away,” Balasubramanian continued.

Malini Raghavan GS ’91, an alumna member of SASA, said she found that Princeton “was a lot to navigate as an international student,” with Princeton not being a “vegetarianfriendly town,” as opposed to today. She cited food as an adjustment. “It was not an easy transition, but being part of a South Asian community actually helped,” she told the ‘Prince.’

While the original version of SASA became essentially inactive in 2013, recently, students have been attempting to revive it.

Anika Agarwal ’25, a current coPresident of SASA, was one of five members of the Class of 2025 who worked to relaunch SASA in their freshman year by COVID-era seniors who had tried but were unable to revive the inactive group.

Agarwal is a former business project manager for the ‘Prince.’

In the Forbes Dining Hall in 2021, the five students — Anika Agarwal, Amina Anowara, Jashvi Desai, Sunrit Panda, and Shruti Roy — started their planning.

The group’s Spring 2023 docket included a mango lassi event, a movie night, a SASA dinner, an alumni event, and the pinnacle of the semester: mock shaadi, a large-scale event with dance performances and hundreds of attendees that SASA had been working towards for a year.

“As we get bigger, it’s tougher to have a tighter community,” acknowledges Afzal Hussain ’25, Head of Alumni Outreach. But he’s optimistic about the trajectory of SASA, citing the leadership and the influx of younger Class of 2026 students as reasons for its resurgence.

A comedy group starts up over the turn of the century

“We were not thespians. We were simply a gaggle of goofballs who had unwittingly stumbled upon a way to discuss common issues and have a good time doing it,” said Kushanava Choudhury ’00 in a Voices piece in a 2000 Daily Princetonian issue.

Choudhury was referring to Princeton South Asian Theatrics (PSAT), the first college group of its kind established in the U.S.

Pitched by Karthick Ramakrishnan GS ’02 at a general SASA meeting, PSAT started off informally in 1998. Sachin Shah ’01 would join Ramakrishnan in writing and organizing the first informal PSAT show. Their first skit, a 45-minute satirical show complete with accents, was soon after performed at a SASA event in the now Carl A. Fields center. After the show’s debut, the informal PSAT troupe expanded their comedic skit into a full-length play.

Shah credits the beginning of PSAT as having a “big role in start-

ing to form the South Asian community on campus in a lot of ways,” as it was a medium for South Asian students to connect and “share [their] experiences,” particularly secondgeneration South Asian students. This was a different, and growing, demographic from the students who initially founded SASA.

“Fundamentally, we’re just a bunch of people who like being around each other,” said Choudhury in his 2000 piece. “Through shared humor — of cheapskate fathers, doting mothers and gossipy aunties — we’ve accomplished something unique: We’ve formed the germ for a sense of community among South Asian students on this campus.”

Current PSAT Co-President (and SASA Publicity Chair) Nooha Kawsar ’25 said the group has the dual role of being a comedy group as well as a vehicle of representation bringing light to South Asian stories. In this position, the group seeks to “strike a balance” between stereotypical Desi humor and important social issues.

Kawsar explained that in the recent past and moving forward, PSAT has been trying to move away from South Asian stereotypes in their shows, shifting towards a practice where they “[cast] Desi people in roles that have not been usually occupied by them … [as] representation matters a lot.”

Kawsar summed up her philosophy towards the new trajectory of PSAT through a conversation she had with a fellow member; “we’re not funny because we are Desi people, but we are Desi people who are funny.”

Kawsar lastly pointed out her hopes for the South Asian groups like PSAT and SASA at Princeton to be grounded in “[moving] past … India-centric [events or jokes].”

“While those sorts of jokes and those sorts of stories in the West have allowed South Asians to have representation, I think that a lot of times it overlooks the stories of other cultures in South Asia,” says Kawsar, emphasizing the importance of representing the many cultures that exist in the region.

Dance and activism in the modern era

The variety of student groups with

a South Asian majority has expanded substantially, including groups focused on arts and activism.

Founded in 2011, Princeton Bhangra is a dance group that specializes in the Punjabi dance form of Bhangra. Shruti Joshi ’25, the current President, spoke to the ‘Prince’ about Bhangra’s significance and cultural implications.

Bhangra “allow[s] people to tie their South Asian culture with some sort of form of dance and art,” said Joshi.

Though Bhangra is traditionally Punjabi, the group isn’t restricted to any South Asian culture. Joshi finds that although she is not Punjabi, she was able to find a community within it.

“There’s a lot of discussion surrounding [what differentiates us, where in South Asia we are from] … but when we’re performing, it doesn’t feel like that at all. We’re all just there to show something that we’ve worked on that connects us to our roots in South Asia,” said Joshi.

The team contains a diversity of students, from South India to Pakistan. Bhangra functions as a way for students of all backgrounds to connect to their heritage and identity, regardless what part of South Asia they are from, said Joshi.

“Some of the second [generation] South Asian Americans have not been to any part of South Asia before,” said Joshi. “Being able to connect through dance is very valuable and kind of brings a part of South Asia to them, on campus.”

Joshi notes a divide between first and second generation South Asians at Princeton, and views South Asian student organizations as ways to bridge that divide. “Music and dance is one really nice way that you can kind of connect, just because … it’s so universal,” said Joshi. “You just look for what you have in common and what you can learn from each other.”

The Naacho Dance Company is another South Asian dance group.

For Saarthak Chaturvedi ’25, one of the presidents of Naacho, Princeton was a culture shock. Originally from India, Chaturvedi explained that during his freshman year, he “kind of struggled to find that connection to home or connection to where I came from, and dance just happened

to be a beautiful medium to make that happen. And I didn’t really expect that.”

Some groups have played on an increased political awareness. The South Asian Progressive Alliance (SAPA) was founded in 2019, during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in India. The Indian law that “provide[d] a fast track to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.”

Uma Fox ’26, a member of SAPA, pinpoints the passing of this act as a “pivotal moment” for the diaspora’s understanding of “India’s right-wing shift and the extent of very popular support for anti-ethnic minority … and anti-Muslim policies that endanger a lot of Indians and a lot of South Asians beyond Muslims.”

According to Fox, SAPA “interpret[s] South Asian culture to be progressive and to include progressive values in its ethos,” and goes on to establish SAPA’s inherent academic ties as a non-exclusive group “dedicated to the study of South Asia and advocacy for South Asia.”

The academic-centered, progressive group includes a variety of students from different South Asian countries.

Finding a sense of place

For South Asian students at Princeton, taking part in groups or attending events designed to promote a sense of community can maintain cultural ties, a connection to heritage, and a sense of visibility. In these groups, sometimes a family can be found no matter how far from home one is. Different groups cater to firstgeneration and second-generation students respectively.

Chaturvedi felt that he had found this sense of belonging in Naacho.

“When it comes to my background, and my roots, and that feeling of being so far away from home, having a community where you get to just have a good time and dance to mostly South Asian music, it’s been very fun.”

Mira Eashwaran is a staff Features writer for the ‘Prince.’

Programs from Asian alumni groups aim to increase diversity of international student body

By Benjamin Patron

Features Writer

Though 12 percent of undergraduates are international, Princeton has historically struggled to attract international students who don’t have previous connections to America, according to Ed Rogers ’87, president of the Princeton Club of Japan — many international students come from American families or attend American international schools. According to alumni leaders, in the 2000s and 2010s, the university and alumni have expanded recruitment efforts to reach a more diverse pool of international applicants. The Daily Princetonian spoke with alumni in Asia about the evolution of recruitment abroad.

In the past, recruitment in the region has had a relatively narrow reach. According to Rogers, applicants from Japan were often legacy students from elite international high schools.

“The admissions process engaged with the children of ex-patriots from diplomatic or business communities,” he said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ He noted a similarity to domestic admissions in the historic emphasis on private schools.

Beyond social status, language barriers have also limited recruitment in Asia. Applicants who do not speak English as their first language, or as their high school’s language of instruction, are required to submit an additional test showing proficiency.

“From non-English-speaking countries like Taiwan, you find that more and more applicants will come from international schools,” said Heather Carmichael ’00, who previously served as chair of the Alumni Schools Committee chapter in Singapore, in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ Because Singapore is an English-speaking country, language has not been a barrier to outreach.

Private international schools in Asia cater to a multinational student body, typically with fewer regional students than local high schools, and with instruction often being in English.

In the past, the admissions office did not send representatives abroad for local recruitment. “It relied a lot on alumni to just go to college fairs to speak with students,” Carmichael said, “or go to different high schools by setting up a booth.”

Over the last 20 years, the University began sending admissions representatives to Singapore and Japan to “broaden the footprint” of its recruiting. This campaign has also bolstered the involvement of local alumni networks.

For one, the Princeton Club of Japan, has expanded its infrastructure for recruitment in collaboration with University representatives. Both alumni and admissions representatives participate in college fairs throughout the country. A premier event is the annual Ivy League panel at the high-ranking Tokyo high school, The Kaisei Academy, which has since sent three local students to Princeton. According to Rogers, the first year around 700 prospective students and families attended.

Rogers also noted the U.S-Japan Council, a nonprofit organization that sponsors Japanese students to study in the United States, has increased access for Princeton appli

cants.

In the past academic year, 10 enrolled students were from Japan.

The Alumni Association of Singa

pore has also increased its outreach.

The association began the Princeton Book Awards, a distinction given to local high school students for aca

demic achievement and community service.

“The idea is that somebody who wins this award, presumably a very qualified student, will then be inclined to apply to Princeton,” Carmichael said.

In the past two decades, the number of Singaporean applicants rose from 170 to around 300. Last year, 11 students from Singapore were enrolled at Princeton.

In India, which had 44 students at Princeton last year, alumni recruitment has involved identifying talented students and encouraging them to apply.

“Certainly, we will recommend that they apply to Princeton if we encounter someone with a special talent in squash or science fair,”

Shiv Siddhant Kaul ’03, president of the Princeton Club of India, said, “but there’s no structured mechanism to do that.”

Ultimately, Kaul is optimistic about increasing diversity in international students. “Each year the number of applicants keeps expanding,” he said, “and the applicants cover a wide spectrum from all over the country.”

Benjamin Patron is a contributing Features writer for the ‘Prince.’

LOUISA GHEORGHITA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Davis International Center.

Contributing

the PROSPECT. ARTS & CULTURE

Reviewing 10 books by the Asian-American authors of our era

By Audrey Zeng | Contributing Prospect Writer

Given the lack of diversity within the traditional literary canon (drinking game: take a shot for every famous author named “Jack” or “John”), it may come as a surprise that Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club” is not the only Asian book on the literary scene. Having discovered this fact, I’ve made a conscious effort to read more books by authors of Asian descent, especially those dealing with “third culturism” — the reconciliation of an inherited culture with a different culture that one grew up or resides in. These are 10 of my favorite books by authors of Asian descent featuring Asian main characters, ranked from least to most focused on Asian identity.

“Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang

“Yellowface” begs the question of who is allowed to tell what stories. White narrator June Hayward rebrands herself as Juniper Song to publish her recently deceased, literary superstar friend’s unfinished manuscript about the Chinese Labor Corps. June is attacked for publishing under a racially ambiguous name and tries to fend off the rumors of plagiarism. Kuang uses these attacks and June’s defenses to meditate on cultural identity. How much more justified is Athena Liu, who grew up in a British upper-class family with private schooling and barely speaks Mandarin, to publish a book about Chinese culture over June Hayward? In our age of immigration and globalization, how much does inherited cultural identity, or lack thereof, really matter? Though Kuang doesn’t linger on these questions for quite long enough or with enough nuance, she has still crafted a fun novel that at least brings up such questions on identity.

“The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan

Chan’s novel features main character Frida Liu, who is forced into an institution with the feel of a boarding school in order to earn back custody of her child. The novel discusses the double standards expected of women versus men, especially regarding childcare, and it also talks about the intersection of gender and racial discrimination. Through her mandatory “racial sensitivity” training, Frida is forced to confront her own Chinese heritage. She also worries about the generational loss of culture as her daughter Harriet stays with Frida’s white husband and his white mistress. Chan’s dystopian world-building rivals that of Orwell and Bradbury, and her message on just how difficult it is to exist as a female, especially one of color, is stunningly impactful.

“Severance” by Ling Ma Ma is one of my favorite authors solely because of how much I loved this book.

“Severance” is set in a plague-ridden world eerily familiar to present-day readers, despite the book being published in 2018. We see the main character Candace’s perspective at various points in time: before the

pandemic hits; during the pandemic as she refuses to stop working while struggling through a global and social deterioration; and in flashbacks about her childhood in China. Ma cleverly interweaves all these perspectives, resulting in an entertaining and incredibly intelligent satire that examines American capitalism and imperialism. I wanted to underline every single sentence in this book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read.

“Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng

“Everything I Never Told You” follows the struggles of Chinese-American character, James, his STEM-oriented wife Marilyn, and their three children as they carve their way through 1970s America. Ng’s characters are stunningly complex. Their conflicts, both internal and external, feel weighty and real, and Ng’s moving prose only heightens the emotional stakes. The book explores James’s difficulties with being a Chinese-American in academia, Marilyn’s adversities with her STEM aspirations, and how both of their traumas were generationally imparted onto their children. This is a prime example of a novel that discusses Asian identities in conversation with other minority identities. Not only does this create more complex characters and plotlines, but it is also more representative of people in the real world.

“A Scatter of Light” by Malinda Lo

“A Scatter of Light” is a wonderfully nuanced coming-of-age story about growing up at the intersection of many different identities. The main character learns — alongside the reader — how to exist as a queer woman of color pursuing both science and art. Readers should not be put off by the book’s categorization as Young Adult (YA). Though the language is distinctly YA, this serves as an advantage: The book is simple enough to read for fun, but Lo still provides enough depth in her characters and conflicts for readers who want more thought-provoking material.

“Days of Distraction” by Alexandra Chang

“Days of Distraction” is a slow, slice-oflife book following the Chinese-American narrator and her white significant other as she struggles through work and her relationship in Part I, then through a solo road trip in Part II. “Days of Distraction” stands out in its extensive discussion on relationships between white men and Asian women. Chang references numerous historic sources, contemporary books, and articles on race, providing a very unique touch that enhances the reading experience by allowing readers to explore the systems driving the main character’s internal conflicts, outside of the fictional setting. Though its slow pace is not for everyone, “Days of Distraction” is an enjoyable book for those with the time and patience to make their way through it.

by R.F. Kuang

To anyone who has visited any vaguely commercial bookshop in 2022, the gray tower and spiraling white birds on the cover of R. F. Kuang’s “Babel” might be instantly recognizable. While the novel does fall prey to common pitfalls of Young Adult Fantasy — telling character development rather than showing it, with its prose verging on melodramatic — its other elements more than make up for it. The book’s main character Robin was taken from China as a child and has to grapple with his Chinese identity during his studies at Oxford University, certainly a predominantly white institution (PWI). Much of the book centers around the imperialism underlying all of Robin’s work, which seems fictional on the surface, but holds more historical truth than not. Kuang writes an entertaining book reminiscent of what made Harry Potter successful, but also integrates postcolonial and linguistic theory to satisfy readers who want more to think about.

“The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri Lahiri, who previously served as Princeton’s Program in Creative Writing director, crafts a generational story about the Ganguli family as the parents move to America and their son Gogol grows up. It is a complex, layered novel about living as an immigrant, beautifully representing the cultural and generational struggles that immigrants – both first and second generation – face. Lahiri’s characters and conflicts are all crafted masterfully, and you feel for the Gangulis, especially Gogol, as they struggle individually and collectively.

“No-No Boy” by John Okada

A criminally underrated novel, especially considering that it was a pioneer in Asian-American literature. Okada writes from the perspective of Ichiro, a “no-no boy” (the nickname given to Japanese-

Americans who would not serve in the U.S. army or relinquish their Japanese identity) coming home after internment during World War II. The writing is brutally and emotionally raw in the most achingly gorgeous way. Okada himself was an internee, and it shows through the almost intimate language of the novel. Ichiro’s struggles as a no-no boy, both internal and external, feel very real and close as one reads the book, and it is truly an exceptionally written novel. Be forewarned, though, that this book is very much a product of its time, so there are instances of discrimination toward other minority groups, by both the main character and others. However, it is still an incredible book that everyone should read.

“Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner Michelle Zauner, also known as musician Japanese Breakfast, centers her memoir around growing up Korean American and her mother’s death, noting the grief that followed and her gradual reconnection to her Korean culture. “Crying in H Mart” saw huge commercial success after its 2021 release. Though it is largely the immigrant narrative of, among other things, being embarrassed over smelly lunch boxes, Zauner’s writing and story are compelling. The immigrant narrative and her struggles with her parents also make the book intensely relatable, meaning it also gets intensely emotional. It is a worthwhile read both for fans of Japanese Breakfast and those who have never heard of Zauner’s music. Readers will have a good experience regardless.

Audrey Zeng is a first-year contributing writer for the Prospect. She can be reached at audrey. zeng@princeton.edu.

“Babel”

Carrie “is a blood-soaked whirlwind that you will never forget”

FILMS

Continued from page 19

combines surreal dreamscape imagery with some of the most creative kills on screen. It is a frighteningly good time that works so well within its genre. I would also be remiss not to mention the stylish ’80s clothing donned by some of the characters. If any film on this list is going to keep you up at night, it’s this one.

3. “Death Becomes Her” (1992)

Much to society’s detriment, they do not make movies like this anymore. Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, and Bruce Willis star in this Robert Zem-

eckis flick about the allure and danger of infinite youth. It’s hilarious and endlessly entertaining, marked by Old Hollywood glamor and notable special effects.

4. “Frankenweenie” (2012) “Frankenweenie” is certainly not retro — I remember seeing trailers for it on Disney Channel. However, the Tim Burton film mimics the classic Universal Studios horror style with gorgeously lit and rendered stop motion animation. The black and white imagery is timeless, and the macabre yet wholesome narrative in which a little boy revives his recently deceased dog makes for a wonderful Halloween package.

5. “Carrie” (1976)

Every Halloween watchlist must feature some variation of high school horror. “Carrie,” the ’70s Stephen King adaptation directed by Brian De Palma, is a classically terrifying time. Sissy Spacek plays the title character — a high school reject with unique abilities. The film is a bloodsoaked whirlwind that you will never forget.

6. “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” (1949)

This is a truly bizarre double bill from Disney. The first story, “The Wind in the Willows,” is a fun British comedy about a frog committing grand theft auto. However, the second story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” is an exciting Hallow-

een tale from colonial America. The final chase sequence in particular is superbly animated and just the right amount of spooky.

7. “The Haunted House” (1929) We’re ending this list how we started it: a Disney animated short film. This one, featuring Mickey Mouse, is from 1929 and was directed by Walt Disney himself. It’s about as retro as it gets. If anything, it is proof that Halloween’s simple frights are absolutely timeless.

Tyler Wilson is a senior contributor for The Prospect and Humor at the ‘Prince.’

An ode to my small town

By Mackenzie Hollingsworth Contributing Prospect Writer

Most people don’t find themselves yearning to grow up in a small Kentucky town. And as someone who grew up there, I spent years wishing I was anywhere else. Wishing I lived in a city where the best hangout spot wasn’t a run-down mall with a movie theater, Dollar Store, Roses, and Shoe Show. Wishing my hometown was known for something more than being a crater in the Appalachian Mountains — yes, my hometown was actually built in a crater. Wishing I didn’t have to drive two hours to go anywhere remotely interesting.

Most of my life, I wished I could have been anywhere else: New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, wherever. I would have taken anything as long as it wasn’t a small town in Kentucky. Getting my Princeton acceptance letter was like winning the lottery, and I counted down the days until I would leave for college. I could finally escape my hometown. I wouldn’t be someone who lives and dies within a five-mile radius of where they were born.

I was getting out.

I’d never really appreciated my hometown until I got to Princeton, until I cried in my dorm for the first time. I called my family and told them how

much I missed them, how wrong I was about leaving home, and how badly I wanted to come back. I made a similar call almost every day. They listened to me cry and told me that they would be just as proud of me if I attended our state school. I knew it was true — they would never think less of me for leaving Princeton — but I knew I could never let myself do that. I worked so hard to get here — who would I be if I gave it all up?

So, I would wait until I could go home. The countdown on my phone screen was a constant reminder that I would be home again soon. I would see my family, friends, and boyfriend. I just had to make it to fall break. Then winter break. Then spring break. I just had to keep going until I was home again. It felt like a sick, paradoxical joke: waiting my entire life to get out of my boring, small town, and then begging to go back as soon as I had left.

After spring break of my freshman year, I realized how truly alone I felt. Even though I had friends at school, a piece of me was always longing for home, and an empty feeling would persist until I was back in Kentucky again. When you spend so much time running away from something, it always catches you. And this time, my hometown wouldn’t let me go.

As I sat in my dorm attempting to do homework, my heart would find its way home. The things that used to annoy me became things that I couldn’t wait to see again: my little sister barging in my room to wake me up, the coffee shops that got my order wrong half the time, the mountain my house was built on that I constantly trekked up. I hated them until I no longer had them.

Yet, in the second half of the semester, something amazing happened: I went one day without calling my dad crying. Then it became two days. And then a week. Even though I missed home, I found moments where I realized that Middlesboro, Kentucky and Princeton, New Jersey weren’t completely different from each other.

As a group of high schoolers crowded by Wawa one afternoon, I saw my hometown friends in their faces. They laughed, making inside jokes that I could barely hear. The girls listened to the boys playfully argue, while the latter teased the former about some celebrity crush; it was no longer a bunch of random teenagers. Instead, it was my friends and I in a random parking lot talking about life and what we wanted to do after high school. Maybe teenagers are the same everywhere. Maybe my friends would be there when I got home. I looked at the night sky and saw the stars. When

my parents called me to say goodnight and make sure I was safe in my dorm, I saw the night sky and knew that no matter how far away I was, I was still sleeping under the same moon. My sister was looking at the same constellations, and I would be home soon enough to point out a new one. For the time being, being under the same sky was enough. The first time I ordered coffee at Starbucks on Nassau, I hated it. I ordered a basic iced vanilla latte with oat milk, and it didn’t taste like the other vanilla lattes I had drunk before. I laughed, thinking about my first time getting the same drink at Crater City Coffee (we really are only known for being built in a crater). They gave me the beverage, and I took exactly two sips before tossing it. What a waste of six dollars. At least I know that no matter where I am, there’s always mediocre coffee. My hometown may be 500 miles away, but I am here. My small town, with all its mountains and monotony, came with me. Thank you to my small town. I’m sorry for running away. You’ll just have to keep catching me.

Mackenzie Hollingsworth is a contributing writer for The Prospect from Middlesboro, Kentucky. She is a member of the Class of 2026 and can be reached at mh5273@ princeton.edu.

I tried matcha from 5 places in Princeton, so you don’t have to

By Laura Zhang | Contributing Prospect Writer

Nearing midterms week, I’ve found myself craving an extra caffeine boost to get me through the day. As someone who gets tired and has headaches from drinking coffee — does anyone else experience this? — my saving grace is a good cup of matcha. As I’m sure all matcha-lovers know, however, the perfect cup of matcha is very hard to find. In the past week, I’ve made it my mission to drink at the most popular matcha places around Princeton to determine where the go-to place is, regardless of if you’re a matcha aficionado or curious first-timer. Here is a list of Princeton’s matcha places, ranked from worst to best:

5. Junbi.

Placing Junbi at the bottom of the list may be a bit controversial given its status as a favorite pick me up among Princeton students. However, upon trying their most popular menu item, the Madagascar Vanilla Matcha, I couldn’t help but wish that the matcha taste was more pronounced. The vanilla flavor was lovely and added a touch of complexity to the drink, but the sweetness of the drink was overpowering and masked the taste of matcha. If you are someone who enjoys a sweeter taste, then Junbi is a great match. But if you are someone who enjoys the bitter, earthy profile of matcha, then you should look elsewhere. I will vouch for their matcha soft serve, though, which is creamy, decadent, and has a strong matcha taste!

4. New College West (NCW) Coffee Club.

As someone who frequents Coffee Club, I was excited to try their iced matcha latte this semester. Compared to Junbi, the drink’s sweetness was more balanced, which brought out more of the earthiness and richness of the matcha. The flavors, however, were still not as pronounced as I would have liked them to be, as the drink was on the milkier side. I could see some matcha clumps at the bottom of my cup, which indicated that the mat-

cha may have needed to be mixed more thoroughly. Something good about Coffee Club is that you can add additional flavors to your matcha, which elevates the taste. Last semester, Coffee Club had a fantastic honey matcha that was rich, smooth, and super consistent. The matcha this semester was slightly less yummy, although still tastier than Junbi!

3. Campus Club Coffee Club.

Of course, I had to try matcha at both locations of Coffee Club! Although the taste difference between the NCW and Campus Club location wasn’t very significant, I did find that the matcha was slightly more watery here, as opposed to the milky taste found in NCW’s matcha. I noted that the matcha taste was more pronounced without the taste of milk covering it up, which made me like this cup more. I also really enjoyed the ambiance of the Campus Club location, with its live music and cozy interior. Enjoying your cup of matcha is also about where you drink it, so the lovely vibes of Campus Club really added to the experience!

2. Starbucks.

As someone who doesn’t drink Starbucks a lot, their iced matcha latte was shockingly good to me. Although it was still a bit too sweet, the matcha flavor was strong, and the drink was very smooth, so there weren’t any clumps. Starbucks is also quite consistent, with every matcha drink being the same quality. I would recommend trying their matcha with two pumps of chai — the spices of the chai add a really nice balance to the more rounded notes of the matcha.

1. Small World. You guys, this has been a game changer. At the start of this semester, I discovered that Small World introduced an oat-infused matcha on their menu. As someone who doesn’t usually go for milk alternatives, I was a bit skeptical at first. But upon trying, I was pleasantly surprised at how rich, creamy, and silky their matcha was. You couldn’t tell that it was made from oat milk, and the matcha profile was very pronounced but not too bitter

— perfect for any palette! The quality at Small World is also super consistent, as they make their matcha in batches every day. I could run out of adjectives describing how downright tasty their matcha was, so I just ask that you do yourself a favor and try it out. A pro-tip is to ask for less ice (they won’t charge you extra)!

Going through this experience and listing out all the matcha flavor profiles I’ve encountered, I’ve realized that there really isn’t a simple definition for what a perfect cup of matcha is. Depending on your preference, any of these places can be on the top of your list. All I ask of you is, if you haven’t tried matcha ever before, to give it a go. Who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself on a matcha-tasting journey through Princeton very soon.

Laura Zhang is a contributing writer for The Prospect from Sydney, Australia. She can be reached at lz8574@princton.edu.

My predictions for the most popular Halloween 2023 costumes

By Shannon Ma | Contributing Prospect Writer

Coming from a frosh whose midterms hit them like a truck: how can Halloween be approaching so quickly when it feels like we just got to Princeton but also feel like we have been here for years?

To help with last-minute costume shopping, I predicted the five most popular Halloween costumes that I think we’ll be seeing on campus this year. Perhaps, like me, you’ll still have time to Amazon Prime your items before October 31.

Barbie

I’m expecting lots of pink on the Street this Halloweekend — an ode to the 2023 live-action “Barbie” that took cinema by storm. In the past, dressing in full-fledged Barbie pink may have been seen as a tedious reference to a childhood show, but this year, portraying Barbie holds deeper implications. “Barbie” (2023) analyzed the intentions behind the doll’s creation, overviewed its detrimental impact on young girls’ self-image, and best of all, humanized Barbie as a character with struggles.

The film made a bold statement on feminism: being a Barbie doesn’t merely equate to dolling up and flaunting a stereotypically attractive body anymore. Rather, being a Barbie is now a proud statement of womanhood. The Barbie concept is also extremely versatile, largely thanks to the film’s portrayal of Barbie as an ever-changing woman of many shapes, sizes, hopes, dreams, and ambitions. While Barbie used to imply wearing a blonde wig and glamorous pink clothes, Barbie now comes in a plethora of

different forms. Costumes may include Barbie-and-Ken couples in rollerblades or Western outfits. A group of Barbies can dress as the different movie Barbies, such as President Barbie, Lawyer Barbie, and Doctor Barbie. A Ken group might include Ken, his Ken-dom, and Allan.

Miscellaneous Animals and Rodents

Efficient and budget-friendly, animal costumes are a timeless classic that repeats yearly, and for good reasons. I am not ashamed to admit that my high school friends have dressed up in shark onesies from 7th to 10th grade — four Halloweens of reusing the same exact costume while twinning. Now, although I am not encouraging anyone to go to such ends of laziness, a onesie is a ridiculously easy costume solution, hence why they are so popular. However, my guess is that they’re getting a bit too childish and low-effort for college student standards. So in addition to animal onesies, I predict many students will wear a pair of animal ears with a matching outfit. The Halloween costumes from “Mean Girls” and Elle’s bunny costume in “Legally Blonde” immediately come to mind. In these 2000s teenage films, two-piece animal costumes have been portrayed as the go-to for college girls. When I attend my first Halloween party this upcoming week, I wonder if this myth will hold true.

Pop Stars (specifically, Ice Spice)

Ice Spice is hands down the most imitable pop star we’ve seen in recent decades. Not only is her blazing red hair highly recognizable; her chic loungewear outfits are very simple to replicate.

Other likely pop star costumes include Taylor Swift on her  “The Eras Tour,” where each person in a group could dress up as and embody a different era from her career.

As for duos, I expect to see a lot of Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, especially after their viral collaboration on the “Barbie” soundtrack.

Unexpected Rhymes

This appalling trend has begun to dominate Halloween Tiktok. The name is self-explanatory — dress up as words that rhyme yet have nothing to do with each other. Examples include “Cupid and Stupid,” “John Cena and Athena,” or “Scream and ‘I Had A Dream.’ Let people stare at you and wonder what in the world your costume pairing is supposed to represent. Go off and experiment with the freedom of being as unhinged as humanly (or Princetonly) possible.

Oppenheimer and Einstein

I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing many distinguishedlooking students in suits strutting around campus this weekend. This is an ode to the other 2023 blockbuster that rivaled Barbie’s box office debut this summer — “Oppenheimer.” Similar to “Barbie,” the film’s instant popularity will no doubt make it an imitable Halloween theme, especially on this campus. Not only did both Oppenheimer and Einstein reside and work in Princeton; multiple scenes from the movie were filmed on site at Princeton.

Shannon Ma is a contributing writer for The Prospect. She is in the Class of 2027 and comes from Saratoga, California.

Ranking Disney Halloween episodes, from worst to best

By Lauren Fromkin

Senior Prospect Contributor

For many, Halloween elicits nostalgia as a yearly invitation to look back on your childhood when you could dream without any constraints. Halloween is the one night a year when fantasy is reality, when ghosts and ghouls freely roam the streets.

Childhood television shows also provided a venue to stretch the imagination. Few were more creative and entertaining than those on the Disney Channel, which explored themes such as possessing supernatural powers or residing in a hotel or on a cruise ship.

For these reasons, the Halloween-themed Disney Channel episodes have remained some of the most memorable. Returning to them brings back the boundless dreaming of childhood. However, looking back on Disney’s Halloween episodes, some stand the test of time better than others.

To do a manageable ranking from worst to best, I will focus on live action Disney Channel television shows that aired in the mid to late 2000s, because this was the peak of Disney Channel viewership during my childhood. This era of Disney Channel includes “That’s So Raven,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” and “The Suite Life on Deck.”

5. That’s So Raven: Season 2 Episode 2, “Don’t Have a Cow”

There was too much going on in this Halloween episode, preventing it from perfectly portraying childhood Halloween nostalgia. It centers around Raven’s hamburger and her best friend Chelsea’s veggie burger getting switched, so that the vegetarian Chelsea accidentally eats meat and subsequently wears a “no cow” pin to make a statement. After being excluded from a big Halloween party, Raven and Chelsea make a potion that will grant them wishes, but Chelsea’s “no cow” pin falls into the cauldron, transforming them into cows. To become humans once again, they must retrieve Raven’s spellbook at the Halloween party, but before they successfully do so, Raven awakens from what turns out to be a prophetic vision and switches the burgers to their proper positions so none of the dreamt up events become reality.

This episode was very entertaining, but the cow plot line felt arbitrary. Although it was funny, it didn’t necessarily bring the same level of nostalgia as other Disney Halloween episodes. It did feature many great costumes and an on-theme subplot about Raven’s brother Cory going trick or treating without his dad for the first time. I would recommend this episode to anyone who wants to experience 25 minutes of plot whiplash.

4. The Suite

“The

who was shipwrecked off the coast of New Orleans where the SS Tipton docked. The ghost captain begins to haunt Zack, so Zack asks Cody to stay in his room to monitor it for paranormal activity by recording themselves overnight. After reviewing the tape and discovering a ghost, Zack finds and tries to communicate with the ghost of the captain. He then dives to the shipwreck and finds that the captain was not responsible for it, as was recounted in history. Instead, his compass was tampered with, causing him to run aground; Zack successfully clears his name.

This episode checks off most of the boxes for a great Halloween episode. It centered around paranormal activity, and was even a bit scary at times. One moment that comes to mind is when Zack, Cody, and their friend Woody are reviewing the footage of the previous night and on tape, all three of them sat up, said “innocent,” and went right back to sleep. However, the problem with this episode is that it is not Halloween enough. There are no hints that it takes place around Halloween, and only its paranormal plot and original air date of October 8, 2010 indicate that it is a Halloween episode.

3. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody: Season 3 Episode 12, “Arwinstein”

This episode was a bit cliche, in the way that most Disney Channel shows are, but it was also a great example of Disney’s best. In this episode, Zack and Cody wander into the Tipton Hotel engineer Arwin’s supply closet and find a secret room, later discovering there is a mysterious monster living in the room. The monster reveals itself as Arwin Frankenstein-Arwinstein. That evening, London, the daughter of the hotel owner,

hosts a Halloween party, and everyone thinks the monster is human Arwin in his Halloween costume. The monster wins the party’s costume contest, but when the real Arwin appears, everyone realizes Arwinstein is an actual monster. In the end, everyone is safe and Arwin sends Arwinstein to go live with his mother.

The Frankenstein trope has been used by Disney a few times, such as in Season 3 Episode 1 of “Wizards of Waverly Place” when Justin creates a Frankenstein to keep Alex out of his room, so this episode was not the most original. However, what it lacks in originality it makes up for in nostalgia. The classic banter between Zack and Cody is as apparent as ever, and London’s big Halloween party and Arwinstein running around the Tipton Hotel successfully place Halloween at the center of the episode’s plot.

2. Wizards of Waverly Place: Season 3 Episode 2, “Halloween”

Wizards of Waverly Place is the one Disney Channel television show where nearly every episode could pass as a Halloween episode, as Alex and her brothers Max and Justin navigate the wizard world. Nonetheless, this episode still stood out as a Halloween-centric episode. Its plot depicts the Russos’ efforts to make a scary haunted house for Halloween. The Russos decide to borrow ghosts from the wizard world, and Alex chooses a ghost known for terrorizing children. When the head of the Waverly Place Merchant’s Association brings kids to the haunted house for a trial run and says it still isn’t scary enough, Alex brings out the scariest ghost from the Russos’ lair. This ghost traumatizes the kids, so the Russos’ haunted house is shut

down for being too scary.

The premise of Wizards of Waverly Place is very appropriate for a Halloween episode, and the idea of bringing ghosts from the wizard world made the episode unique and entertaining. Aside from Halloween, this was a great episode in general because it was one of the few times in the show where the parents, Jerry and Theresa, agreed to use magic. Although the magic did not work as intended, the haunted house was still an engaging plot point that brought Halloween to an already thematically well-positioned show for the holiday.

1. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody: Season 1 Episode 19, “The Ghost of Suite 613”

This episode is exactly what you think of when someone mentions a Disney Channel Halloween episode. In this episode, Zack and Cody hear about a ghost who supposedly haunts suite 613 of the Tipton Hotel. Zack dares Cody to camp out in the suite with him, and the bellhop Esteban, the candy counter employee Maddie, and the aforementioned daughter of the hotel owner London all join. Esteban runs a seance to contact the ghost, and the ghost channels herself through Esteban, taking all but Zack hostage. When Zack attempts to run out of the room, everyone reveals that the seance was a prank. The episode ends with Cody going back to suite 613 to get a blanket he left during the prank, and the ghost hands it to him, revealing that although the seance was a prank, the ghost is real. The premise of this episode perfectly centers Halloween, bringing a child-friendly spin to the haunted hotel trope. Some moments of this episode are truly eerie, such as the seance to contact the ghost in suite 613, but they are cut by the banter between Zack, Cody, London, Maddie, and Esteban. If you only have the time or the patience to endure one 25-minute television episode geared towards children (who could blame you?), this is the Halloween episode to watch.

Honorable Mention: Wizards of Waverly Place: Season 2 Episode 29, “Wizards & Vampires vs. Zombies”

Although this isn’t a Halloween episode, it’s exactly what I want to watch in October. In this episode, Justin takes his vampire girlfriend Juliet to prom, while Alex and Harper plan a zombie-themed anti-prom. Max accidentally sends the anti-prom invitation in the wizard mail, inviting real zombies to the zombie-themed event. Justin and Juliet go to the anti-prom to assist Alex in fighting the zombies, and they dance-battle the zombies. That’s right — they don’t use spells. In true 2000s fashion, they beat them in a dance battle. This may not be an official Halloween episode, but it has wizards, vampires, zombies, and a dance battle, which is enough to entertain anyone through the holiday.

Lauren Fromkin is a senior from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who covers food reviews, music, and more for the Prospect.

Life on Deck: Season 3 Episode 10, “The Ghost and Mr. Martin”

Ghost and Mr. Martin” was a great watch, although its connection to Halloween was tenuous at best. Its plot centers around the ghost of a captain

LAUREN FROMKIN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

1

Princeton Halloween Parade

Friday, Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. Palmer Square

The town’s annual Halloween Parade will set off from Palmer Square and march through downtown Princeton, ending at the Princeton YMCA.

The Casket 11 Weekly Event Roundup

By Daily Princetonian Staff

2

The MovementImage: Exhibition

Oct. 16 to Nov. 21 185 Nassau St.

“An exhibition and performance series curated by Lecturer in Visual Arts Colleen Asper that unspools the motion picture to situate performance in a continuum with film”

5

Dance, Literature and Comunidad

Nov. 2, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Firestone Library Special Collections

A performance celebrating the opening of the Alma Concepción Collection, a tribute to a pioneering Puerto Rican performing artist. There will be a performance choreographed by Alicia Díaz and with percussion by Sebastian Guerrero.

9

Faculty Jazz Quintet and Jazz Small Group I

Oct 28, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. Richardson Auditorium

Five faculty members — Rudresh Mahanthappa, Ted Chubb, Miles Okazaki, Matthew Parrish, and Vince Ector — will perform, as well as seven students, in a jazz performance

6

Finished? Early Modern Arts in the Imperfect Tense

Oct. 27 and 28 East Pyne 010

A conference seeking to “explore the obstinate presence of things imperfect in the arts of the Renaissance, and to consider the implications of interpreting the period from the vantage of the unfinished, the open-ended, and the deferred.”

10

Danish String Quartet

Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Richardson Auditorium

“The Grammy Award-nominated Danish String Quartet combines a down-to-earth sensibility with an astounding unity of sound that has placed them firmly within the ranks of the world’s finest string quartets.”

3

Exhibition: “In the Company of Good Books: Shakespeare to Morrison”

Guided tours at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 and Sunday, Nov. 5

Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library

“Amongst these rarely seen treasures are a 1598 first edition of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and Toni Morrison’s handwritten manuscript drafts of “Desdemona.””

7

Halloween with Sinfonia

Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. Richardson Auditorium

A festive concert featuring musical numbers including major melodies from John Powell’s film score to How to Train Your Dragon and Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain.

4

Traz d’horizonte: Impressions from Cabo Verde: An Exhibition of Photography

Oct. 26 to Nov. 13

East Pyne - Lower Hyphen 001COR

“An exhibition of photography by students and faculty who participated in Princeton in Portugal “is our opportunity to share “impressions” and invite the Princeton community on a journey “traz d’horizonte,” beyond the horizon.”

8

Free Concert Night & Halloween Bash

Oct. 28 7 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Mercer County Park Fairgrounds, West Windsor Township

Mercer County will host the event, featuring a concert from Dirt Road Addiction, a costume contest, and a beer garden

11

Harvest Festival

Oct. 28 at 3 pm - 5 pm Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St, Princeton

“This free, festive program will feature ensembles and musicians performing music of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Early American eras.”

Men’s and women’s cross country teams shine in Nuttycombe Invitational and ECAC Championships

By Max Hines Sports Contributor

The men’s and women’s cross country teams exhibited strong performances this weekend at the Nuttycombe Invitational and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships, respectively, showing promise as the season continues to ramp up.

Men place 12th in competitive pre-NCAA meet in Wisconsin Facing cold, muddy conditions, the No. 29 men’s cross country team raced to a 12th place finish out of 36 teams on Friday, Oct. 13th.

This race was by far the Tigers’ most competitive field of the season, with 23 ranked teams participating and seven of the top ten teams in the country present, including national leaders Northern Arizona, who finished in a commanding first place. However, it was Harvard runner Graham Blanks who won the individual title, in 23:23 overall for the 8k race.

Princeton finished 12th overall, outplacing eleven teams ranked above them nationally, despite starting at a projected 33rd place in the first two kilometers of the race. After burning out towards the end of the last race at

the University of Virginia, this was a calculated strategy to save energy for the finish.

“We were definitely much more deliberate about this time,” senior Connor Nisbet, who placed second on the team and 81st overall, told The Daily Princetonian. “It’s a lot easier to race if you feel like you’re doing better throughout the race than if you’re hemorrhaging points throughout the race.”

Ahead of Nisbet on the team was junior Nicholas Bendtsen, who placed 42nd overall with a time of 24:03, compared to Nisbet’s 24:17. Princeton’s three through five were sophomore Myles Hogan, junior Daniel O’Brien, and senior Jarrett Kirk, who placed 90th, 91st, and 117th overall in 24:20, 24:20, and 24:27, respectively.

The Tigers’ relentless pace through each quarter of the race paid off as the the team’s standing progressed from 33rd to 22nd to 16th to 12th by the end. Head Coach Jason Vigilante was proud of the effort as a strong result and a reflection of the team’s dedicated training over the last three weeks.

“The guys ran really well at the most competitive meet of the season so far,” Vigilante told the ‘Prince.’ “They are beginning to believe in

their fitness and develop faith in one another, Friday was a step forward.”

Fitness doesn’t come easily, and the team’s growing trust in each other, according to Nisbet, grew from pushing both physical and mental boundaries day after day at practice.

“We got [in] some of our biggest workouts the last few weeks. I think that helped us get a bit of confidence [and] make it feel like our legs are really under us at this point,” Nisbet said. “[At the Nuttycombe meet], we were a lot more controlled.”

The team is eager to take on upcoming challenges this season, with the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships now two weeks away.

“I can’t wait to see what’s ahead!” Vigilante concluded.

Nisbet expressed similar sentiments, adding that, “this is the first time in a while that I felt like we really have momentum getting into the end of the season, so we’re all super excited.”

Women earn second at Van Cortlandt Park

In a field of 36 teams, the women’s cross country team raced to a second place finish at the ECAC Championship on Oct. 13th, narrowly finishing behind Northeastern by a score of 55–57.

Cross country is scored on a points system as an aggregate of the first five runners, with a lower score indicating a better place. Iona finished a distant third with 141 points.

After a disappointing performance in Boston two weeks ago, the team was much happier with this race.

“We’re quite pleased,” Coach Brad Hunt told the ‘Prince.’ “More of the team we believed we are made an appearance at the ECAC Championships.”

Leading the way for the Tigers was senior Tsion Yared, placing third overall in a time of 20:50 in the 6k. Placing second through fifth for the Tigers were seniors Maggie Liebich and Fiona Max and juniors Mena Scatchard and Lucca Fulkerson, in third, sixth, 11th, 14th, and 23rd overall, respectively. Liebich finished four seconds behind Yared in a time of 20:54, followed by Max in 21:09, Scatchard in 21:19, and Fulkerson in 21:32.

Hunt stressed the team’s strong dynamic and strategic racing as key contributors to the Tigers’ improvement,

noting how the team meeting prior to the race helped motivate and focus the runners.

“We had a great two weeks of practice, and ultimately had a little bit more of a team mentality — as we had a team meeting the night before and just mentioned that we belonged in the front of the race,” Hunt said. “They executed [the plan] beautifully and they performed really well.”

Among the cross-country community, Van Cortlandt Park is infamous for its rolling hills, especially the “back hills” section which has derailed many races. However, Hunt ascribed the team’s success more to the team’s relentless determination than course-specific training.

“We’re always gonna mimic what’s coming in regards to various courses, but honestly I think it was a little bit more of just an assertive attitude, and really being aggressive in our workouts,” Hunt said. He emphasized the importance of a guiding principle of the team, to “practice the way we compete and compete the way we practice.”

The Tigers had a tough battle with Northeastern, a team consistently ranked top 5 in the region. While the Northeastern Huskies eventually triumphed, the Tigers still put forth a dominant performance. The team was able to run in the front the entire race and demonstrated comfort across the entire six kilometers, not losing steam towards the end.

Now, all eyes turn toward the future, with conference, regional, and national meets to come.

“The unique part about cross country at the NCAA Division I level is technically all that really matters is the last two weeks of the year, which essentially is your conference meet … and then two weeks later at the regional meet,” Hunt said. “Everything we’ve been doing essentially is dress rehearsals for the big show,” he added.  “And that’s why we’re really pleased with where we are.”

Next up for both teams of Tigers is the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in Boston, Mass. on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Max Hines is a contributing writer to the Sports section of the ‘Prince.’

PHOTO COURTESY OF @GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM.

Men’s cross country warms up before Nuttycombe Invitational.

FOOTBALL

Princeton Football defeats Harvard, creates five-team tie atop Ivy League

By Alex Beverton-Smith Sports Contributor

On a windy Saturday afternoon, a crowd of more than 8,000 people saw Princeton (3–3 overall, 2–1 Ivy League) extend their winning streak, stretching back to 2017, against Harvard (5–1, 2–1) to six games, as the Tigers sealed the victory late in the fourth quarter of their Homecoming game.

The Tigers were coming into the game fresh off a 28–27 overtime loss to Brown last week, despite being up 21–7 heading into the fourth quarter.

But this week, Princeton football managed to pull ahead in a tense fourth quarter that began with both teams tied at 14. Courtesy of a late touchdown by junior tight-end Connor Hulstein, Princeton secured the 21–14 victory against the Harvard Crimson. This win pushed Princeton’s lead in the all-time series against Harvard to 60–48–7.

“It feels really good,” junior wide receiver Luke Colella told the ‘Prince’ about the Harvard matchup. “I’m proud of our guys, I’m proud of our coaches, and I’m proud of this whole culture — we’re running the league.”

Coming into the game, Harvard was ahead in the Ivy League at 2–0, with six other teams behind them even with 1–1 records.

For the Tigers, this victory puts them atop the league. Five teams now have 2–1 conference records, reflecting the intensity and closeness of the season so far.

Princeton started off the first half with strength, especially on defense. Each team traded relatively short drives before sophomore defensive back Nasir Hill caught a crucial interception near Princeton’s end zone and following a penalty on Harvard, the Tigers started their position on the Harvard 42-yard line.

The prime field position set up junior running back Jiggie Carr to rush 34 yards down the left side of the field for a Princeton touchdown and the first score of the game.

With 36 seconds to go in the first half, Princeton drove to the Harvard eight-yard-line for a 3rd-and-3, senior quarterback Blake Stenstrom received the snap, looked out right, and fired into the hands of unmarked junior wide receiver AJ Barber, who ran into Harvard’s end zone to complete the touchdown. Junior kicker Sam Massick got the extra point, and Princeton led Harvard 14–0 heading into the second half.

In the second half, the Crimson came out more aggressive against the strong Tigers defense, a defense that held Harvard to one rushing yard the entire first half with many plays going for negative yardage.

Several three-and-outs for the Tigers gave the Crimson the ball and allowed them to score two

touchdowns on ten-play drives, covering 63 and 38 yards respectively. The first came from a pass out right by Harvard quarterback Charles DePrima on Princeton’s 12-yard line, and the second evened the score at 14 on a rush from Princeton’s oneyard line.

For the most part, however, DePrima’s efforts were neutralized by the Tigers defense. This was no small feat, as the dual-threat quarterback led the Crimson in both passing yards (783) and rushing yards (517) coming into the game.

“You can’t let him scramble,”

Coach Bob Surace ’90 said to the ‘Prince’ about DePrima. “In the third quarter we kept him in the pocket, but we didn’t push, and that was partly [because] their offensive line is good, but when you’ve got people that he can’t see, that’s a hard throw.”

“He’s outstanding,” Surace continued. “The way he plays doesn’t let you sleep at night.”

The Tigers’ offense didn’t let up, and in the fourth quarter they tied together all the small things that had previously been holding them back. Crucial to this was freshman punter Brady Clark, who pinned the Crimson at the three-yard line on a 51yard punt late in the quarter.

This punt put Harvard into a tough position and allowed Princeton to get the ball back after a short six-play drive only to their 15.

Princeton came into this game with an impeccable defen-

sive record league-wide. Prior to this game, Princeton ranked first for the fewest first downs allowed in the NCAA FCS with 76, and second in rushing yards allowed at 73.0 yards per game.

The ensuing drive from the Tigers spanned eight plays, and pushed the Tigers deep into Harvard territory, to the Crimson 10-yard line.

On the final play of the drive, Stenstrom caught the snap, dashed out left, and threw a spiraling pass to junior tight-end Connor Hulstein for his first career touchdown. Suddenly, after the extra point, the Tigers found themselves up 21–14 with 1:28 to go.

“He’s been hurt and that’s been a big factor,” Surace said to the ‘Prince’ about Hulstein. “He’s such a big threat for us, he’s a unique player.”

Princeton didn’t allow any hopes of overtime, as a huge sack by senior linebacker Ozzie Nicholas pushed Harvard back to their 15 for 3rd-and-16. Finally, another crucial interception by senior linebacker Will Perez sealed the game for Princeton as they gained possession and counted off the clock.

“[The mentality was] finish, we say it every day in practice,” Colella said to the ‘Prince’ about the team’s mentality heading into the fourth quarter. “Finish every play, every snap, the more we do that, the better off we’ll be.”

Princeton showed some of their best offensive football all

season. The Orange and Black topped their average points per game total (16.4), and their defensive prowess meant that the 21 points scored was enough to secure the win.

“Blake [Stenstrom] stayed poised back there, the O-line played probably their best game and the running game was getting to it,” Nicholas noted about Princeton’s offense. “I’m so impressed by those guys, through adversity and through everything they’ve learned how to grow and continue to grow.”

Stenstrom had another impressive game throwing for 244 yards and two touchdowns while Colella had a career-high 98 receiving yards from five receptions.

“We saw [his progress] in the spring,” coach Surace told the ‘Prince’ about Colella. “He works his tail off to the point where I have got to tell [him] you’re not going to be ready for Saturday!”

Princeton also had a strong defensive performance — something which has become normal occurrence this season for them. The Tigers extended their 17 straight contests without giving up more than 30 points, dating back to Nov. 5, 2021 at Dartmouth.

Collectively, Princeton’s defense forced three interceptions, more than all of their previous games combined. Notably, Nicholas also continued his streak of having at least ten tackles with ten more against Harvard.

“They play a very important

part in every game, we could not do it without them,” Colella told the ‘Prince’ about the Tigers’ defense. “Some of those guys are the life of this team and props to them every week, game in and game out.”

This momentum-shifting victory will lead the Orange and Black into their matchup at Cornell (3–3 overall, 2–1 Ivy League) next Saturday, where they will hope to continue the strong form they showed against Harvard.

“I’m excited to get another opportunity with my brothers,” Colella continued. “I couldn’t ask for a better place to be and I’m just excited to keep the season rolling.”

This game was of crucial importance for Princeton football and their season ahead. A victory against Harvard keeps Princeton in the running for the Ivy League title, which they last won sole possession of in 2021. Similarly, a victory against Harvard who are ranked #17/#18 in the FCS shows the strength of this young Princeton team. It will be the leadership of this team that will decide how Princeton’s season unfolds, and if they can guide them in the right direction, Princeton has every hope of winning the Ivy League title once again.

Alex Beverton-Smith is a contributor to the Sports section of the ‘Prince.’

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