The Daily Princetonian: April 26, 2024

PRO-PALESTINE SIT-IN AT PRINCETON

‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ launches at Princeton, students arrested

By Annie Rupertus & Miriam Waldvogel Head & Associate News Editor

About 100 undergraduate and graduate students began a sit-in on McCosh Courtyard early Thursday morning, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins across the country. After student organizers first began to erect tents, Princeton Public Safe-

ty (PSAFE) issued its first warning to protesters. At least two student arrests have been made. After the initial arrests, students folded them away.

Students face arrest and being barred from campus if they refuse to stop after a warning, according to a campus-wide message on Wednesday morning from Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun.

“They said it was not possible here, and it is possible,” Aditi Rao GS told protesters in a speech.

McCosh Courtyard lies between the south side of the University chapel and McCosh Hall. The sit-in is not in the immediate sightline of Princeton’s public streets. After the initial tents were taken down, protesters sat down in the courtyard on tarps and

In preemptive move, U. says encampment protestors will likely be arrested and barred from campus

By Miriam Waldvogel Associate News Editor

Students participating in an “encampment, occupation, or other unlawful disruptive conduct who refuses to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus,” Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun wrote in an email to undergraduates on Wednesday morning.

The move is the University’s harshest proposed action towards student protest since Oct. 7, and a rare step in which a university has preemptively warned that it will arrest student

protestors for participating in an encampment before tents were erected.

Participation in an encampment could also potentially prevent students from completing the semester as a result of being barred from campus, Calhoun wrote. Resulting University disciplinary proceedings may also result in “suspension, delay of a diploma, or expulsion.”

On Wednesday morning, students at Brown University and Harvard University set up encampments as part of an increasingly national movement of student sit-ins.

The message from Calhoun did not seem to deter pro-Palestinian

organizers. In a message obtained by The Daily Princetonian, and sent to a group chat intended to plan an encampment, an organizer involved called Calhoun’s message “a partial bluff.”

The message, sent around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, stated that “this action is still on, and we will not be deterred.”

In a column published by The Daily Princetonian on April 25, University President Christoper Eisgruber ’83 argued that student protesters should consider “time, place, and manner” of protest. “These time, place, and manSee WARNINGS page 2

Confrontations at Columbia, Yale, and other campuses around the country have highlighted the importance of “time, place, and manner” regulations to universities’ academic and educational missions. Because the enforcement of these rules is essential to our community as well, I wanted to offer some observations about their role at Princeton and their relationship to other free speech principles.

Princeton’s free expression policy, like the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, protects a strikingly broad range of speech. It “guarantees all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” It specifically protects even speech that “most members of the University community [deem] to be offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed.”

Over the course of this academic year, we have seen again just how broad these rights are.

In August and September, for example, I resisted calls to censor or condemn a controversial book that criticized Israel

in harsh terms. In subsequent months, the University repeatedly protected the right to protest even when those protests included chants offensive to many members of the University — including to me personally.

Despite its breadth, Princeton’s free speech policy — again, like the First Amendment to the Constitution — contains exceptions. For example, it prohibits genuine threats and harassment. It also explicitly recognizes that “the University may reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities of the University.”

The University thus may, and indeed does, limit the times and places where protests can occur. It may, and indeed does, prohibit tactics, such as encampments or the occupation of buildings, that interfere with the scholarly and educational mission of the University or that increase safety risks to members of the University community.

These time, place, and manner regulations are viewpointneutral and content-neutral. They apply to any protest or event, regardless of which side they take or what issues they raise.

Time, place, and manner

April 22, 1970 marked the first ever Earth Day — and Princetonians were at its forefront. Students organized an “Environmental TeachIn” where environmental protection and anti-pollution efforts were discussed by students and actors, including an airline executive and a lobbyist. Reflecting on the achievements and potential improvements proposed at the time, the first Earth Day at Princeton acts as a precedent for environmental awareness and advocacy at Princeton.

CALVIN GROVER / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Princeton community sit-in on McCosh Courtyard on April 25.

Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 University President

Sippy ’25:

“We are part of a historic moment in student movements drawing on anti-war student movements in American history.”

ARRESTS

Continued from page 1

blankets. Some began singing and chanting. By noon, approximately 250 protesters were gathered on McCosh Courtyard.

“We’re gonna be here for a while, everybody,” Patrick Jaojoco GS told protestors. Protesters have set up an art project, a library, and a yoga area in the courtyard.

“We are part of a historic moment in student movements drawing on anti-war student movements in American history,” said Emanuelle Sippy ’25, the president of the Alliance of Jewish Progressives (AJP). “ It’s very easy to valorize this when it’s about South African apartheid or the Vietnam War or Kent State. We need to show up in this present moment.”

Sippy noted she was not speaking for AJP.

“We’re gonna be here until the University divests,” Rao said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.

“They [PSAFE] used such excessive force this morning and it’s really hard to see how the University recovers its image of arresting two students within five minutes of our encampment. Just really unprecedented,” she added.

Six officers encircled one of the arrestees at the time of the arrest, as could be seen in a video taken by the ‘Prince.’ One officer removed the individual’s backpack, while two officers handcuffed them. After handcuffs were placed, the student was pulled away from the courtyard.

The two students, Achinthya Sivalingam GS and Hassan Sayed GS, were arrested within six minutes of the first tents being set up.

“The two graduate students have been immediately barred from campus, pending a disciplinary process,”

University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “No force was used by Public Safety officers when conducting the arrests, which occurred without resistance,” Morrill added.

Student organizers have circulated a document on Instagram calling on alumni and other members of the university to call and email the University to halt disciplinary measures, and said that Sivalingam and Sayed had been evicted from their campus housing and had been given five minutes to collect their belongings.

“The students have shown an inspiring amount of courage, determination and discipline,” Max Weiss, an associate professor of history and member of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), told the ‘Prince.’ “So long as Princeton University and its administration and its president refuse to take action on this question, history will remember that the blood

of Palestinians is on their hands.”

“I applaud the Princeton administration for being clear on what the rules are and for enforcing them properly,” said Rabbi Eitan Webb, the co-director of Princeton’s Chabad House. Webb was part of a group of a half dozen counterprotesters, some holding American and Israeli flags, standing off to the side. The group seemed to have dispersed by around 8:30 a.m.

A sheet handed out at the sit-in includes demands for the University to “call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and condemn Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.”

The sheet also reiterated existing demands for the University to divest from “companies that profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, occupation, and apartheid policies,” to refrain from association from Israeli academic institutions and businesses, and to cultivate relationships with Palestinian institutions. It also called for broader transparency on the University’s investments and an end to weapons research funded by the Department of Defense.

The demand sheet also specifically singled out TigerTrek Israel and Birthright Israel trips sponsored by the Center for Jewish Life (CJL), as well as disassociation from the Tikvah Fund, a politically Zionist nonprofit that has funded events on campus in the past.

Encampments also sprung up at Harvard and Brown on Wednesday morning, making Princeton the fifth Ivy League school with pitched tents. Multiple students at Brown faced disciplinary action Wednesday afternoon, but no students at either campus have been arrested so far.

Students at Cornell and George Washington University also set up their own encampments on Thursday morning.

Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun wrote in an email

sent to undergraduate students at 10:08 a.m. on Wednesday morning that “[a]ny individual involved in an encampment, occupation, or other unlawful disruptive conduct who refuses to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus.” The email was sent approximately two hours after an article in The National Review leaked documents regarding plans for an encampment at Princeton.

Calhoun’s email is the first message to the full undergraduate student body threatening potential disciplinary action in response to pro-Palestinian activism, and marks the most explicit proposed action of the University towards student conduct and protest since Oct. 7.

In an opinion piece published by the ‘Prince’ on April 25, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 pointed to “time, place, and manner rules” stating, “[the University] may, and indeed does, prohibit tactics, such as encampments or the occupation of buildings, that interfere with the scholarly and educational mission of the University or that increase safety risks to members of the University community.”

This story is breaking and will be updated as further information becomes available.

Miriam Waldvogel is an associate News editor and the investigations editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Stockton, Calif. and often covers campus activism and University accountability.

Annie Rupertus is a head News editor for the ‘Prince’ from Philadelphia who often covers activism and campus governance.

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published at noon on Thursday, April 25.

Weiss: “The intention represents an instance of prior restraint — in other words, a move to chill student activism and free expression, even as they continue to use the language of free speech.” WARNINGS

ner regulations are viewpoint-neutral and content-neutral,” he wrote. “They apply to any protest or event, regardless of which side they take or what issues they raise.”

Eisgruber also referenced his history on free speech issues, including his decision not to condemn the use of the book “Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability” in a Near Eastern Studies class last fall.

A leaked press release obtained by the ‘Prince’ outlined the proposed encampment’s demands, including that the University “call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and condemn Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.”

The press release also reiterated existing demands for the University to divest from “companies that profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, occupation, and apartheid policies,” to disassociate from Israeli academic institutions and businesses, and to cultivate relationships with Palestinian institutions. It also called for broader transparency on the University’s investments and an end to weapons research funded by the Department of Defense.

The encampment’s proposed demands also specifically singled out TigerTrek Israel and Birthright Israel trips sponsored by the Center for Jewish Life (CJL), as well as disassociation from the Tikvah Fund, a self-identified Zionist nonprofit that has funded events on campus in the past.

Princeton’s proposed response mirrors the suspension of all students involved in an encampment at Columbia University and Barnard College that drew national attention. Some students reported being barred and evicted from their campus housing. A ban from University property at Princeton would prevent students from accessing dormitories and dining halls, though students who live off-campus or are members of eating clubs would continue to have access to housing and dining plans.

University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill did not specify how long potential bans from University property for participating in an encampment would last, saying it would “depend on the particular circumstances.” She also did not directly respond to questions about impacts on students’ financial aid or green card status and said it would depend “on the specific facts and circumstances of a student’s situation.”

The University has not always

barred students from campus following an arrest. After Larry Giberson ’23 was arrested in March 2023 for coordinating a “heave-ho” effort at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he was able to remain on campus and complete the spring semester of his senior year. Giberson received his diploma at graduation and told the ‘Prince’ at the time that the University had not contacted him about his criminal case.

Morrill told the ‘Prince’ that the University does not comment on the status of individual students.

Several conservative students involved in campus advocacy for free expression said they supported Calhoun’s email, and that it was consistent with the University’s existing free speech stance.

“Vice President Calhoun’s statement was commendable — she underscored the viewpoint-neutral nature of the University’s free speech rules while appropriately noting that the University can legitimately regulate the time, place, and manner of disruptive demonstrations without necessarily infringing on its viewpoint-neutral commitment to freedom of expression,” Matthew Wilson ’24 wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. Wilson is a member of Princetonians for Free Speech.

“Now, the administration must fol-

low through on her statement and be prepared to discipline students or faculty who violate the University’s rules or New Jersey law as part of any socalled encampment,” he added.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Myles McKnight ’23, the former president of the Princeton Open Campus Coalition (POCC) and a fellow at the Witherspoon Institute, said Calhoun’s email was “not a speech issue.”

“As far as I know, the administration has never punished or sanctioned any anti-Israel zealot on the basis of any view or slogan he or she has expressed, including at the many antiIsrael protests that have taken place this academic year,” he added. “The administration is right to object to encampments of the sort planned here, on the basis of the conduct, not speech, it entails.”

Max Weiss, a professor in the History Department and member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), told the ‘Prince’ that “the intention represents an instance of prior restraint — in other words, a move to chill student activism and free expression, even as they continue to use the language of free speech.” Weiss specified that he was not speaking on behalf of FJP, which published an open letter in support of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University.

Following the arrests of more than 100 students at Columbia and Barnard last week, students across the country have continued protesting and setting up tents on the main lawns of their campuses, many of them resulting in arrests and disciplinary proceedings.

At Brown, multiple protestors had cases opened for student conduct violations on Wednesday afternoon. However, Brown President Christina Paxson said on Wednesday evening that law enforcement would not respond unless “actions that may create a violent, intimidating, hostile or otherwise unsafe environment” arose.

Students at the Harvard encampment have not yet faced arrest or discipline, and President Alan Garber told The Harvard Crimson on Monday that while he would not rule out any option in terms of responding to campus protests, the bar for calling law enforcement would be “very, very high.”

Miriam Waldvogel is an associate News editor and the investigations editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Stockton, Calif. and often covers campus activism and University accountability.

CALVIN GROVER / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

A small group of counterprotestors gathered off to the side.

Princeton students to start ‘Gaza

Solidarity Encampment,’ leaked documents say

By Miriam Waldvogel Associate News Editor

Princeton students are preparing to set up their own “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” according to documents first obtained by the National Review and independently verified by The Daily Princetonian, following high-profile encampments at Columbia University, Yale University, and other college campuses that have resulted in student arrests. No tents have been erected in the Nassau Hall area — a focal point for previous sit-ins on campus — at time of publication. The documents did not specify a timeline for when the encampment might begin.

In a leaked press release, organizers reiterated previous demands for the University to “divest and dissociate with Israel,” as well as a call for broad transparency in the University’s research and investments. University officials have warned undergraduates that participation in an encampment or occupation may result in disciplinary action, including suspension and expulsion.

“We’re not going anywhere until these demands are met,” organizers wrote.

The ‘Prince’ has reached out to multiple students affiliated with University-recognized, pro-Palestinian organizations — they did not respond to request for comment.

According to a leaked document detailing the onboarding processes for students willing to participate, organizers aim for an overnight encampment of at least 20 people.

Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun wrote in an email sent to undergraduate students at 10:08 a.m. on Wednesday morning that “[a]ny individual involved in an encampment, occupation, or other unlawful disruptive conduct who refuses to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus.” The email was sent approximately two hours after the National Review article was published.

“For students, such exclusion from campus would jeopardize their ability to complete the semester. In addition, members of our community would face a disciplinary process (for students this could lead to

suspension, delay of a diploma, or expulsion),” Calhoun wrote.

Calhoun’s email is the first message to the full undergraduate student body threatening potential disciplinary action in response to pro-Palestinian activism, and marks the most explicit proposed action of the University towards student conduct and protest since Oct. 7.

In his most recent State of the University letter in January, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 reiterated the administration’s commitment to free speech, even speech that some find offensive. However, Eisgruber also wrote, “that does not mean we must remain silent in the face of it … The mere fact that speech is offensive is never grounds for discipline at Princeton; the speech must fall under one of the enumerated exceptions to our free expression policy, such as those permitting the University to restrict threats or harassment.”

The proposed encampment is also the first major escalation of pro-Palestinian activism on Princeton’s campus beyond a die-in in Firestone Plaza in February.

“I am concerned that what the University administration is doing here is modifying the University Rights, Rules & Responsibilities to … specifically target potential Princeton student action in line with, or in a similar fashion to, encampments that have been set up at other universities around the country,” professor Max Weiss told The Daily Princetonian in an interview.

Weiss is an associate professor of history and member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), which published an open letter in support of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University on Monday. Weiss noted he was not speaking on behalf of FJP.

“The intention represents an instance of prior restraint — in other words, a move to chill student activism and free expression, even as they continue to use the language of free speech,” Weiss added.

“Because the University is committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, it guarantees all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to

speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn,” the University’s Free Expression statement in Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities reads.

Calhoun, in her email to students, noted that this “guarantee extends to protests and demonstrations, provided they do not involve genuine threats, harassment, or conduct that impedes the right of others to be heard, violates the law, or disrupts essential operations.”

In the past two weeks, dozens of students at Columbia and Yale have been arrested for refusing to leave their respective encampments. At Columbia and Barnard College, all students identified as being involved with their encampment were suspended, and some students reported being barred from their campus housing.

The National Review article, written by Abigail Anthony ’23, included a spreadsheet of names and emails of professors to be contacted for support for the encampment. A number of the faculty included were signatories on the Monday letter from FJP, which said they would boycott Columbia and Barnard until their demands to reinstate suspended and arrested students are met.

The plans for an encampment were first posted online on Tuesday night by Solveig Gold ’17, who shared the onboarding document on X.

Nassau Hall last saw a major sitin action in 2019, when protestors with Princeton Students for Title IX Reform (PIXR) spent more than 200 consecutive hours outside the building to demand reforms on University sexual misconduct policy. In 2015, members of the Black Justice League hosted a sit-in inside Eisgruber’s office for 33 hours to call on the University to address institutional racism.

This story is breaking and will be updated as further information becomes available.

Miriam Waldvogel is an associate News editor and the investigations editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Stockton, Calif. and often covers campus activism and University accountability.

Editor’s note: the ‘Prince’ has independently verified the documents obtained by the National Review.’

Grad students will vote on unionization May 13 and 14

By Bridget O’Neill Head News Editor

An April 23 email from Dean of the Graduate School Rodney Priestley informed graduate students that the University had entered into a stipulated election agreement with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), marking the official first step towards a graduate student union. Princeton is the only Ivy League school that does not currently have a recognized graduate student union.

The announcement comes after the Princeton Graduate Student Union (PGSU) filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on April 12. If the election is successful, the union will become the largest on campus. There are currently 3,235 graduate students enrolled at the University.

“The University acknowledges the right under current NLRB precedent of eligible graduate students who share a community of interest (as defined by the NLRB) to unionize and agrees that a secret-ballot election is the most inclusive, fair, and secure method for eligible voters to express their preference whether to be represented by UE,” the email stated.

The election is scheduled for Monday, May 13, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Tuesday, May 14, between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., in Frist Campus Center — just four days after the scheduled unionization vote for Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS).

All graduate students enrolled in degree programs holding appointments as Assistants in Instruction and/ or Assistants in Research, including master’s and doctoral students/candidates holding such appointments, are eligible to vote and would be in the bargaining unit, according to the announcement. Of these eligible candidates, those defending their dissertation or thesis in April will vote provisionally. Their vote will only count if they are enrolled at the time of the election.

Those ineligible are “doctoral graduate students supported exclusively on internal fellowships (e.g., first-year fellowships, honorific fellowships, or University fellowships that support nearly all graduate students in the humanities or social sciences), exclusively on external fellowships, or a combination of both.”

The threshold for an NLRB election to be called is 30 percent of the voting population.

In the letter, Priestley reiterated his concerns about unionization, which he also shared in a February 2023 memo to graduate students, but added, “we respect your right to exercise your vote and to make your voice heard about whether union representation is right for students at Princeton.”

Words of caution were sprinkled throughout the letter. Priestley encouraged graduate students to be fully informed about the legal and contractual changes that come with unionization and

shared a link to the Graduate School’s page which includes information regarding the election process, graduate students’ rights and critical role in the process, and the possible consequences of unionization.

A Q&A session with representatives of the Graduate School and other “relevant University offices” will be announced at a later date, according to the letter.

Priestley shared his personal belief that the University has developed “one of the most robust financial and benefits packages for graduate students in the nation; a primarily residential community with an array of housing options for students and families; and services and opportunities that support the professional, social, and physical wellbeing of students.”

He also referenced the shared governance model announced on April 1, wherein graduate students now have seats on the Faculty Committee for the Graduate School, as an example of expanding collaboration with graduate students.

PGSU has been pushing for unionization since they first formed in 2016 following the NLRB’s ruling that year which said graduate students were entitled to collective bargaining. Organizers took a brief pause in 2019 after the NLRB temporarily reversed its decision. In February 2023, more than half of graduate students had signed union cards.

PGSU joins a wave of graduate students at peer institutions seeking unionization. Graduate students at Vanderbilt, for example, are still in the midst of their card campaign.

UE, the union representing Princeton graduate students, has also represented graduate workers at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Not all graduate students are ready to vote “yes” on unionization. An opinion article published in the ‘Prince’ by a graduate student last spring argued that many of PGSU’s demands would not result in significant improvement or are unrealistic.

PGSU’s website articulates six specific goals for the unionization effort: “fair and effective cross-campus grievance procedures,” “improved support for international students,” “comprehensive, inclusive and funded healthcare and childcare,” “affordable housing guaranteed through graduation,” “guaranteed cost of living adjustments and contingency funding,” and “fair, clear and safe work standards.”

Priestley’s letter encouraged students to consider the pros and cons of representation, warning that there is no right to “opt out” of the union.

The letter concluded by assuring graduate students that if a union is approved through an election, the University will “negotiate with the union in good faith to arrive at a collective bargaining agreement.”

Bridget O’Neill is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’

LOUISA GHEORGHITA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Graduate students have been pushing for unionization since 2016.

Two officers terminated in first consequential DPS disciplinary report

By Isabel Yip Senior News Writer

For the first time since its introduction, the 2023 Major Disciplinary Action Report by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) listed disciplinary actions against three officers, including two terminations and one suspension.

The University began publishing these reports in 2021 in accordance with the New Jersey Attorney General Guidelines for Internal Affairs, AG Directive 2022-14, which established that “certain categories of discipline will always require disclosure.”

Officer Paul Krzewinski’s employment with DPS was terminated following two incidents. The report states that the severity of the discipline is based on “several sustained complaints against the officer within the previous twelve-month period.”

According to his LinkedIn, Krzewinski was employed with DPS from May 2005 to June 2023. Following his termination, he started a job as a Se-

curity Professional with Main Line Protection Services in July 2023.

Krzewinski did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

In February 2023, Krzewinski was dispatched to address a suspicious person complaint in reference to a student-aged, Black male who left his bag on the ground while using the restroom.

The report claims that the student “begrudgingly produced” his University ID card after Krzewinski asked for it. “As the officer began to write down the student’s information, the student snatched his ID back from the officer and stated he did not feel he should be a part of any report,” the report states. “As the student attempted to walk away the officer grabbed the student by the arm, preventing him from leaving and detaining him to get his name.”

Krzewinski’s actions, the report holds, were in violation of policy, as there was not any reasonable suspicion present.

During the same month, Krzewin-

ski was dispatched to address a suspicious person complaint in a parking lot on University Place concerning an individual who had been idling in the lot for over a week. In response, Krzewinski drove past the person’s vehicle two times and checked the vehicle’s registration. “The officer never approached the driver and took no further action,” the report states.

Krzewinski’s failure to investigate a call for service, in conjunction with his other violation, resulted in his termination.

Previously, Krzewinski had been suspended for seven days without pay and given training for a similar “neglect of duty” complaint. After Krzewinski and at least one other officer were dispatched to a dormitory building “concerning a report of a female yelling, ‘I cannot breathe,’” the officers interviewed both parties and left without taking any action.

The report holds that Krzewinski and others involved in the incident violated policy by failing to make a mandatory arrest where the woman

involved had a visible sign of injury.

Sergeant Luke Miller was suspended for 10 days without pay in connection to the same dorm incident.

“Miller had a duty to make sure that the incident was handled properly but did not complete this task, which left a victim of domestic violence in a vulnerable state,” the report reads.

As of February 2024, Miller is no longer employed by DPS according to his LinkedIn. Additionally, his name no longer appears on the DPS website.

The other reported major disciplinary action involved an incident between two officers on patrol, resulting in Officer Brandon Delaney’s termination.

While riding on patrol with another officer in March 2023, Delaney, a white male, “used a racial epithet commonly understood to be derogatory toward African Americans,” while speaking with a Black officer.

Delaney was terminated for violation of workplace harassment policy and for unsatisfactory performance during a probationary period.

Delaney’s LinkedIn states that he was employed by DPS for 8 months, from September 2022 to April 2023. Following this dismissal, Delaney served as a traffic controller for Traffic Management, Inc. from August 2023 to October 2023. He currently works as a Life Security/Security Communications Specialist for JLL.

The ’Prince’ was unable to reach Miller or Delaney for comment.

DPS began publishing these Disciplinary Action Reports in 2021, and in both the 2021 and 2022 reports, no instances of disciplinary action are listed.

When asked if DPS identified any reason why 2023 saw an increase in disciplinary action, University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian, “DPS did not discover any trends leading to the reported disciplinary action.”

Isabel Yip is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’

The ADL gave Princeton an F for antisemitism. After the CJL pushed back, they bumped it up to a D.

By Miriam Waldvogel Associate News Editor

From US News and World Report college rankings to the Ivy League basketball championship, it is rare for Princeton to fail. But last week, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a college antisemitism report card that awarded Princeton an F.

“The Jewish community on campus … rarely agree on anything, but when this ADL report came out, in one voice, we all laughed at it,” Stephen Bartell ’25, the president of the Center for Jewish Life (CJL) Student Board, told The Daily Princetonian.

However, just days later, the ADL quietly changed Princeton’s score to a D after speaking with Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91, the executive director of the CJL.

Steinlauf told the ‘Prince’ that, during his conversation with the ADL, he brought up several points from a statement he issued on Friday saying he “vehemently disagree[d]” with the ADL’s failing grade, also citing the existence of the University’s recently formed Jewish Experience Working Group.

The ADL’s initial report card did not take into account the working group, which aims to collect data on “campus climate for Jewish students, faculty and staff,” recommend programming on Jewish identity and antisemitism, and “improve transparency and accuracy of perceptions related to the Jewish experience and antisemitism on campus.”

Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity Michele Minter told the ‘Prince’ in a statement that the working group was organized in response to “an increase in climate concerns and bias incidents directed against Jewish, Muslim and other individuals across the United States.”

According to Internet Archive, information about the working group appears to have been added to Princeton’s “Cross-Institutional Working Groups” webpage sometime after March 14.

Shira Goodman, the senior director of advocacy at the ADL, told the ‘Prince’ that learning about the working group was “significant enough” to change the University’s grade. But Jewish student leaders expressed that the University’s new rating was still not reflective of reality on campus, and some called the report card into question altogether.

Emanuelle Sippy ’25, the president of the Alliance of Jewish Progressives (AJP), called the grade change “a sign of just how ridiculous and outlandish [the ADL’s] reading of Princeton was.”

The ADL’s report comes shortly after the Department of Education, prompted by a complaint filed by an unaffiliated conservative activist, launched a Title VI investigation into the

University regarding antisemitism on campus, a move that Bartell, Steinlauf, and other Jewish campus leaders said did not square with their experiences.

The ADL’s 21 criteria include the presence of anti-Zionist student government and student group activity as well as anti-Zionist and antisemitic incidents on campus.

“When the ADL maybe seems to imply that any form of anti-Zionist activity is antisemitic, we feel that is problematic,” said Niv Leibowitz ’27, one of the co-chairs of J Street U Princeton.

According to Goodman, the ADL also sent a written questionnaire to university presidents prior to releasing the report, but did not initially receive a response from Princeton.

The report card specifically referenced incidents including the 2022 Caterpillar referendum, a 2023 speaker event with Palestinian writer Mohammad El-Kurd, and graffiti outside two eating clubs in December.

Like many of the schools scored by the ADL, Princeton was given full marks in applicable Jewish student life categories, from interfaith initiatives to pro-Israel programming and activities — both of which are listed as criteria for a good grade.

But a low rating from an organization as prominent as the ADL might pose problems for the University’s external image, especially for prospective students, several students said.

“The ADL is a well respected organization among a lot of Jews, particularly my parents’ generation of Jews,” Bartell said. “If the ADL tells the Jewish world that Princeton is not a good place to be Jewish, then all of the Jewish students I was lucky enough to meet yesterday [at Princeton Preview] thinking about coming to Princeton … they might make the call to go somewhere else, where the ADL tells them it’s better to be Jewish.”

Emmett Weisz ’27, another co-chair of J Street, echoed Bartell’s concerns. “When [prospective students] see now that Princeton has a D, they might think that there’s a large culture of antisemitism at Princeton, which is just not the case, in my experience,” he said.

Goodman, the ADL advocacy director, said that the report card was meant to be “one tool” for evaluating colleges alongside other resources like Hillel International’s college guide.

“I would feel comfortable sending my student if it was the right school, to any of these places [on the report card], especially because [of their] strong Jewish student life … it wouldn’t drive everything for me,” she said.

The report card has also generated pushback at other universities — including Michigan State University (rated an F) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, George Washington University, and the University of Vermont (all rated a C) — as well as Hillel International.

“We do not believe it is constructive or accurate to try to assign grades to schools as a means of assessing the totality of Jewish student experience at those campuses,” Adam Lehman, the president and CEO of Hillel International, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a statement. “It’s just far removed from the actual lives

editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Stockton, Calif. and often covers campus activism and University accountability.

Princeton students are living here,” Bartell said. Miriam Waldvogel is an associate News editor and the investigations

Religious groups ramp up new student outreach for Preview

By

When prospective Princetonians visited campus for the Class of 2028’s Princeton Preview, many faith-based organizations on campus welcomed them, hosting events and distributing information to welcome the next class to the campus community. The Daily Princetonian spoke to several faithbased organizations on campus to hear what prospective students look for in a faith community, and how student leaders are promoting their organization to the incoming class.

As the Center for Jewish Life and Chabad of Princeton University represent the two major hubs of Jewish life on campus, leadership emphasized the need for a variety of resources to cater to diversity among incoming Jewish students.

Amid new investigations into antisemitism on college campuses, Chabad of Princeton’s Rabbi Eitan Webb emphasized distinguishing between “everything that is happening at a congressional level and administrative level” and Chabad’s on-campus efforts to “show the joyful side of being Jewish, and specifically at Princeton.”

“We can push the administration to be more forceful in the face of antisemitic slurs, we can push the government, but that’s not really our bailiwick,” he said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “What we really do, what we are really good at, is taking the students, exciting them about why Judaism is meaningful, purposeful, and something they might want to take with

them as they move forward in life. That’s our real mission.”

Sarah Phillips ’27 is one of the prospective student chairs for the CJL and also serves on the Chabad student board.

Both CJL and Chabad do online outreach to students throughout the year and offer tours to visiting families.

“The Jewish students here all identify differently,” Phillips said. “Some come from a very religious background, some come to Princeton and it’s the first time

they’re engaging with the Jewish community, and so places they feel welcome, I think, is always something that everyone’s looking for.”

As a prospective student last year, Phillips attended a Shabbat dinner at the CJL and told the ‘Prince’ that she “felt a part of the community, even when I wasn’t even admitted.” This year, CJL hosted a booth at the Princeton Preview activities fair and opened the dining hall to families during select times.

“Whenever I meet a prospective student, I always ask them, ‘what’s your question? What are you curious about? What do you want to learn more about?’ Because I can ramble on about Jewish life at Princeton for hours, because I love it so much, but I want it to be as helpful as possible for them,” she said. “There’s so many different interests and reasons why people are looking to engage in the Jewish community.”

Ryan Brunswick ’27, one of the Prospective Student Chairs for the Chabad Student Board, told the ‘Prince’ that he visited campus during Passover and ate a meal in the CJL, but did not visit Chabad.

“I didn’t really know about its presence, but I guess now I’m sort of filling in that gap [for prospective students],” he said. Chabad hosted a booth at the activity fair and has opened up a coffee hour at their new house to welcome families to Princeton.

“I think it’s important that people know this is a place where they can come and feel at home, because that’s really what it is, a home away from home,” Sophia Harrison Bregman ’27, the other Chabad Prospective Student Chair.

The Daily Princetonian also spoke to representatives of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Aquinas Institute, the Catholic campus ministry, two other major religious groups on campus.

Leena Memon ’25, co-president of MSA, believes that religious communities serve a variety of purposes for incoming students at Princeton. “Whether it’s a community that’s immediately welcoming or one that just has very similar practices of their family or their home community, [religious communities on campus] are supportive and uplifting environments,” Memon told the ‘Prince.’

To prepare for the incoming class, MSA mainly relied on online outreach.

“Every year, we kind of do the same thing: first, we create a Google form. Then, we like to make sure it’s available on our Instagram so that students are able to fill it out and put their name, email, or any other contact information they may want to share. And that

allows one of our current undergraduate students to get in contact with that incoming student,” Memon explained to the ‘Prince.’

MSA also identified the Princeton Instagram and Facebook pages as an opportunity for outreach, especially when the pages are featuring different student clubs.

During Princeton Preview, MSA encourages prospective students to chat with current students and gain an idea of the Muslim community on campus. They continue this theme of networking by hosting an ice cream social at the beginning of the fall semester. Diana Hernandez ’17, the director of student affairs and alumni relations of the Aquinas Institute, the center for Catholic life on campus, told the ‘Prince’ about how students, both incoming Princeton students and underclass students in high school, have reached out about the Aquinas Institute prior to visiting or even applying to Princeton. She noted that there are a lot of students who treat religious groups as “the main thing [they] want to get involved in,” as well as those who are “starting to figure out if [religion] is something that is truly important to [them].”

At Princeton Preview, the Aquinas Institute invited families to come to daily mass in the chapel. In addition, they told the ‘Prince’ that they invite students to give parental information so they can hold an event for first-years’ parents and families once the fall semester begins. “Those are opportunities to connect with our chaplain,” Hernandez told the ‘Prince.’

The Aquinas Institute also holds a first-year retreat, where first-years are connected with upperclass students before the year begins. “They walk in already with people they know and people they connected with. We have a welcome barbecue, which is a great chance for first-years to meet everybody else and for everyone to reconnect after the summer,” Hernandez told the ‘Prince.’

Regarding the purpose of religious groups such as the Aquinas Institute, Hernandez emphasized to the ‘Prince,’ “We want people to be able to feel at home as soon as they arrive on campus. That’s true for students who are Catholic and serious about their faith, but that’s true for every student who is half interested in it as well. We want to be able to be a home for any student.”

Justin Tam is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Elisabeth Stewart is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Elisabeth Stewart & Justin Tam

Assistant News Editor & Staff News Writer

AARUSHI ADLAKHA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Murray-Dodge Hall.

Two Princeton professors testify in election hearings regarding New Jersey county line

By Olivia Sanchez & Michelle Miao

Associate News Editor & News

Two Princeton University professors, Andrew Appel ’81 and Samuel S.-H. Wang, have testified as expert witnesses in multiple election cases in New Jersey and Pennsylvania this year, including the recent abolition of the county line system in New Jersey.

The county line system places endorsed candidates in a single column or row, which displays them more prominently on primary ballots, as opposed to the block ballot system, which groups candidates by the office they are seeking. The system is unique to New Jersey.

In February, Congressman and Senate hopeful Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and two New Jersey congressional candidates, Sarah Schoengood and Carolyn Rush, filed a lawsuit against New Jersey county clerks. The suit alleges that the county line system, used in 19 out of 21 counties in the state, provides an unfair advantage to candidates backed by county political parties.

On March 18, Appel, a computer science professor and expert on voting machines, testified at a federal hearing on the constitutionality of the New Jersey county line.

On March 29, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi granted the preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs, which ordered the use of office block ballots for the June primary to all offices on the Democratic

primary ballot. On April 17, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s decision.

Appel, upon request from the plaintiff’s lawyers, testified regarding technical capabilities of New Jersey voting machines.

“They anticipated that the defense might say ‘the machines we use now can’t support an office block ballot,’” he said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. Appel explained that in reality, the machines were capable of switching ballots without any changes made.

“The voting machines used in New Jersey are made by companies that sell voting machines in every state. All the other states use office block, so they programmed the machines to be able to accommodate those ballots,” he told the ‘Prince.’

Along with Appel, Wang also provided expert testimony in the county line case.

Wang, a professor with the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, is the founding director for the Electoral Innovation Lab, which aims “to build a science of data-driven democracy reform using math, law, and practical strategies for change.” He is also the founding director of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which works to “bridge the gap between mathematics and the law to achieve fair representation through redistricting reform.”

In February 2022, the New Jersey Redistricting Commission (NJRC) voted to create a

new legislative map. Wang, who served as an advisor to the commission’s chair and as its only nonpartisan member, was later accused by some Republicans of manipulating data. In 2022, the University found the allegations of misconduct to be without merit. In September 2023, the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation (SCI) also found no manipulation of data.

Kim, Rush and Schoengood, the candidates who sued, are represented by the legal team for Abolish the Line, an organization working to abolish the county line system. Its members are Yael Bromberg, Flavio L. Komuves, and Brett M. Pugach.

In an interview with the ‘Prince,’ Pugach said that Wang “played a critical role in helping us provide the type of evidence we needed to obtain the preliminary injunction.”

Wang ran statistical analyses on other expert data to establish the unlikelihood of the results being caused by chance. His background in neuroscience and cognition also played a role in the case.

“He was able to help explain a lot of the cognitive behaviors of voters and why different visual cues can direct voters in certain ways that they might otherwise not be directed … he was able to test those hypotheses and help us establish not just that there isn’t an effect there, but what the magnitude of the effect is and why these primary election ballots are so discriminatory,” Pugach said.

Rituals?

By Madison Anderson Staff Cartoonist

Wang declined a request for comment on the county line case.

Beyond the county line, Appel also testified to the Pennsylvania Senate the same day, where he warned against the use of ballot marking devices (BMDs).

BMDs, commonly used in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are touchscreen machines that voters use to electronically mark a blank ballot. The machine then prints the marked ballot card and inserts it into an optical scanner. Appel labeled this electronic voting process as susceptible to hacking and malicious influence, recommending a switch to a system of handmarked paper ballots that are then digitally scanned and rigorously audited after the election.

He highlighted the safeguard of having paper ballots when it comes to the auditing process, which helps to verify the accuracy of the voting machine results. “If you do the audit and you discover the voting machines got it wrong, you have all the paper ballots and can recount those by hand,” Appel said.

Though he made clear that there is no evidence of significant election tampering in the past, Appel emphasized that the risk of BMDs is high going forward and voting machine software is often vulnerable to hacking. “The county elections office has to periodically install software updates,” he said. “How secure are the net-

works of the voting machine company, which is just a small business, or the county election office?”

Appel’s testimony was arranged following multiple voting machine failures in Pennsylvania that prompted officials to consider how to upgrade their system. As a result of the failures, he said, both Republicans and Democrats were eager to see changes implemented.

Though senators were wary of asking counties to switch equipment in the middle of a major election year, Appel noted that compromise solutions were possible. “They may have more options for voters to choose not to use the ballot marking device and to cast a hand marked paper ballot that will be counted by an optical scanner,” he said.

Reflecting on his testimony and the prospect for change regarding voting security and elections, Appel encouraged students to think about how they can take action.

“Any student that reads this article, if they’re a U.S. citizen, can think about how it is that they voted last time and what they can do to get their county or state to switch to handmarked paper ballots,” he said.

Michelle Miao is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Olivia Sanchez is an associate News editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from New Jersey and often covers the graduate school and academic departments.

Two incumbents ousted in competitive U-Council election, Wachspress wins closely contested senior class presidency

By Nandini Krishnan & Annie Rupertus Senior News Writer & Head News Editor

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) announced the results for a contested UCouncilor and class government election via an email to the student body on Friday, April 19. Voter turnout was significantly higher for class council elections than for the U-Councilor race.

This year was the first contested U-Council election since 2019, which comes following a targeted effort by the USG to increase interest in the position.

In a USG meeting in March, Senator Samuel Kligman ’26, presenting on behalf of the elections working group, said, “Our spring goal for the election working group is to increase 2024 election turnout by finally having contested UCouncilor elections.” Specific policies Kligman mentioned included a U-Councilor info session, reaching out to unsuccessful candidates from previous elections, and increasing communications about election logistics.

Chief Elections Manager Alex Sorgini ’26 told The Daily Princetonian that 1,710 students cast votes in the U-Councilor election — just 31 percent of eligible voters. Each of the 12 candidates received between

seven and 10 percent of votes cast.

Aishwarya Swamidurai ’26, Aly Rashid ’26, Anuj Krishnan ’27, Chloe Long ’26, Daniel Shaw ’25, Ila Prabhuram ’27, Jaden Stewart ’26, Luqmaan Bamba ’27, Roberto Lachner ’26 and Samiksha Gaherwar ’26 were all announced as U-Councilors.

Of the 10 U-Councilor-elects, Rashid, Stewart, Bamba, and Gaherwar are all newcomers to the role, while the other six had previously served as U-Councilors.

“I think this was the ideal result in the sense that we have people with experience coming into USG — some with more than a year of experience, which is great,” Kligman said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “At the same time, we’re bringing in newcomers with fresh ideas … I think we struck a very good balance there.”

Per the USG Senate constitution, U-Councilors are Senate members who also serve as members of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC). The CPUC, per its website, is “a permanent conference of the representatives of all major groups of the University” where “they could each raise problems that concern them and … be exposed to each other’s views.”

Incumbent U-Councilors Ju-

dah Guggenheim ’25 and Leyton Watts ’26 were not reelected. Neither of the two had been originally chosen for their positions in contested elections, with Guggenheim appointed in 2022 and Watts winning an uncontested election last spring.

Additionally, Kligman felt that Sorgini’s efforts to reach out to students who had run previously proved successful. Bamba, Rashid, and Gaherwar had all previously run for class senator positions.

Kligman also noted that USG plans to continue releasing consolidated guides for potential candidates.

The following officers were announced for class governments:

Class of 2027 Officers

President: D’Schon Leon Simmons

Treasurer: Allie Ebanks

Secretary: Nnamdi Udeogu

Class of 2026 Officers

President: Minna Abdella

Social Chair: Aarushi Adlakha

Class of 2025 Officers

President: Ben Wachspress

All other class officer positions were uncontested. Although the original candidate registration deadline was April

2, USG extended the deadline for uncontested positions to April 7, proclaiming in an April 4 newsletter that “there is still an opportunity to run as a candidate in the Spring 2024 election cycle for the following currently uncontested Class Government positions.” This call for candidates resulted in one uncontested race becoming contested — Class of 2027 Secretary.

The Class of 2025 presidential election was close, with Wachspress, former Social Chair for the Class of 2025, winning against Gil Joseph ’25, the incumbent. Wachspress received 52 percent of votes and Joseph received 48 percent. No other rising senior class has had a contested presidential election in the time that the Class of 2025 has been on campus.

In an interview with the ‘Prince,’ Wachspress discussed his campaign strategy, which included using social media to upload “Ben on the Street” videos, which he said were inspired by comedy game show “Billy on the Street.” Wachspress also distributed stickers with slogans like “WachsPrez.”

“I enjoyed every moment I spent leading class government these past two years,” Joseph wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince,” adding, “I am proud of the impact I had working with a brilliant team and I know Ben will do a great job closing off next year.”

Newcomer Fletcher Block ’25 ran unopposed to fill the Social Chair seat.

The first-year class council election saw significantly greater participation compared to the older classes. Voter turnout for the 2027, 2026, and 2025 class officer positions reached 56 percent, 45 percent, and 46 percent, respectively, according to Sorgini. Relative to the Class of 2025 election, election results for 2026 and 2027 class council were not particularly close. No referenda appeared on the ballot this spring.

Nandini Krishnan is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Annie Rupertus is a head News editor for the ‘Prince’ from Philadelphia who often covers activism and campus governance.

Thomas Catalano and Alena Zhang contributed reporting.

“My campaign idea was just engage and involve as many people as possible,” Wachspress said, adding that some of his strategies “maybe were not as conventional for campaigns but just made people excited, especially people who might not have voted in other elections.”

University’s termination of lease with Nassau Swim Club makes splash of community pushback

By Abby Leibowitz Senior News Writer

Despite pushback from community members, the University’s decision to end the lease of the Nassau Swim Club (NSC) on Tuesday will go forward as planned.

NSC is a private outdoor pool located in the woods between Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). Located on Universityowned land, the club has been renting since its establishment in 1970 and is open to all who pay membership dues.

In October, NSC received a letter from the University notifying them of termination of their lease. According to a retrospective by NSC, the reasons for the end of the lease included the NSC’s inability to make required payments on its debt obligation of at least $319,857 to PNC Bank and the University, to pay for next season’s operational costs, and to address future capital improvements to maintain the facilities.

Julie Hagan, a member for 15 years who was on the pool’s social committee, said she was aware of the financial struggles, but never thought the pool was in threat of closing.

“It feels hard to be heard, because they [the University] are so big,” she said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian, “We’ve written so many letters and it feels like it’s gone quiet.”

Monica Skoge GS ’09 said in an interview with the ‘Prince’ that the NSC is “more than just

a pool. It’s a whole community.”

Others in the community have echoed this connection — over one thousand people have signed a petition appealing the lease termination that will effectively shut down the pool, and dozens of “letters to the editor” have appeared in Town Topics.

The University has been leasing land to NSC for more than 50 years. However, for the past ten years, the pool has struggled to pay its taxes to the University due to difficulties maintaining membership numbers since the renovation of Community Park Pool in 2013.

The NSC Board appealed the termination of the lease in January, sending a letter to the University with plans for membership growth and fundraising, and a detailed budget for 2024.

Skoge became aware of NSC’s financial troubles in January at a strategizing meeting at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS). She said in an interview with the ‘Prince,’ “people were in disbelief” at the University’s abrupt decision. Following this meeting, the board then surveyed members for their willingness to volunteer and contribute financially, as well as their commitment to membership for the 2024 season.

The NSC Board appealed the termination of the lease in January, sending a letter to the University with plans for membership growth and fun -

draising, as well as a detailed budget for 2024. The University rejected this appeal on Feb. 12. The board then surveyed members for their willingness to volunteer and contribute financially, as well as their commitment to membership for the 2024 season. Skoge expressed that this rejection provided little explanation and “what was missing was any discussion.”

Skoge then met with Vice President for University Services Chad Klaus, who runs the University’s department of Business Services. The board developed an even more detailed business plan that addressed the initial reasons for termination, including paying off the loan with PNC and setting goals for the one with the University, raising more than $80,000 in pledges, and detailing the plan for future capital improvements. However, the original termination decision was reiterated at a second meeting in April between the NSC Board and Klaus.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote that NSC was in debt to the University and had not “provided evidence that they have a financial plan to allow for continued operation and maintenance of the pool facility. [Klaus] met twice in recent weeks with members of the board.”

Skoge told the ‘Prince’ that she believed the club would be really great for graduate students, who live within walking

distance at the college, reflecting on her time as a graduate and how much she would have appreciated a tool like NSC for community building. Skoge therefore had plans to begin recruitment efforts among graduate students. Graduate students receive reduced membership rates.

She echoed that all NSC board members thought the pool was “doing a service, and never thought the University would take this drastic turn.”

The reflection by the NSC similarly expressed that “the Board did not realize urgent action was required, as they believed [the University] considered the debt to be less important than the value of NSC to the community.”

Hagan echoed this surprise and disappointment, saying “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but why be so short-sighted?”

Skoge said that she discovered a really strong alumni community who look back at their time at NSC for building character. She emphasized the “free-range parenting” permitted by the club where kids can play and run around with minimal adult interference. Hagan emphasized NSC’s day long aquatics program for kids.

It was after attending the State of the University Address to students, where University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 mentioned mental health, that Skoge wrote to Eisgruber requesting a meeting to share her “vision for how

Nassau Swim Club could be an important well-being resource for graduate students, in addition to it being an important asset to our community.” Skoge received a response to her letter the same day an address given by Eisgruber emphasized collaboration between the University and the town. She expressed feeling a disconnect between the University’s actions and Eisgruber’s statement to the Council.

Skoge expressed that there is a stigma of NSC being less accessible than other pools in the area, as the Community Park Pool is subsidized by the town of Princeton, and has lower rates.

However, Skoge expressed that NSC is also more open than other pools, because membership does not require residency in Princeton. She explained that the Community Park is getting overcrowded and the feel is very different. Morrill wrote that “we acknowledge that the closure of NSC is a disappointment to many of the current and former club members.”

Skoge acknowledged that the University has been very clear about their intentions, but she is still fighting to keep the pool open because “it would be such a huge loss. It’s almost a moral thing now. Have to fight until the end because that’s the right thing to do.”

Abby Leibowitz is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Extended passing times follow changes to finals period and Dean’s Date

By Victoria Davies Assistant News Editor

Effective Fall 2025, passing times between classes will be extended to 15 and 20 minutes, replacing the current 10 minute period. The plan also suggests opening more room in the course grid for precept and course times.

The Faculty Committee on Classrooms and Schedule brought forth the proposal at a faculty meeting held Monday, April 15. In a proposal memo dated April 3, Dean of the College Jill Dolan wrote that “our campus has grown large enough that many of our students and faculty require additional time to move between their classes.”

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and representatives from the Office of the Dean of the College have been considering the extension for some time, initially motivated by the expansion of the University’s physical campus.

According to former USG Academics Committee Chair and current USG Vice President Srista Tripathi ’25, “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.”

The proposal explained that “around 70 percent of undergraduates have at least one back-to-back course enrollment each term,” including around 20 percent of students traveling from one end of campus to the other in the 10 minute time slot. These longer distances may include from the Friend Center to the Lewis Center for the Arts, or from McCosh Hall or East Pyne to Frick Laboratory.

Initially, the Faculty Committee on Classrooms and Schedule was considering implementing either 15 or 20 minute passing times, however the proposed scheduling

grid contains both passing time options, depending on the length of the classes.

The time most affected by this change will be the morning. Currently, 50 minute classes can be scheduled to begin hourly from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 80 minute classes can begin at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. With the proposed extension of passing times, there will only be three morning slots for 50 minute classes, starting at 8:30 a.m., 9:35 a.m., and 10:40 a.m., giving a 15 minute passing period. 80 minute morning classes will begin at 9 a.m. and 10:40 a.m., giving a 20 minute passing period.

Evening class times will not be affected by the expanded passing times, because, as the proposal explains, “the Registrar’s data also suggest that very few courses are scheduled after the 7:30 p.m. slot.”

The proposed changes will maintain the “unconflicted midday class period” between 12:30 and 1:20 p.m., but move the period to 15 minutes earlier in the day. This class time is often used for language classes, which meet daily. Additionally, the proposed scheduling grid will preserve the 80 minute lunch window for faculty meetings and department events, and the daily “blackout period” between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The proposal also referenced the Campus Mobility Principles from Parking and Transportation Services, which suggest that campus pathways are “not simply walkways” and passing time “is not simply transit time.”

According to the memo, pathways are “places for conversation and the exchange of ideas” and to engage with faculty and peers outside of formal class time.

Additionally, the proposed grid will reduce conflicts by inviting departments to “use the full range of each teach -

ing time each day and week,” including the rescheduled 80 minute morning periods and the introduction of a standard three-hour class period on Friday mornings.

These changes to scheduling follow a number of other proposed alterations to the academic calendar. The University is launching a pilot program this semester that will allow students to take multiple final exams on the same day — a change that would only affect “about three percent of the current undergraduate student body,” Dolan wrote to The Daily Princetonian in February.

Additionally, the University is moving towards a staggered final assessment schedule to replace the single Dean’s Date deadline. The proposed staggered deadline “will alleviate the Dean’s Date pile-up because all end-ofterm work, regardless of assignment type, will be spread across the final assessment period,” according to Cecily H. Swanson, the Associate Dean for Academic Advising.

USG Academics Committee Chair Vivian Bui ’26 told the ‘Prince’ that “many students have communicated concerns about the finals period, such as feeling overwhelmed with papers being due all on one day and not being able to go home for break earlier due to a long finals week.”

While the end of Dean’s Date has not yet been confirmed, the proposed change to passing times was endorsed by the faculty and the new grid will take effect in Fall 2025, “giving departments and administrative offices time to prepare and to shift course scheduling as necessary.”

Victoria Davies is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Julian Hartman-Sigall contributed reporting.

Postdocs set to vote on unionization in May

By

On May 8 and 9, Princeton postdoctoral researchers will vote to decide if they are going to unionize.

Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS) recently announced that over 65 percent of postdocs have signed union cards after the card campaign went public in December. Unionization efforts have been ongoing for some time. The most recent push originated with a January 2023 open letter by 50 postdoctoral researchers that called for a higher minimum salary and a December rally organized by PUPS.

The election ballot will read, “Do you wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by ‘PRINCETON UNIVERSITY POSTDOCS & SCHOLARSINTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO?’” Postdoctoral researchers will be able to choose between “Yes” or “No” options.

Jessica Ng is a postdoctoral research associate at the High Meadows Environmental Institute, and serves as a union organizer for PUPS.

In a statement to The Daily Princetonian, Ng wrote, “A lot of hard work from many people over the past few years has led to this milestone.”

A 2016 guest opinion submitted to the ‘Prince’ by then-postdoctoral researcher Aaron Bornstein addressed the debate for graduate unions eight years ago. “No one could seriously argue that improving the economic conditions of their workers has reduced the research productivity of these institutions,” he wrote. Bornstein is now an assistant professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at UC Irvine.

Ng added that PUPS “appreciate[s] that Princeton has agreed to our terms for the election.”

According to the election agreement, both the University and the union waived their right to a hearing. The University will also provide

a list of eligible voters to the petitioner of the union, Jeremy Meyer. Meyer is the legal representative for PUPS.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Dean of the Faculty Gene Jarrett wrote, “The University respects the right of eligible employees to unionize.”

According to Jarrett’s statement, the University supports the secret-ballot election. “A secret-ballot election is the most inclusive, fair, and secure method for eligible employees to express their preference whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers,” he wrote.

The postdoc election announcement follows less than a week after Princeton Graduate Students United (PGSU) filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Ng expressed that PUPS “is also thrilled that the graduate student union has filed for their election and look forward to improving our conditions as academic workers across multiple sectors at Princeton.”

Princeton has the potential to be the last Ivy League university to recognize graduate and postdoctoral unions. Graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania will have their union election on May 1 and 2, while all other Ivy Leagues schools already have postdoctoral unions or associations.

The postdoctoral union election dates are May 8 and 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The elections will be held in room 302 of Frist Campus Center.

“We encourage all eligible postdoctoral researchers and associate research scholars to vote … Whatever the outcome, our priority is to preserve an environment where all Princeton employees are valued and can thrive,” Jarrett wrote.

Ng echoed this message. “We encourage every postdoc and scholar at Princeton to vote in the elections … we know that a strong majority of workers in our unit understand the benefits of unionization,” she wrote.

CALVIN GROVER / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Frist Campus Center.

Victoria Davies is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Victoria Davies Assistant News Editor

U. AFFAIRS

LOUISA GHEORGHITA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Many students use McCosh Courtyard when walking across campus.

184 members of the Class of 2026 declared Economics. We broke down Declaration Day.

By Andrew Bosworth & Suthi Navaratnam-Tomayko Head Data Editors

The Class of 2026 Declaration Day was originally scheduled for April 12, but was rescheduled for April 19 due to a forecasted thunderstorm. Declaration period for sophomores pursuing A.B. degrees ended on April 15. 439 members of the class — 27 percent — who are pursuing B.S.E. degrees declared last April.

The most popular major declared for the Class of 2026 was economics, a shift from last year’s School Public & International Affairs and computer science B.S.E. for the Class of 2024. Near Eastern Studies, Religion, Slavic Languages & Literatures, and French and Italian all had fewer than three members join the major.

“I declared economics because there’s so much you can do with it: from behavioral economics to finance,” economics major Sophia Shepherd ’26 wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian.

“Coming into college, I was unsure about what exactly I wanted to do, so economics seemed like a path to a wide variety of potential careers down the road,” she said.

For others like Koda Gursoy ’26, economics provides a path to academia. “I declared econ because I would like to go to grad school and do a Ph.D. in economics and eventually hopefully be a professor,” he said to the ‘Prince’.

As for why he likes economics, Gursoy said that “you can really answer questions that are so relevant to daily life in terms of policy questions.”

“It really combines a lot of my favorite fields. It’s very interdisciplinary, it has elements of math, like really high-level math, you can use tons of computer science methods, there’s a history side to it, there’s law and philosophy, economics,” he said.

Gursoy thinks the popularity of economics is due to “[Princeton] not having a business school.”

“Students who want to go into fields that are not necessarily particularly economics related, maybe not economic policy or anything but for which econ is a useful major, like whether it’s consulting or quantitative finance … I think it catches a lot of people that might be in other majors at other schools that offer them, but are not offered here,” he said.

5.2 percent of the Class of 2025 declared history. For the Class of 2026, this percentage dropped to 2.97. The School of Public and International Affairs is the third most declared concentration with 8.99 percent of the Class of 2026 declaring SPIA. This percentage is the lowest since the Class of 2023, where 8.80 percent of the class declared SPIA.

“SPIA brings in policy

practitioners … [and] the chance to take seminars with these practitioners is extremely valuable for someone like me,” said Abby Lu ’26, a SPIA major.

Lu also highlighted certain SPIA programs that drew students into the major. “I really appreciate the policy task forces,” she said. Task force members draft policy memos to tackle realworld issues. Lu highlighted the opportunity to “present [work done in task forces] to actual practitioners, like governments [and] international organizations.”

“Field work experience at the undergraduate level is very valuable,” she said.

Lu is a former Prospect contributor for the ‘Prince.’ Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) experienced a surge in popularity among the Class of 2026, with six percent of the Class of 2026 declaring ECE, compared to 4.3 percent of the Class of 2025. Sanjana Venkatesh ’26, an ECE major, said that she declared ECE through “process of elimination.”

“I was looking through the engineering majors, and this seemed like the least bad one,” she said.

Over the past ten years, the percent of rising juniors declaring a humanities major has been steadily decreasing. For the Class of 2026, 11.57 percent of the class declared humanities, down from 11.6 percent of the Class of 2025 and 16.7 percent of the Class of 2017. The most popular humanitie s concentration declared was history, making up 2.97 percent of the class. Even then, the proportion of students declaring history has declined since previous years, down from 5.7 (79 members to 45 members) percent of the Class of 2025.

At the same time, the percent of sophomores declaring an engineering major has steadily increased. 33.25 percent of the Class of 2026 declared B.S.E, up from 31.4 percent of the Class of 2025 and 26.7 percent of the Class of 2017.

This year’s Declaration Day marks the first time a B.S.E. dropout pin will be handed out by TigerTale. Students may wear these pins on the 2026-styled black sweaters that all class members had the opportunity to purchase for $10.

Declaration Day festivities took place April 19 on Cannon Green between 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. with banners for each major for photos. Members of the Class of 2026 could also complete a bingo card to win prizes, with challenges such as “wear all orange to class” and take a “photo w/ Eisgruber or Dean Dolan.”

Suthi Navaratnam-Tomayko is a head Data editor and Sports contributor for

Andrew Bosworth is a head Data editor and Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’

the ‘Prince.’

AARUSHI ADLAKHA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN. Declaration Day for the Class of 2025.

Breaking down Princeton’s classroom spaces

By Lauren Zaidel & Chima Oparaji

Contributing Data Writers

Princeton’s campus hosts a diverse range of classroom environments, from lecture halls with projection technologies to seminar rooms with round tables. With course selection occurring this week, students are in the midst of planning their Fall semester schedules — including the rooms where they will be learning. We broke down the classrooms on campus, analyzing occupancy, technology, and location.

Classroom booking, scheduling, and access is organized through the Office of the Registrar. However, outside of teaching hours, classrooms are frequently vacant and accessible to students, faculty, and staff for study sessions, meetings or other purposes.

Around 62 percent of all available learning spaces hold 25 people or fewer. Mediumsized classrooms are slightly less common on campus, with 30 percent of rooms having maximum occupancies in the 26-99 person range. Lecture halls and large conference spaces exist in far fewer numbers, at just under eight percent of classroom spaces, or 24 total high-occupancy spaces. McCosh 50 has the highest occupancy out of all classrooms, having a maximum capacity of 447 students.

The three most enrolled classes this semester — POL 396: International Organizations, ENG 304: Children’s Literature, and COS 126: Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach — all hold their lectures in McCosh 50.

The University sorts rooms into four categories: standard classrooms, seminar rooms, lecture halls, and bowls. Standard classrooms, characterized by a presenter setup and a small number of rowby-row desk arrangements, are most common. These are followed by seminar rooms, then lecture halls and bowl classrooms. Bowl classrooms are unique to Robertson Hall, which houses the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), and feature a sunken-row arrangement and presenter-focused stage.

Standard classrooms most frequently host precepts, capped-enrollment class sections, or office hours. Seminar rooms, however, are mostly dedicated to courses taught seminar-style — usually three-hour small-group blocks during an afternoon weekly class time. The Office of the Registrar usually caps enrollment of courses that use these seminar rooms to 15 students.

The classrooms at Princeton span 63 buildings across campus. With 20 available classroom spaces each, McCosh Hall and Green Hall host the highest concentration of rooms. However, the distribution of rooms is not dominated by any select buildings.

The ten buildings with the most rooms collectively contain approximately 24 percent of Princeton’s classrooms. Among these buildings are

Friend Center, Fine Hall, and Julis Romo Rabinowitz (JRR), which span across multiple departments and disciplines, being home to the Computer Science, Mathematics, and Economics programs, respectively.

“The seminar rooms in East Pyne are my favorite,” said Christine Guo ’26, who notes some of her favorite courses and precepts in the East Asian Studies department were hosted there. “The allwood paneling in the rooms feels cozy and the smaller size makes the discussions more intimate.” She noted that in some of the larger lecture halls, “it’s sometimes more intimidating to speak up and participate in a room full of 200 people.”

In deciding where to host classes, precepts, or study sessions, students and faculty may consider the technology installed in a classroom, including its compatibility with laptops, projection, or wireless displays.

The Registrar’s classroom data showed that out of 301 classrooms, a whopping 200 — or about 67 percent — now support wireless Apple TV or AirPlay connections, allowing users to display contents of their device screens to the room’s setup without cords. Of the remaining 101 classrooms, 88 host wireless or cable connections, allowing for the same display system, just requiring cable hardware. Only 13, or four percent of all Princeton classrooms, have no Audio/Visual system support — that is, they do not contain tools such as projectors, screens, or microphones.

Professor of History and International and Regional Studies Michael Laffan appreciates Apple TVs as a way of integrating visuals into the classroom, noting that “it’s a lot less clunky than when a few years ago, we had to deal with multiple [forms of] media, which included CD Players, and even VHS tapes.”

In addition to including access to various forms of technology, almost 70 percent of Princeton classrooms also contain blackboards.

Laffan equally appreciates the presence of blackboards in the classroom. He emphasizes that “it’s important to have such physical infrastructure” for the purpose of recording “impromptu brainstorms” or making students draw a map.

Size, location, and available technology have the potential to influence classrooms’ roles as spaces for study sessions, club engagement, and discussion. As students think about upcoming course enrollment in the Fall, the features of their courses’ classrooms may help them decide if the structure of their class will be the best learning environment for their programs of study.

Chima Oparaji is a contributing Data writer for the ‘Prince.’

Lauren Zaidel is a contributing Data writer for the ‘Prince.’

Progressives failed a lesson in free speech

Anais Mobarak Columnist

Last spring, my Arabic language instructor instituted a policy that non-Muslim students refrain from eating or drinking in class during Ramadan. When I objected to this rule, she told me that the problem with Americans is that we “care too much about our rights.” As such, I was very surprised to see her name appear on an open letter demanding that the administration “defend academic freedom, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly” in the context of advocacy for “Palestinian liberation.”

As a liberal and near free speech absolutist, I was hopeful that free speech defenses of pro-Palestine advocacy would prompt campus progressives to reckon with the value of free speech. Perhaps, in a situation where progressive voices were on the receiving end of censorship of expression, then free speech might become more widely accepted as an apolitical principle. Unfortunately, the recent controversy surrounding Charter Club has demonstrated that progressive voices on campus have failed to recognize the value of free speech beyond its usefulness as a political instrument. Thus, as

a community, we must work to foster an ideologically-free understanding of free speech.

The aforementioned incident occurred following a lunch between professor Robert P. George and his student in the club. Soon afterwards, a policy was instituted that mandated approval from “undergraduate officers, club staff, and the alumni Board of Governors” before bringing non-family or friend visitors. After coverage and controversy, this policy has been revoked — but the fact that it was even imposed in the first place signals the presence of fundamental misconceptions and hypocrisy about free speech.

Indeed, the idea that students eating their lunch at Charter may have felt uncomfortable by professor George’s presence is not difficult to understand. Professor George maintains several conservative viewpoints on topics ranging from same-sex marriage to abortion. The deeply personal and controversial nature of these issues will likely breed discomfort for many students. Even I have felt uneasy when encountering his arguments against ideas that I — who was raised in a liberal suburb — believed to be accepted facts.

However, the outcry that resulted from the mere presence of Professor

George is curious given past defenses of pro-Palestine advocates’ statements that may have caused intense discomfort and even harm to students. Specifically, if students are understood to be made uncomfortable by the mere presence of professor George because his opinions question deeply personal parts of their own worldviews, it is probably also true that students will be uncomfortable hearing their classmates use rhetoric invoking the Holocaust or calling for the destruction of their homeland.

Unfortunately, for some of the campus progressives, freedom of speech seems to apply only to protecting proPalestinian advocates and not letting conservative professors eat lunch at an eating club. To be clear, my point is not that eating clubs must permanently keep their doors open for any professor to eat lunch if they wish to support free speech — eating clubs have the authority to limit access to their clubs, but they should do so in a content- and viewpoint-neutral manner.

This evident hypocrisy has highlighted the futility of understanding free speech only within the context of a political movement. When Princeton students only recognize the value of free speech insofar that it is advantageous to advancing a political cause,

it is natural that some may dismiss it as a unidirectional political strategy as opposed to a neutral currency. If free speech is to truly be valued as a principle independent of its usefulness for certain political movements, it is imperative that the value of free speech be illustrated in a context devoid of advocacy for political beliefs.

Competitive debate, for example, is an excellent environment in which to introduce the free-flowing exchange of ideas as a politically neutral endeavor. My partner and I would defend both sides of contentious topics from Medicare-for-All to universal background checks for firearm purchases to means-tested welfare; by disconnecting our personal political views from the exercise of presenting and analyzing ideas and evidence, we came to believe that the act of debating didn’t privilege any one side but was instead an intellectual device.

Moreover, from a self-interested perspective, evidence presented by the opposing side could often be portrayed with different implications and be incorporated into my own arguments. What is more, being exposed to the strongest counterarguments only helped me strengthen my own arguments, a lesson echoing John Stuart Mill’s proclama-

tion that “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.” Further, after a month of being bombarded with every possible argument on a topic, I felt that I had a much stronger understanding of the core of each issue, propelling me in the direction of the truth rather than an echo chamber. As such, high school debate successfully transmitted the value of free speech as an intellectual — not political — tool. Fostering free expression does not mean endorsing the viewpoint being expressed, but rather indicates an aspiration that everyone better understand and make their arguments while also aiding the pursuit of truth. If we are ever to truly interrogate our beliefs, we must first cultivate an environment that favors civil discourse for everyone and not just those on our team. The best way to ensure this is not by suddenly deeming free speech “progressive” only when it suits our political interests but rather by fostering spaces — such as the debate room — that highlight the value of free speech to its participants in a politicallyneutral way.

Anais Mobarak is a junior from Newton, Mass. studying chemistry.

Princeton must center more Black stories through expanding Black theater

Jewel Justice

Contributing Columnist

In February, I experienced a play that is rare at Princeton. It was created for Black women, about Black women, and by Black women. And it was powerful. “Love Type Beat,” written and directed by seniors Tanéyah Jolly ’24 and Nica Evans ’24, was an immersive play staged in the Lewis Center for the Art’s Wallace Theater about Black women and femmes’ many experiences with love, moving the audience through six vignettes of raw, intimate scenes. When the show debuted two days after Valentine’s Day, I could feel the love in the air. From conversations with other audience members, both Black and non-Black, many people felt it. This raises a critical question: Why don’t shows like this happen more often? There is so much communal and cultural importance in centering Black voices through Black theater — and Princeton’s theater department must do more to create spaces to center Black voices, beyond stereotypical archetypes and traditional modes of theatermaking it has adhered to.

Black students have few spaces on campus that are solely for them. These spaces are especially rare not only at Princeton, but PWIs more generally: Theater, and virtually every other space on campus, tend to be very white. “I don’t know if the show would have had the same impact if it was … at an HBCU,” co-director Evans said. “The stuff that usually gets put on here does not center Black women in that way. For the Black students, who are a

minority here, being able to enter this space where they are the majority [is special].” Given this, it is particularly important that shows like “Love Type Beat” continue being produced at institutions like Princeton.

The play’s immersive mode of presentation is powerful, and atypical for American theater. Instead of having a distinct “fourth wall,” typical of traditional American theater, “Love Type Beat” was interactive: In some scenes, the audience sat up close, on the same level as the actors, making the performance more intimate. In others, audience members intermingled with actors and were active participants in how the scene played out.

“[In] Broadway especially, you really are supposed to be quiet and watch,” co-director Jolly said. “That’s not really how Black folks engage with entertainment. You laugh [out] loud, you’re giving each other looks … you’re really in community.”

Black theater, stemming from African diasporic storytelling traditions, emphasizes communitybuilding rather than individual performance and incorporates calland-response elements that invite connection and liberation. As cast member Runnie Exuma GS told me, this can “disrupt and disorient the ways in which stories can be told and staged.”

“Love Type Beat” embodied these elements of Black theater in its active engagement and outward expression. But this method has been widely unrecognized, and thus is in need of active, persistent support from the Princeton theater department — beyond just individual students’ projects, and into the fabric of the department.

Princeton’s theater program should more deeply cover Black

theater-making histories. With the implementation of minor programs this academic year, theater minors are now required to take Introduction to Theater Making, which is meant to give a foundational overview of a range of theater. However, the course’s only interaction with Black theater is Dominique Morisseau’s “The Detroit Project.” While “The Detroit Project” is written by a Black woman and centers Black life, Morisseau is more traditional in her theater-making. And almost all courses — including Introduction to Theater Making — are taught from the perspective of traditional or “classic” American theater, which is white-centered. In addition, classes that dive deeply into Black performance and theater history, such as Black Performance Theory, are not required, so students might never learn about modes of theater outside of the traditional. And many years of students graduated without ever being exposed to Black theater-makers’ work: Prior to the 2023–24 school year, students obtaining a theater certificate simply had to choose a selection of five theater-related courses.

Princeton currently isn’t designed to support non-traditional theater institutionally — plays like “Love Type Beat” have only been produced because of students themselves pushing the bounds of storytelling through their work. While “Love Type Beat” was a valuable project that proved to the Princeton community that there is a desire for Black stories, this was still an independently-led and temporary event. This puts the burden of creating spaces for Black people on Black students themselves, and it doesn’t examine the theater department’s role in what they could do to foster the creation of these

spaces to begin with.

Beyond uplifting Black creators, these shows can also create space for Black community members: “Love Type Beat” was also special because it validated Black students’ experiences. Audience member Ayinde Bradford ’24 said making “experiences … that are so personal and so private available for all of us to see … [makes] us not feel alone.” For the cast, which was majority Black women, the play mirrored their experience: “these are our real experiences. There’s … certain things [in the script that] you will only get … if you’re Black,” cast member Oriana Nelson ’25 said.

“Love Type Beat” only ran for five shows, but it showed something much deeper: a community desire for this kind of art. According to directors Evans and Jolly, “Love Type Beat” sold out every show and opened more seats in its second weekend running to allow more people to be able to see the show.

As cast member Maya Jaaskelainen ’24 said, “This is what people need.”

“Love Type Beat” was more than a performance. It was a communal gathering, a site of healing and consolation, a source of hope and inspiration. It showcased Black women’s love in a very real and genuine way. Like such, more stories honoring and centering Black stories need to be told at Princeton, and the institution needs to provide more care for Black students in every department, theater included. Theater is “like play,” cast member Mollika Singh ’24 said. “It’s imaginative and fun. You know, if you have good leadership, it’s a …good place to strengthen friendships, build new ones, and just have a good time.” This is the theater future that Princeton needs to build: one that reimagines what it means to do theater and tells stories about people who have long been underrepresented.

Justice is a contributing columnist majoring in African American Studies.

Jewel

JEWEL JUSTICE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Scene from “Love Type Beat,” directed by Tanéyah Jolly ’24 and Nica Evans ’24.

Eisgruber:

“Despite its breadth, Princeton’s free speech policy — again, like the First Amendment to the Constitution — contains exceptions.”

UNIVERSITY

regulations are fully consistent with — indeed, they are necessary to — Princeton’s commitment to free speech. The purpose of our policy is “to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation,” not simply to maximize expression in all its forms, no matter how disruptive.

Dialogue, debate, and deliberation depend upon maintaining a campus that is free from intimidation, obstruction, risks to physical safety, or other impediments to the University’s scholarship, research, and teaching missions.

Princeton’s time, place, and manner regulations include a clear and explicit prohibition upon encampments. They provide that “camping in vehicles, tents, or other structures is not permitted on campus. Sleeping in outdoor space of any kind is prohibited.”

Encampments can obstruct others from moving freely or conducting University business.

They can create health and safety risks. They require significant staff time to keep occupants and bystanders safe, thereby diverting people and resources from fulfilling their primary purpose. They can intimidate community members who must walk past them. There is no practical way to bar outsiders from joining the encampments.

As recent events vividly illustrate, encampments are also prone to become sites of confrontation. Columbia University moved classes online because of concerns about the safety of its students. At Yale University, a student reportedly had to seek medical attention after an altercation at an encampment.

At ordinary protests, our Free Expression Facilitators, in partnership with the Department of Public Safety, work assiduously to minimize or de-escalate confrontations before they become harmful; the 24/7 nature of encampments makes that assignment nearly impossible.

Our ability to discuss difficult, sensitive topics depends partly on the culture of our community. I am grateful to every-

one who has helped Princeton to talk constructively about hard questions during this very challenging year. Our success also depends on the consistent application of our policies protecting free speech.

Princeton will continue to enforce those policies resolutely, including both this University’s expansive protections for the expression of controversial ideas and the time, place, and manner regulations that enable us to

engage in thoughtful dialogue, debate, and deliberation about those ideas.

Christopher Eisgruber ’83 serves as Princeton University’s 20th president.

Encampments are not inherently unsafe. Princeton should not arrest or expel students for them.

The Daily Princetonian Editorial Board

Early Thursday morning, the Department of Public Safety arrested two graduate students for taking initial steps to establish encampments in McCosh Courtyard. Princeton authorized arrests within six minutes of the first tents being set up.

This comes after five days of alarming crackdowns on student protests at universities nationwide, including the arrest of over 100 protesters at Columbia, over 120 protesters at NYU, and over 47 protesters at Yale. Before today, the University had not made extreme attempts to suppress student speech — and Princeton had stood out for holding a deep commitment to free speech.

But now, Princeton is following other schools’ lead by responding aggressively to pro-Palestine protests. Princeton has a very small window of opportunity to reverse course and mitigate the damage that it has done. The University must reject the repressive tactics that it began practicing this morning and instead follow its tradition of productive dialogue with protesters. We urge Princeton to cease student arrests and to refrain from expelling students simply for engaging in prolonged protest. We also urge the University not to repeat the mistakes of Columbia, NYU, USC, and others in inviting police onto campus to arrest peaceful protesters.

The University’s departure from its free speech ideals began at 10:08 a.m. on Wednesday when W. Rochelle Calhoun, Vice President for Campus Life, sent an email to the student body.

Calhoun wrote that “some types of protest actions (including occupying or blocking access to buildings, establishing outdoor encampments and sleeping in any campus outdoor space) are inherently unsafe.” Thus, individuals involved in these actions “who [refuse] to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus.”

Calhoun’s email, which cited the “disruptions” occurring nationally, was a response to Gaza Solidarity encampments at other colleges and likely also a response to leaked documents about the now ongoing pro-Palestine encampment at Princeton. But Calhoun’s characterization of these sorts of protests — occupations, sit-ins, and encampments — as “inherently unsafe” is incorrect, and endangers our community. Targeting these encampments with immediate arrest and disciplinary action is a break from Princeton’s traditionally respectful and accommodating treatment towards sit-ins and other forms of prolonged protest, and it fails to be “viewpoint-neutral,” as Calhoun claims.

Princeton, notably, has not disciplined students for occupations in the past: In 2015, the Black Justice League (BJL) sat in the office of President Christopher L.

Eisgruber ’83 for 33 hours. And in 2019, Princeton Students for Title IX Reform (PIXR) organized a sit-in outside Nassau Hall that lasted nine days. Both protests occurred under the watchful eyes of President Eisgruber and Calhoun, yet protesters were not warned of, or punished with, arrest. In fact, administrators engaged with the protesters, leading to direct policy changes. Destiny Crockett ’15 recently clarified in a statement to The Daily Princetonian Editorial Board that students participating in the BJL sit-in were not threatened with “arrest, just suspension and expulsion,” and ultimately “did not face disciplinary action.” Just because Princeton can legally enforce punishment does not mean that it should, especially in a biased manner.

The current threat of disciplinary action for engaging in “unlawful” actions that result in arrest has not been applied to students who have been subject to legal proceedings in the past. For example, Larry Giberson ’23 — a student who was indicted by a grand jury for participating in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol by the end of his senior year — graduated from Princeton on time with no disciplinary action taken against him. He has since been convicted for his involvement. The discipline Calhoun laid out in her email, and the arrests undertaken this morning, are therefore incongruent with past precedent.

Despite the fact that they have

occured peacefully, and brought about change within the University before, Calhoun seeks to justify harsh disciplinary action against protests like these by characterizing them as “inherently unsafe.” It is true that the encampment here has the potential to stir up discourse, discord, or even counter-protests. But these are reflections of the University’s ideals of open debate, not matters of safety. Claiming controversy justifies suppressing speech under the guise of security and order is out of line with Princeton’s principles of free speech. Indeed, disallowing activism on the basis of its potential for inciting instability because the topic is contentious amounts to censorship. Princeton stopped these protests almost before they started: The Department of Public Safety even prevented students from setting up their tents.

The University must reevaluate its priorities and align its actions now with its previous stance of prioritizing free speech and education. That means engaging in productive dialogue with protesters, as was done with BJL and PIXR demonstrators, and ensuring the continued education of all of its students, including student protesters. We urge Princeton to alter its course now. Do not arrest more students for using activism to engage in contentious conversations. Do not expel any students for participating in peaceful protest. Change the repressive interpretation of University policies

outlined in Calhoun’s email on Wednesday morning. This is the only way that Princeton can hope to begin to refurbish its reputation — as a champion of student rights, student safety, and a defender of open discourse.

Signed,

The 148th Editorial Board

Chair

Henry Hsiao ’26

Members

Eleanor Clemans-Cope ’26

Davis Hobley ’27

Henry Hsiao ’26

Sarah Park ’27

Abigail Rabieh ’25

Christofer Robles ’25

Naisha Sylvestre ’25

Lucia Wetherill ’25

Leo Yu ’27

The 148th Editorial Board is the institutional voice of The Daily Princetonian and consists of nine members: an appointed Chair, two managing editors, the public editor, and a group of five Opinion section editors and columnists. It convenes on an ad hoc basis to discuss issues and current events of interest to the Princeton University community, as well as collectively write signed editorials addressing them, which reflect the consensus of a majority of the Board’s membership. To ensure independence, the Board works separately from the newsroom of the ‘Prince’ and its members do not cover the topics of their editorials in that capacity for the paper.

Christopher Eisgruber

Campus through a lens: Announcing the ‘Prince’s inaugural columnists

Elanor Clemans-Cope Head Opinion Editor

The Opinion section is thrilled to introduce named columns at the ‘Prince,’ starting with six columnists this semester and more to join in coming semesters. Our columnists will publish regularly and, we hope, become consistent voices in the campus conversation.

Opinion, and perhaps opinions from voices you’ve come to know, can do good for our campus. They hold power to account and, at their best, contribute to the goals of journalism. For example, Christofer Robles’ 2022 column about the discrepancy between the allocated $9 for late meals and the actual cost of items prompted the University to adjust its pricing, ensuring that Late Meal covers an entrée, side, and drink. And after I shone a light on Princeton’s need to improve harm reduction for drug use, University Health Services (UHS) began making Narcan and fentanyl test strips available.

Behind each of these columns are people and values:

Christofer wrote his Late Meal piece because he values equity, in both the big issues and the small ones — as he said, consistently paying out of pocket for late meals makes it less accessible to lower-income students. I wrote about harm reduction because I believe in a just society where no one is left behind, everyone has dignity, and the University, as our social safety net, has an obligation to its community to provide us with the resources we need to thrive.

These worldviews have implications beyond these specific contexts. We bring them wherever we go, and apply them to whatever we write about.

Reading a series of columns by the same author is seeing things through the writer’s lens — it’s looking at campus through the ‘Christofer glasses’ or the ‘Eleanor specs.’

This is our thinking behind named columns. Just as Ezra Klein, David Brooks, Tressie McMillan Cottom, and Ross Douthat can be counted on to write interestingly and from a consistent perspective about what is going on in the U.S., we hope that our columnists can bring you interesting, consistent, and insightful perspectives about what is going on at Princeton.

As months and years pass, we hope that our columnists

will earn a dedicated readership where you become familiar with each writer’s focus, interests, quirks, and qualms.

Our Opinion staff without a designated column will continue to publish, and we will continue to publish guest contributions. I invite you, reader, to join this motley crew. And if there’s anyone in your life about whom you wonder, “what would they think?” with

every issue you encounter, tell them to come to the ‘Prince’ Opinion section.

We hope that, in time, students will come to trust our columnists as passionate, respectful, established voices in campus conversations. By seeing through the Conger contacts, Santos specs, Buckley binoculars, Ava aviators, and Lee lenses, readers will gain fresh insights by stepping into

a new perspective. We all are hoping not only to inform and engage but to challenge and entertain, ultimately fostering a more connected and shared campus discourse.

You can read more about the individual columns online at dailyprincetonian.com.

Eleanor Clemans-Cope is the head Opinion editor for the ‘Prince.’

Community is built on empathy; stop politicizing it

I’m a first-year, and in less than a year, it’ll be time for me, my friends, and the Class of 2027 to join eating clubs. When we do, we’ll be looking for spaces where we can relax, socialize, and be among friends. We’re looking for places where we can have a reprieve from the fast pace of Princeton life, places where we can eat dinner, play pool, and sit around in complete comfort. For those of us of marginalized identities, that also means that we’re looking for a community that will respect us in a way that the outside world sometimes doesn’t. All of us, in our different ways, are looking for places where we feel at home. To phrase it in a way that has become controversial, we’re looking for safe spaces.

A few weeks ago, Matthew Wilson, a columnist and a member of the Charter Club wrote a column in the ‘Prince’ titled “We must not let eating clubs be ideological safe spaces.” This confused me — what is an eating club if not a safe space for its members? From the outside looking in, the clubs seem to be exactly that: a place for members to feel comfortable, relaxed, and safe. The problem is that Wilson fundamentally misunderstands

the idea of a safe space, and the idea of community: The idea of creating “safe spaces” has been politicized and weaponized as part of a culture war when in reality it is merely a precursor to being in community with others.

In February, Wilson brought his professor Robert P. George to lunch. George is a conservative professor who is outspoken against abortion rights and samesex marriage. Some Charter members were shocked and upset by seeing George in their club, which prompted a new guest rule: members bringing guests who were not friends or family would have to submit the guest to Charter officers for approval and notify all club members in advance. As Wilson himself wrote, the entire club was notified that “Charter is an inclusive private club that will never deny a member’s request to bring a guest to [their] sanctuary.” It is clear that these policies are intended to protect the comfort of all members while still allowing any and all guests to visit the club regardless of their political beliefs.

Eating clubs as “safe spaces” might appear alarming because of the way that the phrase has been twisted by social conservatives. But let’s go back to its literal definition: Oxford Dictionary defines “safe space” as “a place or environment in which a person or category of people can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other

emotional or physical harm.” Demanding that social clubs adhere to this definition seems reasonable to me, despite conservative talking points which would make it seem like an absurdly difficult standard.

Notice that this definition says nothing about the existence of conflicting social, religious, or political beliefs. Wilson specifically calls out the idea of an “ideological safe space,” and argues that the creation of these spaces is problematic because it hinges on limiting the scope  of political and ideological debate. He fails to realize that safe spaces can be composed of people that disagree — in fact, ideological debates from a place of mutual respect and understanding oftentimes can strengthen a community, engaging members in mutual dialogue and hopefully bringing them to increased understanding.

Wilson fails to realize that these steps are not any sort of ideological imposition — the club is simply taking action to ensure all of its members continue to feel comfortable at Charter by making them aware of any outsiders who might be dining at the club. Wilson can invite Professor George to have lunch at Charter; other Charter members who are uncomfortable being around George can make other plans.

This incident shows that, oftentimes, when conservatives work themselves up about being confined by the rhetoric of “safe spaces,” they’re just protesting against

one of the basic requirements of being in a genuine community with others: caring about people and respecting their feelings. Ensuring that no one faces discrimination on the basis of their inextricable characteristics is one element of creating a comfortable environment. It is nonsensical that a community, especially one like an eating club with strictly defined membership, would not seek to ensure the comfort of all its members.

The idea that George’s presence could be uncomfortable may not be understood by all, but that does not make it any less legitimate. It is uncomfortable, for some, to walk into a room knowing that there are people in it who fundamentally disagree with their human right to equality. People who feel that way deserve respect, especially from those who are supposed to be their community members. It is especially disrespectful to characterize personal discomfort on the basis of one’s identity as an immature inability to share space with those who disagree. Charter leadership tried to respect and value the feelings of all its members by instituting a policy that addressed concerns while maintaining total inclusion, and was met with extreme backlash.

Campus conservatives, supported by outrage from Fox News and George himself, won their culture war and got the new guest policy reversed. This outcome is disappointing. I hope that Char-

ter will still find a way to protect the comfort of all its members without having to face unnecessary backlash. I am not naive enough to argue that all people are entitled to complete comfort in all spaces. Any marginalized person knows that our existence, equality, and abilities will be scrutinized and argued. It is also true that not everyone is entitled to comfort everywhere: there are times and places where the presence of differing ideologies, no matter how offensive, is a higher priority than the comfort of every individual. However, an eating club is a space where every member is equally part of the community, and therefore equally entitled to comfort. Instead of seeing efforts to promote the comfort of all members of a social space as an ideological crusade, we should see it for what it really is — an act of kindness. Fostering community means creating spaces where everyone feels comfortable. Community relies on a mutual respect for each others’ feelings and desires, and sometimes that means compromise. Being in a community means caring about other people and respecting their feelings, and sometimes even putting them above something that you might want. We must not let culture wars and politics erode our sense of, or belief in, community, because without it we have nothing.

Ava Johnson is a first-year Opinion

columnist from Washington, D.C.

LUIZA CHEVRES / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The ‘Prince’ has named its six inaugural named columnists.

Ava Johnson Columnist

Eyes on the Tiger Eleanor Clemans-Cope ’26

The New Nassau Ava Johnson ’26

Popping the Bubble Wynne Conger ’27

To Old Nassau

Julianna Lee ’25

This Side of Nassau Thomas Buckley ’26

Opening the Gates Asa Santos ’25

editor-in-chief

Eden Teshome ’25

president

business manager Aidan Phillips ’25

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

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

Eden Teshome ’25

Aidan Phillips ’25

148TH MANAGING BOARD

Ryan Konarska ’25

Naisha Sylvestre ’25

director of outreach

Lia Opperman ’25

Accessibility

Christopher Bao ’27

Education

Charlie Roth ’25

Tess Weinreich ’25

Lucia Wetherill ’25

creative director Mary Ma ’26

Financial Stipend

Elaine Huang ’25

Sections listed in alphabetical order. public editor Abigail Rabieh ’25

head archives editor

Raphaela Gold ’26

Kaylee Kasper ’26

Associate Archives editor

Elizabeth Clarke ’27

head audience editor

Paige Walworth ’26

associate audience editors

Zach Lee ’26

Amparo Sanchez ’27

head copy editors

Nathan Beck ’25

Bryan Zhang ’26

associate head copy editors

Lindsay Padaguan ’26

Elizabeth Polubinski ’25

head data editors

Andrew Bosworth ’26

Suthi Navaratnam-Tomayko ’26

head features editors

Sejal Goud ’25

Molly Taylor ’25

associate features editor

Raphaela Gold ’26

head graphics editors

Luiza Chevres ’26

Noreen Hosny ’25

head humor editors

Spencer Bauman ’25

Sophia Varughese ’26

associate humor editors

Sam McComb ’25

Mya Koffie ’27

head news editors

Bridget O’Neill ’26

Annie Rupertus ’25

associate news editors

Julian Hartman-Sigall ’26

Olivia Sanchez ’26

Miriam Waldvogel ’26 (Investigations)

head newsletter editor

Kia Ghods ’27

associate newsletter editors Victoria Davies ’27 Sunney Gao ’27

head opinion editor Eleanor Clemans-Cope ’26

community opinion editor Christofer Robles ’25

associate opinion editors Thomas Buckley ’26 Wynne Conger ’27

head photo editors Louisa Gheorghita ’26

Jean Shin ’26

associate photo editor Calvin Grover ’27

head podcast editor Vitus Larrieu ’26

associate podcast editors Senna Aldoubosh ’25

Theo Wells-Spackman ’25

head print design editors Avi Chesler ’25

Malia Gaviola ’26

head prospect editor Isabella Dail ’26

associate prospect editors Russell Fan ’26

Regina Roberts ’26

head puzzles editors Sabrina Effron ’26

Joah Macosko ’25

associate puzzles editors Wade Bednar ’26

Lindsay McBride ’27

head sports editors Cole Keller ’26

Diego Uribe ’26

associate sports editors Tate Hutchins ’27

Hayk Yengibaryan ’26

head web design and development

editors Yacoub Kahkajian ’26

Vasila Mirshamsova ’26

148TH BUSINESS BOARD

assistant business manager

Jessica Funk ’26

business directors

Gabriel Gullett ’25

Andrew He ’26

Tejas Iyer ’26

Jordan Manela ’26

chief technology officer

Robert Mohan ’26 Kok Wei Pua ’25

My Ky Tran ’26

project managers

Jason Ding ’25 Kaustuv Mukherjee ’26

148TH TECHNOLOGY BOARD

Roma Bhattacharjee ’25

lead software engineer

Sanh Nguyen ’26

software engineers

Anika Agarwal ’25

Carter Costic ’26

Jessica Dong ’25

Vishva Ilavelan ’27

Statement of solidarity with Columbia University students from Princeton faculty and staff

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

We, Princeton University faculty and staff, affirm our solidarity with and support for the Columbia University and Barnard College students who are continuing to demand that the university divest from Israel’s genocide in Gaza and ongoing occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and other Palestinian land. We fully support the rights of all university community members, including students, to engage in peaceful protest at Columbia, at Princeton, and on all university campuses.

Until the following demands are met, we will boycott Columbia University and Barnard College:

First, we call upon the Columbia University administration to reinstate those students who were wrongfully suspended for exercising their constitutionally recognized right to speech and peaceful assembly. We demand that all charges be dismissed and expunged from their student records, and that all rights and privileges be restored to them immediately. All ad hoc disciplinary proceedings against peaceful student protestors must be stopped. We demand that no disciplinary action be taken against any student protesters without due process, and that no police be permitted on campus without serious consultation with the Executive Committee of the Columbia University Senate.

Second, we call upon the Columbia University administration to remove the New York City Police Department from campus. All criminal charges that have been brought against student protestors who were arrested by the NYPD at the behest of the university administration should be dropped immediately. The cases of all students facing disciplinary zzbehalf of Palestine must be channeled through established university disciplinary procedures for each campus.

Finally, we call upon the Columbia University administration to reverse the suspension of the student groups Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and Columbia Jewish Voice for Peace.

We vow to withhold our academic labor from Columbia and Barnard, not to participate in conferences and other campus events, and not to collaborate with university institutions until such time as the administration has met these demands and demonstrated its commitments to upholding the well-established norms of unrestricted scholarly inquiry and academic freedom.

Signed,

Max Weiss, Associate Professor, History

Karen Emmerich ’00, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature

Joshua B. Guild, Associate Professor, African American Studies

Daniel Sheffield, Associate Professor, Near Eastern Studies

Rob Nixon, Professor, Environment and Humanities, English, and the High Meadows Environmental Institute

Wendy Belcher, Professor, Comparative Literature and African American Studies

Anne McClintock, Professor, Gender and Sexuality Studies and the High Meadows Environmental Institute

Molly Greene GS ’93, Professor, History

’26

Liu ’27

Liu ’26

Liu ’27

Pham ’26

Phillips ’25 Joe Rupertus ’26

Wang ’26

Yeow ’26 (UI/UX) Brett Zeligson ’24

THIS PRINT ISSUE WAS DESIGNED BY

Avi Chesler ’25

Malia Gaviola ’26 Evan Wilson ’27 Haruka Nabeshima ’27 AND COPIED BY Bryan Zhang ’26

Susana Draper, Professor, Comparative Literature

Hal Foster ’77, Professor, Art and Archaeology

Ruha Benjamin, Professor, African American Studies

Tehseen Thaver, Assistant Professor, Religion

Fadi A. Bardawil, Visiting Associate Professor, Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies

Colleen Asper, Lecturer, Lewis Center for the Arts

V. Mitch McEwen, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture

Nancy Coffin, Senior Lecturer, Near Eastern Studies

Dan-el Padilla Peralta ’06, Associate Professor, Classics

Irene V. Small, Associate Professor, Art & Archaeology

Lorgia Garcia Peña, Professor, African American Studies and Effron Center for the Study of America

Lital Levy, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature

Gyan Prakash, Professor, History

Sara Al-Sayed, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Program on Science and Global Security

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Professor, African American Studies

Juan Cruz Ferre, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Program in Latin Amercan Studies

Elise A. Mitchell, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, History

Paola Estrada, Postdoctoral Researcher, Molecular Biology

Jessica Ng, Postdoctoral Research Associate, High Meadows Environmental Institute

Hamza El-Asaad, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Program on Science and Global Security

Barbara Nagel, Associate Professor, German

Meredith Martin, Associate Professor, English

Mostafa Abdou, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton Neuroscience Institute

Spyros Papapetros, Associate Professor, School of Architecture

Frank N. von Hippel, Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs

Abdelrahman Hamdan, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

Agustin Fuentes, Professor, Anthropology

Zia Mian, Research Scientist, Program on Science and Global Security

Pedro Meira Monteiro, Professor, Spanish and Portuguese

Sergio Garcia, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Chemical and Biological Engineering May Kosba, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Program in African Studies

James Welling, Lecturer with status of professor, Lewis Center for the Arts, Visual Art Arcadio Diaz-Quiñones, Professor Emeritus, Spanish and Portuguese

Behrooz Ghamari, Professor, Near Eastern Studies

Rena Lederman, Professor, Anthropology

Allison Carruth, Professor, American Studies and the High Meadows Environmental Institute

Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Associate Professor, African American Studies and Art & Archaeology

Lara Harb, Associate Professor, Near Eastern Studies

Gavin Steingo, Professor, Music

Julia Elyachar, Associate Professor, Anthropology and PIIRS

Katie Chenoweth, Associate Professor, French and Italian Zahid Chaudhary, Associate Professor, English

Gayle Salamon, Professor, English

Nick Nesbitt, Professor, French & Italian

Satyel Larson, Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Studies

Hamza M. Zafer, Lecturer, Program in African Studies

Erin Besler,

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture

“G et A ctive !”

By Dashram Pai & Atishay Narayanan Senior Constructor & Contributing Constructor

ACROSS

1 "Queen of Neo Soul" Erykah

5 Toothed tool

8 One who plays a first-person shooter or battle royale

13 Stratford-upon-___

14 Garb that's great for the slopes

17 McQueen protest against an unfair Piston Cup involving a refusal to race?

19 Nearsighted "Mr." of old cartoons

20 Code-cracking org.

21 Diet featuring fat-forward fare

22 Times for clutch performances, for short

24 One of speech therapist's targets

27 Protest against an unfair epee match with sword fights?

31 Ube, e.g.

34 Colorful Hindu festival

35 In opposition?

36 Spanish ___

38 Ceaselessly

40 Checked the box, say

41 Tinted

42 "Despicable" protagonist voiced by Steve Carell

43 They're often found alongside two truths

44 Western Hemisphere grp.

45 Alliance between PHY and GER students to protest for later class start times?

48 Recurring theme

49 QB's passing stat: Abbr.

50 Itsy-bitsy biter

53 Two or three

55 Timberwolves big man KarlAnthony

59 How a workers group is holding up?

63 Taylor Swift song with the line "There were sirens in the beat of your heart"

64 Crushing on

65 Freddie Mercury portayer Rami

66 "It's possible ..."

67 Wren's den

1 Lip ___ 2 Asics competitor 3 Snoop ___

4 Releasing, as a fish off the line

5 Nine-digit ID

6 Similar (to)

7 Kate of "Titanic"

8 Where you might submit your Princeton study abroad application: Abbr.

9 Complex constituent, for short 10 Blemishes 11 Lake below Huron 12 Destroyed, as an 8-Across 15 Once more 16 Sign followed by Virgo 18 Reusable shopping bag

23 Maintained, as attention 25 Shoulder blade 26 Shampoo brand

27 Greek prefix meaning "light"

28 Ancient Greek region on the Aegean

29 Clash of ___ (hit 2012 mobile game)

30 What you should have while doing this puzzle!

31 "Catch my drift?"

32 Common vowel-filled Wordle opener 33 Cleric's house

Sleep hormone

Destructive renovation phase, for short

Bruins legend Bobby

The Minis

By Brian Park Contributing Constructor

Words after throwing a ball

Split second

"___ Brute?" 48 Gold or platinum 50 Umami enhancer, in brief

Part of an agenda

52 Parent company of Jaguar and Land Rover, among others 54 "Kapow!"

56 Merlot, for one

57 Forget-me-___ (blue flowers)

58 Icky anagram of 57-down

60 Female sheep

61 Pokemon professor

62 "Uh ..."

From Hotspot to TigerJunction, student developers build apps to improve campus life

By Valentina Moreno Assistant Features Editor

Any Princeton student that wishes to enter Tiger Inn or Ivy Club on a Thursday or Saturday night must present the formidable bouncers with the secret password: their Hotspot QR code.

Hotspot, an app launched in the fall of 2022 by three Princeton students, Ayo Oguntula ’23, Dylan Porges ’23, and Marie Sirenko ’25, has quickly replaced the printed list system for entering parties at several of the University’s eating clubs, as well as at Greek Life on 5 other college campuses.

Hotspot is just one of several widely-used, student-developed apps that aim to improve campus life.

While Hotspot is focused on Princeton’s social scene, TigerJunction, built by Joshua Lau ‘26, has helped students to prepare their academic schedules for fall course selection — an important tool, as TigerHub has faced technical difficulties in the past.

While most campus-oriented apps are created in COS 333: Advanced Programming Techniques, Princeton’s web application development course, some students pursue such projects independently of the course. Many of these apps are centralized through TigerApps, a studentrun organization that maintains and supports student-developed web applications on campus.

The creators of both Hotspot and TigerJunction spent months developing their applications independently, looking to enhance the student experience through technology. The Daily Princetonian spoke with the developers of these applications to learn more about the development process, how they help students, and what the future holds for these digital mainstays of the Princeton experience.

Identifying a Need on Campus

In November 2021, juniors Oguntula and Porges were looking for a designer for the beta version of their startup, Hotspot, and a mutual friend directed them to Sirenko, who was, at that time, a first-year. Hotspot was created as a solution to the “inefficiencies of the eating club system,” Sirenko explained. Hotspot — not to be confused with the University’s gray devices used to validate student proxes, which bear the same name — is a tool for managing guests for social events. If an eating club is hosting a party, it can add its members to the event and give them the same number of guest spots. Then, guests use the QR code on their invitation to gain access to the event.

“The social chairs [of eating clubs] would be using five different platforms, like sending a Google form to put guests on the list,” Sirenko said. “They would send an email to publicize it, text about updates in the GroupMe, and have people check paper lists at the door. If it was a ticketed event, they’d have to use a

fully different platform. With Hotspot, you can do all of that in one place.”

Hotspot is designed to manage the sweet spot between large, ticketed events and small, friend group functions.

“There wasn’t really something in between that space, where it had the functionality that you need [for an event], but had more of a casual, friendly atmosphere,” Sirenko explained.

As a first-year, Lau, a selftaught programmer and ECE major, was frustrated with ReCal’s outdated features. With TigerJunction, he looked to integrate multiple TigerApps used for course selection into one app. Lau released the beta version in the fall of 2023 and debugged it during Wintersession of this year. It officially became a TigerApp in the beginning of the spring semester.

Lau’s improved version of ReCal contains advanced search features, allowing students to search by distribution requirements, by courses that don’t conflict with ones already selected, by levels, and by ratings from Princeton Courses.

“A new puzzle to solve every single time”: Tackling the challenges of software development

While the Hotspot team had a strong vision for the function of the app, the beta version didn’t work well. Sirenko and the two developers redesigned it from scratch.

“We didn’t even use the same code, we kind of took the same feature ideas but completely remapped it so that it’d be userfocused,” Sirenko said.

When they launched again a year later, in the fall of 2022, they enhanced the app to include social features, allowing users to see what events their friends are attending or have attended. The app also has built-in privacy, hiding the activity of users that aren’t mutual friends.

As the designer, Sirenko was responsible for doing product research, communicating with users to determine their needs, and designing features in the app to fit those needs. Once she conceptualized what the app would look like, she created sketches and then mockups on Adobe XD.

Sirenko, currently studying neuroscience and art, applied the intersections of consumer behavior and art to her designs.

“In connection to my academic background, I love to see the ways that you can apply principles from behavior and decisionmaking research in order to make apps that are very intuitive and human-centered,” Sirenko said.

After Sirenko completed her designs, the developers looked at a particular design feature, like buttons, and implemented the visual elements like the font color, height, width, and shadow effect.

Johnny Ramirez ’26, one of the group’s two front-end developers, explains he loves working on the static features of the app, while others, like animation, are more

difficult for him from a technical standpoint.

“It’s been really cool working on the story feature,” Ramirez said. “After you go to a party, you can post pictures and upload them and see all your friends’ pictures. It was really funny because when we were testing it, [the team] took horrible selfies and we could see each other.”

Hotspot team members also use their own product to access the social scene on campus, informing their work on the application.

“I think we’ve benefited that everyone who works on the app uses it. It’s a living thing,” Ramirez noted. “It’s helpful because if anything pops up, either a friend or one of us will point it out and we can address it pretty quickly.”

Ramirez taught himself React Native, the framework used for the app, in high school. He also previously developed the mobile app for The Daily Princetonian, his first project.

“After [the ‘Prince’ app], I felt pretty confident in my skills, so I had a smooth transition into Hotspot,” Ramirez said.

Some of the features the team improved, for instance, were the placement of the QR code and event information. Initially, accessing the QR code at the door was a three-step process, making it confusing and time-consuming for users. Additionally, the team made the event information visible immediately after users open the app.

For Lau, creating TigerJunction took three completely new attempts from scratch.

“The first attempt was my first attempt at making largescale software, but it was a terrible mess. The second attempt was a little bit better, but then I decided to do it from scratch again. I arguably could have fixed it up and built on top of it, but in software development you can always restart wherever you are, because you never have a perfect code base. You have to just choose a moment where it’s good enough to build more advanced features on top of it,” Lau said.

The product of Lau’s process, TigerJunction is the “ugly duckling of the TigerApps,” he said. It is the only TigerApp that uses Svelte as a framework, and the only one that did not begin as a COS 333 project.

“Most of the other apps coming out of COS 333 are a lot more selfcontained,” Lau said. “They’re constrained by the class [timeframe], which does not allow students to take bigger risks,” Lau explained. “I initially planned to get this out in two months, but it’s been nine months [as of April 2024], and it’s still developing.”

Lau said the process of coding is starkly different from what most people envision.

“It’s a very iterative experience, going back and forth between coding and planning,” Lau noted. “You watch a hacker movie, and they’re sitting there going like, ‘I’m in’, you know, but that’s like 10 percent of the work — 90 per-

cent is planning.”

While Lau had an ambitious vision for TigerJunction before beginning to program it, he radically changed his initial plans in the current version of the app.

“I drew out this giant diagram with everything it was going to be. Fifty percent of things have changed, 50 percent have stayed the same,” Lau said. “It’s always changing.”

During the seven or so months it took him to create and launch the app, Lau’s progress was nonlinear.

“Exams and losing motivation get in the way. In reality, its plan, execute, ‘oh no, there’s a bug, I’ll save that for later,’ let’s do the next feature because that’s more exciting than debugging,” Lau said.

Since its launch, Lau has run into several roadblocks, which has forced him to always be vigilant over the app, especially during the add/drop period.

“I want to sincerely apologize to anyone who used the app during winter break, because you probably ran into one of the million issues at the time,” Lau joked. “But there was this thing where if you went into the application, and you had zero things in your schedule, it would just crash, which is bad because any new user immediately starts with zero.”

While debugging can be frustrating, Lau invites the challenge.

“[Debugging] is kind of like a new puzzle to solve every single time. It’s not like a p-set where you submit the solution, and if it’s wrong, you get zero points. If I can see it doesn’t work, I can try something different,” Lau explained.

Aside from TigerJunction, Lau is a developer for the TigerApps team, helping to onboard new apps which entails transferring databases, changing the hosting infrastructure, communicating with USG for any necessary funding, and fixing bugs. However, because TigerJunction was created entirely by Lau and is constantly in development he has maintained ownership over it, despite its status as a TigerApp.

“Pretty much like if I disappeared off the face of the earth today, no one can maintain it,” Lau said. “Like, it would just crash and burn at some point, probably during add/drop.

Looking ahead

Ramirez does not use Hotspot for his own eating club, Cottage Club. Beyond TI and Ivy, Ramirez says Princeton’s eating clubs have been slow to change their technologies, largely due to pressure from higher-up restrictions, such as from their grad boards.

“They have a lot of concern for what kind of features they would want to add,” Ramirez said, “but they’re also very hesitant to introduce new technology when they already have a working system.”

Adding another eating club would not dramatically change the Hotspot’s business anyway, because many students on campus already use Hotspot. Instead,

the team is prioritizing expanding to other campuses.

A year and a half after its launch, the application has grown to 9,000 users across 5 campuses. Most recently, Hotspot has added a ticketing feature the team launched for ticketed events at Yale and UCLA.

In the future, the team hopes to encourage more activity within smaller groups than eating clubs, like friend groups.

“We’ve had birthdays, but would love it if people hosted like a little movie night. We did a big revamp this summer in terms of the social features and have been seeing more of that [activity] so that’s something I’m excited about,” Sirenko explained. “Our main goal is to make Hotspot a place where people can spontaneously connect with their friends and do more fun things that they wouldn’t have done otherwise.”

When he’s not managing other students’ apps, Lau is working on improving and expanding TigerJunction. His next addition will be CourseGenie, which he plans to emulate TigerPath, a four-year course planner, but still integrated with Recal+. His ultimate goal is for TigerJunction to incorporate all TigerApps for course selection into one multifaceted tool, allowing students to view course evaluations, make multi-year plans, and set up notifications for open spots in full courses.

Lau plans to expand the features of existing TigerApps, like TigerPath, in CourseGenie, allowing students to select multiple majors, as well as certificates and minors, to chart their progress and different potential paths. The app will feature a big table view, an easier way to search for classes, including information like distribution requirements, their rating, and how likely it is to fill. He also hopes this next stage of TigerJunction will be able to incorporate prerequisites to advise students on classes as a supplement to academic advisers, potentially integrating ChatGPT in some capacity.

“It won’t be good as an adviser who has knowledge in their field of expertise, but it will provide a different insight,” Lau said. “No adviser has actually read through the description of all 1400 courses across time and every single review they have.”

After dedicating 150 hours to coding TigerJunction, Lau is enthusiastic about coding for its potential to create solutions to problems he sees in the real world. On campus, that means providing students with a resource to support the development of their academic careers.

“I fundamentally don’t love to code,” Lau notes. “I love to make things. Software engineering is the easiest way to create a solution to a problem. You have the power to see a creation you want to see exist, no matter how stupid or big the idea is.”

Valentina Moreno is an assistant Features editor for the ‘Prince.’

‘Translating and transcribing knowledge’:

The collaborative effort to make Princeton’s

Mesoamerican collection open-access

By Synai Ferrell Contributing Features Writer

Three floors under Firestone Library in Special Collections, a group of Princeton first-year students are translating a collection of largely untouched documents from Nahuatl — an endangered, indigenous Mesoamerican language — into English.

In 1949, Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, donated 18 Mesoamerican manuscripts and documents to the Princeton University Library (PUL). Spanning from the 16th to 20th centuries, the donation included pictorial manuscripts, maps and land documents written in Latin, Spanish, and Nahuatl, an Aztec language native to the Nahua people of central Mexico.

Since Garrett’s donation, PUL has now digitized 236 Mesoamerican items.

Many of these manuscripts have remained untranslated, until professor Nadia Cervantes Pérez, a lecturer in the department of Spanish and Portuguese and current instructor of FRS152: Translating Mesoamerica, recently began working on them last year.

In 2023, Pérez received a Magic Grant from the Humanities Council for her project, “Translating Mesoamerica: Learning about Indigenous Cultures through Princeton’s Nahuatl Documents from Colonial Mexico &

Central America.”

Although Pérez does not identify as indigenous, she explained that she was interested in learning more about Nahua culture to understand her own Mexican heritage.

“I wanted to see what parts of my culture had those roots and how we still have them today,” Pérez said.

The goal of the project is to produce an open-access platform that provides contextual information about the Mesoamerican collection at Princeton University Library. Native speakers, postdoctoral researchers, and students will collaborate to create content for the platform.

“I’m trying not to be the one that provides knowledge, but the one that learns with them,” Pérez explained.

The platform has served as the foundation for Pérez’s Translating Mesoamerica freshman seminar. In the course, students learn about how Spanish colonialism impacted indigenous communities of Mesoamerica, with a specific focus on Nahua people.

Although some students, like Amanda Hugas ’27, had never studied Nahua culture, readings have helped them to understand the history of colonialism in Mesoamerica.

“In the beginning of the semester, we would go over our readings that we’ve done. So we often have explored the relationship of what colonialism did to the Nahua culture, how it was affected, how it was transformed,” Hugas said. “So we did lots of readings exploring that relationship between the conquistadors and the Nahua natives.”

Each week, students also engage with Mesoamerican archival materials in Special Collections to understand Nahua history.

For students like Alexandra Montgomery ’27, trips to Special Collections are essential to the learning experience.

“When you’re looking at these old manuscripts, it’s easy to assume that the little details don’t mean anything,” she explained. “But when you look closer at it, everything has a deeper cultural meaning behind it. It’s really cool to just look at a culture with a worldview that’s different from the Western worldview and analyze how that different worldview impacts everything about their systems of writing, their symbols, their language.”

According to Alanna Radlo-Dzur, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Art and Archaeology, there are approximately 1 to 1.5 million Nahuatl speakers in Mexico and around the globe. As an endangered language, the revitalization of Nahuatl represents a “means of reclaiming sovereignty and expressing sovereignty for indigenous communities all over the Americas,” RadloDzur explained.

This semester, students have been challenged to develop skills in transcribing and translating Nahuatl manuscripts.

“Nahuatl is completely different as a language from the Romance languages that a lot of people are familiar with. The whole grammatical structure is different. Some of the sounds don’t exist in romance languages,” Montgomery noted.

Nahuatl is an agglutinative language, which means that phrases that would require sentences in English can be expressed in one word in Nahuatl. Once a week, students learn and review Nahuatl grammar to help them understand Nahuatl manuscripts.

“It’s definitely a very different experience translating and transcribing knowledge. But it’s been really rewarding to figure it out in the class,” Montgomery added. Additionally, students must research and analyze an archival object from Nahua civilization for the final group project.

Montgomery and Hugas are working on transcribing a Nahua land deed together. Other pairs will examine documents such as maps and the Bible.

“I’m really excited to look forward to the whole context of where these pieces came from, and how much we can discover,” Hugas said.

Pérez would like to teach more courses similar to Translating Mesoamerica in the future. “It would be interesting, and it would be useful if Princeton could offer classes in indigenous language as well,” she added.

By examining Nahuatl manuscripts, students grasp the value of Nahua civilization that has been hidden by Spanish colonialism.

“I think it’s an incredibly important thing to learn as a college student because indigenous people, especially in the Americas, have been very erased from the public consciousness,” said Montgomery.

Over time, Westernization has decreased the visibility of indigenous cultures in Mesoamerica, but Translating Mesoamerica emphasizes “a change in attitude within the scholarly community of being able to recognize that other ways of knowing, understanding the world and our place in it are of equal value,” Radlo-Dzur explained.

For Hugas, Translating Mesoamerica has transformed her understanding of the role of indigenous culture in history and the importance of learning “how history is preserved and how people will look back on your culture hundreds of years from now.”

“More than anything I want students to take away to value respect and understand how important our cultural diversity is,” Pérez echoed.

Synai Ferrell is a contributing Features writer and staff Podcast

writer at the ‘Prince.’

COURTESY OF NADIA CERVANTES PÉREZ. An example document from the University’s Mesoamerican Collection.

COURTESY OF NADIA CERVANTES PÉREZ. Translating Mesoamerica students gather in Firestone.

More to medicine than science: The Compassionate Medicine Fellowship combines the humanities and sciences

By Christopher Bao & Ifeoluwa Aigbiniode Assistant

Editor

Writer

In 2016, Jonathan Tenenbaum ’25 was involved in a nearly fatal skiing accident. Now, he is a premedical student, with a goal of attending medical school that he attributes, in part, to his experience as a pediatric patient.

“Physicians that genuinely spoke to me and understood my struggle and treated me as an individual rather than just a dependent to my parents was what really stuck with me,” Tenenbaum said. “I’m not traumatized by my experiences, I think, partially because of the humanity in medicine.”

At Princeton, Tenenbaum, Sophia Zelizer ’25, Tristan Szapary ’24, and Emely Fernandez ’25 lead the Compassionate Medicine Fellowship (CMF), which emphasizes the humanistic nature of patient care. Established in 2022, the fellowship organizes “a cohort of students who are intentional about channeling compassion on their journey to and in practicing medicine,” Tenenbaum said.

Though most pre-med students at Princeton concentrate in Molecular Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Neuroscience, Chemistry, or Psychology, the Fellowship reflects a growing interest among students in the humanities among those hoping to pursue medicine. According to the University Health Professions Advising office, roughly ten percent of medical school applicants between 2019 and 2023 were humanities majors.

“A lot of our participants are pre-med students who are in non-traditional majors,” Zelizer explained. “It’s people who are studying things outside of biol-

ogy, which I think gives a lot of cool different perspectives.”

Fellowship programming takes place year-round. Over the summer, fellows take on patient-facing internships and meet remotely every week to discuss prompts related to their experiences. During the school year, the fellowship continues to hold discussions and host speakers.

“The conversations began with the prompts, but very quickly blew into something just about an interesting experience or something that was a little puzzling that someone wanted to talk about further,” Billy Cohen ’25 said, a member of the fellowship pursuing a degree in computer science.

“Then, every few weeks, we would hear from speakers from amazing backgrounds and it was really fascinating.”

Zelizer also said that cultivating compassion is especially relevant for students first entering the health field.

“As pre-med students, often when you do an internship or a junior-level job in the medical field, you end up mostly just being there for patients and trying to just be someone [they can] talk to and have a kind word with,” Zelizer said. “You’re not a doctor, obviously, and you can’t really do much else. Compassion ends up being a lot of the job.”

“I really think every pre-med student should be a humanities major,” Zelizer added. “I think it just gives you a more well-rounded understanding of people.”

For Katie Greppin ’26, an anthropology major, her CMF experience confirmed she wanted to pursue studies beyond science while maintaining the goal of a career in medicine.

“I think [CMF] really influenced my decision to pursue anthropol-

ogy, as originally I’d come in as neuroscience. Anthropology provides a means of understanding people on a deeper level with a specific skill set,” Greppin explained. “My summer internship at a children’s hospital, being in the operating room and talking to physicians, [showed me] that when you go into medicine, your life becomes consumed by science, but there’s so much more beyond the walls of the hospital than science.”

During the school year, the Fellowship hosts various speakers who combine the humanities and medicine in their careers. Past speakers have included Aung Min, a physician and filmmaker from rural Myanmar, and Larry Brilliant, a key member of the World Health Organization’s smallpox eradication efforts. This past fall, the program hosted a talk between Dr. Joseph Fins, Chief of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Professor Brooke Holmes, Susan Dod Brown Professor of Classics.

Associate Dean in the Office of Religious Life Matt Weiner explained that the program started out of a desire to expand the Faith-Based Internship Programs to provide students with more opportunities. The Fellowship, though based in the ORL, is not affiliated with any particular religion.

Weiner’s role in the program is more advisory. Most of the activities are arranged by the students. According to Szapary, one of the fellowship‘s founding members, the original group of student organizers — Szapary, Emily Yu ’22, Saoirse Bodnar ’22, and Hifsa Chaudhry ’22 — were connected by Weiner.

“We all went to that original meeting and sort of talked and

that’s how the Compassionate Medicine Fellowship was born,” Szapary said.

Weiner said of the fellowship, “It just shows the real and good complexity of Princeton students; ‘I can want to be a doctor, and I can also love literature and know that I can learn a lot from literature.’”

Initially, according to Szapary, the founding members had hoped that the fellowship would be able to provide internships for students, pairing them with doctors. However, the team realized that the logistics would be challenging, so they thought of a different approach.

“We have people already finding internships,” Szapary said.

“But hopefully the internship is patient-facing, and then we meet together and the real work that happens is in those cohort meetings.”

Szapary said that much of their work at the beginning was “figuring it out on the fly.” At the end of the first summer, fellows expressed positive feedback, which encouraged student leaders to continue developing the program during the school year.

Greppin views the Fellowship as a microcosm of the University at large: a space for people who have diverse, not singular, interests.

“There’s some schools where it seems like the entire student body is pre-med,” Greppin said.

“But here, most of my friends are not pre-med. It’s so nice to have this broad array of studies and interests, like people taking math, physics, English, and politics. I think that was a huge reason for me coming [to Princeton] and it reflects with the [fellowship].”

“There’s more to life and medicine than science,” Greppin added.

Tenenbaum, an English major,

said that he’s studying the humanities because he feels that while the sciences provide critical information for medical students, the humanities allow for more connection with patients.

“Reading tales of humanity and understanding the human struggle and strife at an intimate level allows you to be a more compassionate individual and professional,” Tenenbaum said. “Studying science can help in developing an understanding of the fundamental composition of human life or biological phenomena, but you’re not necessarily tapping into the soul.”

While Tenenbaum feels the Fellowship has made great strides in promoting its mission these past two years, he is excited about the future development of the group. He acknowledged the fellowship’s role of helping students keep an eye on their goals.

“As a pre-med, it’s hard to at times remain connected to what prompted you to pursue medicine. You know, studying organic chemistry and physics, while a lot of people love these classes … there is this reputation of them being weed-out courses,” Tenenbaum noted. “I feel sometimes like the path to medicine is unwelcoming, and having a community that reminds you why you pursued medicine, and that reminds you of the compassion that fuels this choice and the appreciation for humanity, is a great thing.”

Christopher Bao is an assistant News editor and the accessibility director for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Princeton, N.J. and typically covers town politics and life.

Ifeoluwa Aigbiniode is a contributing Features writer for the ‘Prince.’

the PROSPECT. ARTS & CULTURE

J.S. Foodies review: Delicious, unique pancake spot just off Nassau

By Lulu Pettit | Prospect Contributor

Just a couple weeks ago, Princeton saw a new cafe added to its long list of breakfast spots: J.S. Foodies Tokyo, a Japanese brunch place specializing in “kiseki pancakes,” or Japanese soufflé pancakes. I had the pleasure of visiting the small location just next to Princeton Record Exchange to get breakfast and see if they are worth the trip down Tulane St. I arrived with my roommate at 10 a.m., right when they opened. The menu states that their “soft opening” is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, so extended hours might be on the way — hopefully, their hours will be late enough that students can get the specialty pancakes as a post-dinner sweet treat. A few of the tables were filled when we got there, but we were still seated right away. J.S. Foodies is bright and welcoming, with light-colored wood tables, big windows, and orange accents. You can see into the kitchen in the back, which contributed to an overall feeling of openness.

We ordered a small sampling of the menu: an iced coffee, rooibos tea, strawberry kiseki pancakes, lemon ricotta regular pancakes, and scrambled eggs. The drinks came out within a few minutes. The iced coffee was pretty good but nothing particularly special. It had a neutral flavor, not too bitter; it was satisfying, but I wouldn’t prefer it over a specialty drink like Coffee Club’s pourover. The rooibos tea, which came in an adorable pot with a teacup on the side, was a bit similar: average, flavorful but not strongly brewed, and enjoyable when paired with the meal.

Service for the food was also fast, even with a growing number of filled tables. The scrambled eggs came out first. They came out medium-runny, leaning more towards hard-scrambled. I did not feel a need to season them with salt or pepper; they were salty, rich, and buttery. Usually, I prefer my eggs a bit more softscrambled, so I was surprised when I found myself really enjoying them and wishing for a little, warm toast to eat them with.

Six minutes later, new plates of pancakes were brought out: lemon ricotta regular stack and strawberry soufflé pancakes. Both dishes had beautiful presentations. The lemon ricotta pancakes, thinner than traditional American pancakes, had dollops of both light, fluffy whipped cream and a thicker, tangy ricotta cream. They were garnished with two lemon slices, powdered sugar, and bits of candied lemon, accompanied with a small container of syrup to pour on top. The strawberry kiseki pancakes were an adorable little stack of the two tallest pancakes I had ever seen. Between the two layers was a healthy portion of whipped cream, strawberry jam, and strawberry slices. On top, they put strawberry-flavored whipped cream, a whole strawberry, and an aesthetic dusting of crushed freeze-dried strawberries.

We tried the lemon pancakes first — just wow. Like the drinks, the lemon flavor in the pancakes wasn’t super intense,

but paired with the ricotta cream and the candied lemon, they were absolutely insane. Tangy but still sweet, they had the perfect chew. They did not need the syrup, but I was happy to use it; it added another layer to the already complex flavor profile. J.S. Foodies’ specialty might be soufflé pancakes, but if thin pancakes are your thing, they surely have an option that could please you. They have a wide range of other flavors offered as a regular stack, and based on my experience with the lemon ricotta, I imagine any of them would be a win.

Next, we tried the soufflé pancakes, the primary draw for this restaurant over the plethora of other brunch places available near Nassau Street. It’s worth noting that unlike the regular pancakes, which were lemon-flavored, the kiseki pancakes themselves were not strawberry-flavored as advertised, although that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the experience. They were extremely fluffy, light, and sweet, and they almost melted in my mouth as I ate them. Paired with the jam, strawberry slices, and two different whipped creams, they were delightful. I would highly recommend and can see myself returning to have them again.

Just as we thought we were finished, the staff surprised us with a free matcha kiseki pancake. It came with a creamy matcha frosting on top, a drizzle of matcha syrup, and a crunchy matcha-flavored topping. In all honesty, I am not the biggest fan of matcha, but even I had to admit that the flavor of the cream was sweet, balanced, and all-around tasty. My roommate, a diehard matcha fan, gave the pancake high praise. The experience wasn’t unique to us — the table next to us, we noticed, also received a free additional kiseki pancake, showcasing the attentiveness and kindness of the staff at J.S. Foodies. After we finished our extra pancake, a member of the waitstaff came around with small samples of various kiseki pancake flavors. Although I was starting to reach a sugar overload at that point, I couldn’t turn down a sample of their traditional kiseki pancake, which came with plain whipped cream. While still delicious, it was a bit less flavorful than the other variations, and I will probably order specialty flavors in the future.

Despite focusing on pancakes, J.S. Foodies offers other breakfast options and even a few lunch options. They have fried chicken and waffles, as well as an eggs Benedict dish. You can also get sandwiches like a signature burger and a B.L.T. if you’re stopping by for lunch, although I would recommend having breakfast for lunch and ordering a stack of pancakes.

Overall, J.S. Foodies is an adorable new brunch spot perfect for a specialty breakfast and a new experience. For students thinking about trying something new during the relatively free hours of reading period and finals week, I cannot recommend Princeton’s latest cafe enough.

Lulu Pettit is a contributing writer for The Prospect at the ‘Prince’ who enjoys writing about food, movies, and local businesses.

The Prospect 11 Weekly Event Roundup

Edward Rogers, Prospect Contributor

1

BodyHype Dance Company Presents….

Pearl

April 25, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m

April 26, 6 p.m

April 27, 6 p.m and 10 p.m

Theatre Intime

Popular student dance group BodyHype Dance Company has announced their spring show, Pearl. The show was announced on their Instagram through a concept video, Siren, with samples of choreography staged in aquatic-hued lighting. The five performances will raise money for Housing Initiatives of Princeton, “a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families experiencing homelessness or housing instability to build a sustainable future through stable housing, better employment and finances, and a network of support services.” Tickets can be purchased on the Princeton ticketing website for mandatory registration. The event is open to the public.

5

Plenitude: Exhibition by Cary Moore ’24

April 29 to May 3, 2024 from 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday–Friday Hurley Gallery, Lewis Arts complex

2 3 4

This exhibition comes from Princeton senior Cary Moore ’24 and discusses “questions of function, failure, and recognition” through painting and sculpture, according to the Lewis Center for the Arts website. The exhibition is free, and ticket registration is not required. The gallery is accessible during Hurley Gallery’s weekday hours.

8

Author Jennifer L. Roberts in Conversation with James Welling

April 29, 6 p.m.

Princeton Public Library’s Community Room

Harvard University professor Jennifer L. Roberts will discuss her new book, “Contact: Art and the Pull of Print” with Princeton University professor James Welling. Roberts’ book discusses the art of printmaking and how the modern practice maintains its relevance. Ticket registration is requested, but not required, and the event is open to the public.

Nothing Sacred Here: Exhibition by Lana Glisic ’24

April 22 to May 3, 2024 from 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday–Friday Hagan Gallery, 185 Nassau St.

This exhibition comes from Princeton senior Lana Glisic ’24 and “reflects on the concept of worship in a quotidian, non-religious, and interpersonal context,” according to the Lewis Center for the Arts website. The exhibition is free and ticket registration is not required. The exhibition is accessible during Hagan Gallery’s regular hours.

Arts at Work Alumni Day

April 30, 2024, 11:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex

In this event exclusively for undergraduate and graduate students, Princeton alumni in the arts and creative fields are hosting a day of events for students interested in their professional industries. Activities at the event include a creative writing panel, a visual arts workshop, and a networking lunch. The event requires registration to attend and is not open to the public.v

6

2024 Senior Readings in Poetry, Translation, Screenwriting

April 30 and May 1, 2024, 4:30 p.m. Senior Readings in Poetry, Translation, Screenwriting Chancellor Green Rotunda

As a part of the Althea Ward Clark W’21 Reading Series, seniors in Princeton’s Program of Creative Writing will be reading from their creative independent work. The Lewis Center of the Arts website states that students will be reading “from the screenplays or collections of poems or translations (April 30) and from the novels and collections of short stories (May 1).” The event is free and open to the public.

Arriving in the Present: A Critical Lexicon for Multilingualism and (Post-)Migration in Contemporary German Studies

May 2, 4:30–6 p.m. at 008-Friend Center

May 3, 9 a.m–5:30 p.m. at Laura Wooten Hall 201 May 4, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. at Laura Wooten Hall 201

Princeton’s German Department is hosting two keynote speakers, Alexander Ghedi Weheliye and Jessica Glause, at a conference to discuss the intersection between multilingualism and transnational literature. The conference will also feature a series of guest speakers and cover various topics around the subject of multiculturalism. The event is open to the public and registration information can be found on the German Department website.

Paivapo ’76, a New Musical by Tanaka Dunbar Ngwara

May 3, 8 p.m, May 4, 8 p.m, May 5, 2 p.m Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex

Playwright Tanaka Dunbar Ngwara ’24 will premiere a new musical at the Wallace Theatre in the Lewis Arts Complex. The Complex website describes the musical plot as such: “Mirirai’s childhood best friend, Chamai, returns home in 1976 from boarding school abroad to find Domboshava much changed by the last few years of the Zimbabwean Liberation War. While hiding in the forest during a raid on the village, it becomes clear that Mirirai’s spiritual beliefs clash with Chamai’s newfound view of the world. When he disregards important traditions and disappears at a sacred water site, Mirirai has to rally the community to perform the correct rituals to appease the spirits and win him back.” Registration is required, and tickets can be purchased through University Ticketing. The event is open to the public.

7

(in)Visible Wild: Exhibition from Professor Jeff Whetstone and Students

May 1–9, CoLab at Lewis Arts complex

This exhibition comes from Jeff Whetstone, professor of the visual arts, and students enrolled in “The Visible Wild” VIS course. The exhibition features photography taken from wildlife surveillance activities that the class contributed towards. The exhibition is open to the pub- lic and free.

Performance Opportunity: Explore 2024–25 Senior Dance Choreographic Projects

May 2, 3:30 p.m.

Ellie’s Studio, Lewis Arts complex

The Dance Department is hosting a workshop to share opportuni- ties to dance in seniors’ pieces. The featured artists are Adam Davis, Tierra Lewis, Sophie Main, Kate Stewart, Clara Toujas-Bernate, and Faith Wangermann. Casting for Spring 2025 will occur on September 3 and September 5 at 4:30 p.m. The info session is free and open to all Princeton students without registra- tion.

warren. warren. warren. warren. werren. warren. warrren. warren. warrn. warten. warren. waren. warreen. warren. warren.:

Exhibition by Warren Quan ’24

April 22 to May 3, 2024 from 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday–Friday at Hagan Gallery, 185 Nassau St.

This exhibition comes from Princeton senior Warren Quan ’24 and includes “works made amidst his quarter-life crisis, as he explores the complexity of human identity, technology, interpersonal connections,” according to the Lewis Center for the Arts website. Quan portrays portraits of self and others through humor and anecdotes. The exhibition is free, and ticket registration is not required. The exhibition is accessible during Hagan Gallery’s regular hours.

FOOTBALL

From practice squad to prime time: Andrei Iosivas ’23 earns his stripes in the NFL

By Hayk Yengibaryan Associate Sports Editor

After Andrei Iosivas ’23 completed his first season at Princeton, he met with football head coach Bob Surace ’90.

Iosivas had only featured in practice and J.V. games that season. Despite not taking snaps for the Tigers’ first team, Surace delivered promising news to the Honolulu native.

He told the wide receiver he had NFL potential.

“That was really eye-opening to me,” Iosivas told the Daily Princetonian. “And that really showed me how they felt about me, and how the program felt about me.”

Four years later, Iosivas caught his second touchdown pass for the Cincinnati Bengals under the setting West Coast sun in front of 71,655 fans at Levi’s Stadium playing against the future NFC champions, the San Francisco 49ers.

From Oahu to Central Jersey to the Midwest, Iosivas had realized the potential his coaches saw in him in the Orange Bubble, joining only eight Hawaiian high school graduates in the NFL.

“Andrei’s talent was evident early on,” Surace wrote to the ‘Prince.’

The Road to Nassau

The talent Surace noticed was recognized long before Iosivas got to Princeton. Iosivas was a dual-sport athlete who competed in varsity football and track at the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Born in Japan to Romanian and Filipino parents, Iosivas moved to the Aloha State after his dad received a job offer during his childhood.

With the guidance of his uncle Tom Hintnaus, the school’s pole vault coach and a former Olympian, he made the varsity track team his first year of high school. His ties to New Jersey started early, as his sprints coach and mentor Gary Satterwhite was an all-state sprinter at Rahway High School, just 45 minutes up Route 1 from Princeton.

“Andrei always had natural ability and he learned through many talks and hard work that the only way to be great at anything was to put in the work,” Satterwhite wrote to the ‘Prince.’

At a practice during his sophomore year of high school, Iosivas was scared to race a stronger teammate because he did not want to lose. That day, Satterwhite had a conversation with the teenager that stuck with him forever.

“If you think someone is better than you then you have already lost before you get to the starting line,” Satterwhite said. “That conversation stuck with him throughout his career and it showed up during his junior year when he had no fear and he attacked everything thrown at him. To this day we still talk about that conversation.”

Iosivas’s journey was far from easy. Coming out of high school, the 2018 Punahou School grad was a zero-star recruit. His most attractive asset to college coaches was his GPA. Following camps with Princeton, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth, Iosivas received offers from the Tigers and the Big Green.

While Iosivas hoped to stay in the sun at Stanford, he left “The Big Island” to continue his journey in the much colder Northeast with the Princeton Tigers.

“When he mentioned Princeton I told him that was a great school for him and a great environment to be in,”

Satterwhite noted.

“I did tell him when you get to Jersey, you have to go to a diner and get a pork roll sandwich, that is the Jersey version of Hawaii’s favorite salty meat…. spam!”

Jack of all trades

At Princeton, Iosivas continued the lifestyle of a dual-sport varsity athlete at the collegiate level, playing football in the fall and competing in track in the spring.

His impact on the track team was felt immediately. During his first year, he won the Heptathlon at the Ivy League Championships. The following season, he defended his title and was named the “Most Outstanding Field Performer” after the meet.

“There is little that Andrei does that would surprise me, especially after he won the Ivy League Championship in the Heptathlon his [first] year with about one month of training in most events,” Surace added. “The adjustment to the NFL can be hard for most rookies, but Andrei is a very cerebral player, and that helped him adapt to professional football early.”

Iosivas had a breakout year in both sports during his junior year. In the fall, Iosivas led the football team with five touchdown catches alongside 41 receptions and over 700 receiving yards.

A record-breaking year in the spring saw Iosivas win the heptathlon at the indoor Heps for the third time and finish fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the heptathlon with 6069 points, which broke the Ivy record. Furthermore, his 6.71 in the 60 set a NCAA indoor meet record.

“Track is what put me on the map lowkey,” Iosivas said. He ran the fastestever 60-meter time of any heptathlete ever at the NCAA championships.

In football, Iosivas continued to impress. During his senior season, he led the Ivy League with 66 receptions, 943 receiving yards, and seven touchdown catches, earning himself national recognition and several accolades.

“Andrei’s Princeton teammates and coaches both respected and loved him,” Surace told the ‘Prince.’

One of the teammates who saw Iosivas’s journey firsthand was Dylan Classi ’23. Classi was a fellow wide receiver who started at Princeton in 2018 alongside Iosivas. Taking a gap year in 2020 to maintain his athletic eligibility, he graduated with Iosivas in 2023.

“He’s one of my best friends,” Classi told the ‘Prince.’ “He’s extremely humble. By the time he had left, he had solidified himself as one of the top receivers to ever play at Princeton.”

Like Surace, Classi pointed out Iosivas’s work ethic as a factor behind his success.

“He came in everyday and worked hard to ensure that he’s in the position he is today. Everything he has right now, he’s worked for. He’s been the same person through it all.”

Iosivas started to garner professional attention after the end of his senior season. Forgoing his senior year with the track team, Iosivas competed in the senior bowl and participated in the NFL Draft combine.

“His desire to want to be great was second to none and that’s something that certainly rubbed off on me,” Classi added.

Iosivas went on to be selected in the

sixth round of the draft by the Bengals, becoming the first Princeton receiver to ever be drafted in the NFL.

“One of the best memories I shared with him would be the day he got drafted,” Classi recalled. “It was amazing just to see one of my best friends dreams come true in person. It truly was a great moment and I was so happy that I got to share such an important part of his life with him.”

He displayed his potential right away. In three preseason games, he totaled 12 receptions, 129 yards, and one touchdown for the Bengals.

The NFL lifestyle

“From day-to-day life, it’s pretty much like a regular job,” Iosivas said about his new gig.

With the Bengals, Mondays are a half-day consisting of lift sessions and meetings with the coaching staff. Tuesdays are the team’s day off to recover and get ready for the week ahead. Wednesday and Thursday feature fullteam practices that take up the majority of the day. Lastly, Friday is dedicated to red-zone practice and is the second half-day of the week before travel on Saturday.

The Bengals charter planes from Delta for games away from Cincinnati.

“I usually just like to watch anime on the flight,” Iosivas said.

Life for the rookies is not always sunshine and rainbows, as many are expected to fulfill their “rookie duties.”

Iosivas got a taste of this during the season when he and two other rookies had to cover the check at a team dinner.

“We had a rookie dinner, but it was split between like me, Charlie Jones, and [Shedrick Jackson],” Iosivas said jokingly. “So it wasn’t like a humongous bill because they knew we weren’t first or second-rounders. I didn’t have that much money, you know, like, so they kind of knew to just not make me go broke.”

In addition to learning new plays and route trees, he also had the difficult task of ensuring the candy and snacks were always stocked in the wide receiver room.

“If [the candy and snacks] weren’t [stocked], they would get pretty mad,” Iosivas noted.

“It’s football, no matter what level you’re playing it at.”

Outside concern for Iosivas centered largely around how a rookie from an FCS Ivy League program would fare in the NFL — a league where nearly 70 percent of its players are athletes from schools in Power Five conferences. This didn’t faze Iosivas.

“I think the biggest transition is just the playbook, you’re in a new system, you need to learn all these new concepts, these new plays,” Iosivas told the ‘Prince.’ “But once you’re out on the field, it’s not too different. It’s football, no matter what level you’re playing it at.”

He added, “There’s a lot of great athletes on the field… but you just got to go out there and not overthink things and just play the game that you’ve been playing for so long.”

Iosivas silenced those concerns in Week 6 when he caught his first touchdown pass in a home game against the Seattle Seahawks.

“I think my first touchdown was obviously one of my most memorable moments,” Iosivas added. “It came on my birthday. My family and friends were there to see that, so that was pretty cool.”

At Cincinnati, Iosivas was part of one of the best wide receiver rooms in the NFL. Headlined by pro bowler Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd, there was no shortage of receivers Iosivas could learn from during his rookie season.

“When you see them in action, you can understand the movements, you can understand the nuances of their game, how they win, and what they focus on to make them a good receiver,” Iosivas told the ‘Prince.’

A turning point for the Bengals came in Week 11 when franchise quarterback Joe Burrow went down with an injury and was replaced by Jake Browning.

“No one wants to see your franchise quarterback go down, you know, I mean, he’s arguably the best quarterback in football. He’s the only one who can, you know, stack up with Mahomes at the end of the day, in my opinion.”

As the Bengals lost Burrow for the remainder of the season, Iosivas stepped up to perform. One of the defining moments of the season for Iosivas came

in the last week of the regular season in a home game against the Cleveland Browns. With the Bengals out of playoff contention, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor utilized his bench, giving Iosivas a have a high usage role on offense, finishing with five receptions, 36 yards, and two touchdowns.

In the process, Iosivas made history, becoming the first Princeton football player with two touchdowns in a game since Dutch Hendrian Class of 1924 — Hendrian made these touchdowns in the same year he graduated, shortly after the end of World War I.

Looking ahead to his sophomore year in the NFL, Iosivas will have the opportunity to take yet another leap. With starting receiver Tyler Boyd set to depart in free agency, Iosivas will have a chance to start for the Bengals next season. His likely competition will be Charlie Jones and Trenton Irwin, two other receivers for the Bengals. Iosivas recognizes this opportunity and his work in the offseason has been indicative of this.

“I’ve been going three sessions a day for like the past two months now just grinding as hard as I can just to be the best receiver I can be,” Iosivas told the ‘Prince.’

For Iosivas, his rookie season provided him with key lessons.

“Just trust yourself. I would say the biggest thing about being in the NFL is just your you know, trusting yourself trusting the work that you’ve put in.”

With a healthy Burrow and Chase and Higgins set to be one of the most dangerous wide receiver duos in the league once more, Iosivas and the Bengals hope to be back to competing for the Lombardi Trophy in the 2024-25 season.

“Andrei is a winner,” Surace added. “He will be successful in whatever role he is asked to perform. I’m excited to see him help another team in Orange and Black win a championship.”

“I’m coming for it all this year,” Iosivas said excitedly.

“The goal for every season is to win a Super Bowl. And, you know, whatever role I’m in, I’m going to do my very best to make sure that we get there.”

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

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREI IOSIVAS

Iosivas became the first Princeton player to score two touchdowns in an NFL game since 1924.

MEN’S LACROSSE

On senior night, No. 21 Princeton men’s lacrosse secures a dominant win over No. 12 Penn

By Lily Pampolina Sports Contributor

In front of a packed house Saturday evening at Sherrerd Field, No. 21 Princeton men’s lacrosse (8–4 overall, 3–2 Ivy League) took down No. 12 Penn (8–5, 4–2) with a score of 15–10 on senior night.

“Coming off the loss to Brown last week, we all knew that we didn’t play our brand of lacrosse. We made sure to have a great, tough week of practice and emphasized starting games hot,” first-year attacker Nate Kabiri told The Daily Princetonian.

The first quarter began quietly. Although each team saw offensive opportunities, the first goal was not scored until ten minutes into the game. Princeton first-year attacker Colin Burns broke the ice to put the Tigers up 1–0, tallying his 20th goal of the season.

The scoring continued shortly after, as Kabiri scored his 28th goal of the season to double the Tigers’ lead.

Burns and Kabiri have both eclipsed the 20 goal mark, making the attacking duo the second set of first-years in Princeton history to each score over 20 goals in a season. Before Burns and Kabiri, this feat was achieved in 1995 by Chris Massey and Jesse Hubbard.

The Quakers then responded with two goals of their own. With

the first period of play nearly over, the match was tied at two goals apiece. Before the end of the quarter, Princeton netted another goal, courtesy of senior midfielder Tommy Barnds, to put Princeton back on top, 3–2.

Three minutes into the second quarter, Penn scored again, tying the game at 3–3. But quickly taking back the momentum, sophomore face-off specialist Andrew McMeekin netted his first goal of the game to make the score 4–3.

From here, the Tigers did not look back.

Princeton scored three goals in less than two minutes, each from different players. Sophomore attacker Chad Palumbo, senior attacker Coulter Mackesy, and McMeekin all put points on the board for the Tigers. Princeton led 7–3 with six minutes to go in the half.

Junior midfielder Sean Cameron scored an additional goal for Princeton, extending their lead to 8–3. Shortly after, though, Penn scored only their second goal of the quarter, making the score 8–4 heading into halftime.

The break did not halt the Tigers’ momentum, as Barnds scored his second goal of the game early in the third quarter, and Princeton led 9–4. The Quakers scored next, starting a series of back and forth goals. Two minutes

later, sophomore midfielder John Dunphey scored for Princeton, assisted by Kabiri. Penn netted another goal, but this was combated by a score from senior attacker Lukas Stanat. By the end of this run, Princeton led 11–6.

Entering the final quarter of play, Mackesy scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Palumbo, to put the Tigers up 12–7.

Scoring back to back goals, Penn shortened the deficit to three, still trailing 12–9. Stanat scored quickly after for the Tigers, extending their lead back to 13–9.

The remainder of the game was defensive. Princeton’s defensive

front was led by senior goalie Michael Gianforcaro, who had 15 saves in the match.

The Quakers scored with their last goal with four minutes left in the game, making the score 13–10.

Gianforcaro was not only a defensive asset, though, as he netted Princeton’s next goal on a highlight-reel-worthy backhanded goal. The Tigers led 14–10.

“I was pretty relieved the goal went in,” Gianforcaro joked, “Otherwise, it would have been a pretty rough Monday film session.”

Solidifying their win, Kabiri scored in the last minute of play for the final score, 15–10.

Princeton will play their last regular season game away at No. 10 Yale (11–2, 4–1) on Saturday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m. A Princeton victory will secure the Tigers a place in the Ivy League tournament.

“We had a great game against Penn, but it was far from perfect,” Gianforcaro told the ‘Prince.’ “We can’t let the success cloud the fact that things need to be improved. Fixing mistakes and coming out hot will be the emphasis all week.”

Lily Pampolina is a Sports contributor and contributing Audience creator for the ‘Prince.’

Princeton Men’s golf falls just short in Ivy League Championships

By Matthew Yi Sports Contributor

In an exciting weekend of golf, the Princeton men’s team attempted to become repeat Ivy League Champions at the Watchung Valley Golf Club in Watching, New Jersey. Yet after a back-and-forth battle, the Tigers fell just short, settling for second place behind the Yale Bulldogs.

After leading the weekend throughout rounds one and two of competition, harsh weather conditions coupled with a difficult course left the Tigers attempting to come back from behind in round three. Although they showcased their determination and talent, they ended the day with an overall team score of 846 (-6), three shots behind the Bulldogs.

“The course was playing pretty tricky,” sophomore Riccardo Fantinelli told The Daily Princetonian.

Former Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Fantinelli paced the Tigers in round three with an impressive score of 68 (-3). His performance on Sunday placed him fifth overall in the tournament. Playing consistently throughout the weekend, Fantinelli maintained position in the top six throughout the entire tournament, and in doing so kept the Tigers in contention for the overall title.

“We definitely played well. We just got beat,” remarked Fantinelli. “It happens though,” he added.

Junior William Huang was a standout, placing second overall in the tournament. He recorded a score of 205 (-8) and was one shot behind Yale’s Ben Carpenter, who took the individualist honor this weekend. Huang played under par in every round this weekend, and did not waver from the top two throughout the entire tournament.

The other three Princeton golfers all placed within the top 20 this weekend. First-year Tommy Frist placed just out of the top 10 by playing a 217 (+4). Senior Jackson Fretty and first-year Charlie Palmer were not too far behind either, respectively placing 16th and 18th.

After round one, Princeton held a 4-stroke lead over Yale and Columbia. Huang posted a 68 (-3) and stood in second while Fantinelli continued his hot streak and stood sixth with a score of 70 (-1). Frist was also in the top 10 after round one with a respectable 71 (E). Fretty and Palmer both were tied 16th after round one with a 73 (+2).

Moving into round two, the Tigers continued their dominant performance maintaining a 5-shot lead over second-place Yale. After being neck-and-neck for much of the afternoon, the Tigers broke the deadlock and posted four birdies in the final two holes. Huang paced the group by posting another 68 (-3) and was one stroke above Yale’s Ben Car-

penter. Fantinelli moved into the top five and Fretty and Palmer vaulted into the top ten after both posting a 71 (E). Frist cooled off and scored a 75 (+4) putting him at 15th place.

Looking to seal the deal in round three, the Tigers planned to come out swinging. However, Sunday’s round was the worst of the three Princeton played over the entire weekend. Shooting a 283 (-1) as a team, they were not able to overcome a hot streak initiated by Yale.

The Tigers fell behind early to the Bulldogs in the two-team race that was unfolding. However, a birdie from Huang on the 15th and from Fantinelli on the 17th cut Yale’s lead, and left the score a tie. The score remained a tie until the final hole, when an eagle and a birdie from the Bulldogs coupled with a bogey from the Tigers ended any hopes of being repeat Ivy League Champions. All four of the Yale golfers finished under par as they recorded a 275 (-9) score for round three.

Despite the unfortunate outcome, the Tigers reflected proudly on a successful season.

“We had a great year. We had a great team. We’re heading in the right direction for the next couple years.” Palmer told the ‘Prince.’ Palmer will look to continue his success and improve his game as he enters his sophomore year. Fantinelli echoed his senti-

ment, leading the team in round three posting a 68 (-3) while emphasizing his excitement to work hard for next season.

“We’ll be back,” he assured.

Despite falling just short in the Championships, Princeton will look to come back even stronger

in 2024. Returning four of their five top players, the Tigers will look for vengeance and to hoist the William J. Miller trophy next season.

for the ‘Prince.’

PHOTO COURTESY OF @TIGERLACROSSE/X. Princeton men’s lacrosse celebrates its 13 seniors in the Class of 2024.

Matthew Yi is a Sports contributor

From Princeton to South Bend: Senior captain Matt Allocco tries his luck with the Fighting Irish

By Hayk Yengibaryan

Associate Sports Editor

Only eight players in NCAA history have averaged over 30 minutes and 12 points per game while shooting at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the arc, and 90 percent from the charity stripe.

One of those eight is men’s basketball senior guard and captain Matt “Mush” Allocco.

Allocco will be spending his final year of eligibility as a grad transfer in South Bend, Ind. playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

“Notre Dame was the best fit,” Allocco said in an interview with the Daily Princetonian. “I just trusted what the coaches were saying and their vision for me and the team. Once I took the visit there, it was pretty clear that was going to be the spot.”

Allocco considered multiple Power Five programs, but said the decision came down to two programs: Ohio State and Notre Dame.

A native of Hilliard, Ohio, which is just outside Columbus, Ohio State University was in Allocco’s backyard. Allocco mentioned that he was thankful and honored for Ohio State to be an opportunity in and of itself.

“I had a great visit at Ohio State and I loved their staff and their program,” Allocco noted. “We had a couple of great meetings and everything, but I just felt like Notre Dame was the best fit.”

Should Allocco have decided to play for the Buckeyes, he would have been faced with a competitive guard rotation, including South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson, who recently announced he was transferring back to Ohio State.

“For the basketball part of it, it’s just where you would fit, the lineups they have, who they have potentially leaving and coming in, you know, you got to consider all these things,” Allocco noted.

When asked if NIL (Name, Image,

and Likeness) played a factor in the decision, Allocco said it did, but was not a main factor. “In this day and age, I think it plays a role for everybody,” Allocco told the ‘Prince.’ “And it did, and you know, I’ll be honest, in my decision, but ultimately, I wouldn’t say that’s what the deciding factor was — it was a basketball decision.”

As of April 18, Allocco is Notre Dame’s only commit from the transfer portal.

“It was a long process and pretty exhausting,” Allocco told the ‘Prince.’ “It was necessary to take my time and not rush the process.”

For Allocco, the connection to Notre Dame runs in the family. His uncle, Frank Allocco, played varsity football and basketball at Notre Dame in the early 70’s. Frank Allocco was a part of the 1973 Fighting Irish football team that won the national championship after defeating Alabama 24–23.

“I’ve been a [Notre Dame football] fan all my life,” Allocco noted. “I grew up going to football games and seeing the campus.”

However, Allocco stressed that his familial connections to the program did not play a role in his decision to ultimately commit to Notre Dame.

Allocco will likely step into a big role for the Fighting Irish. Outside of being a senior leader for the Tigers this past season, his efficiency will be a major help to head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s squad that finished 330th in field goal percentage last season. During his visit, Shrewsberry showed Allocco game film, highlighting how he could be used on the court and contribute to the program.

“They were enthusiastic conversations,” Allocco added. “He’s [Shrewberry] passionate about what he does and the university.”

Furthermore, Allocco‘s defensive skills will help protect the ball on a team that finished 335th in assist-toturnover ratio last season.

Allocco will join a very young Notre Dame team. The program’s leading scorers — Markus Burton and Braeden

Shrewsberry — were both first-year players. While Burton entered his name in the 2024 NBA draft, reports suggest he will return for his sophomore season. Furthermore, the Fighting Irish have a top-25 recruiting class in the country next season.

“I’m just going to try and come in, do my part, contribute, lead as best I can and also learn from them. I’m joining a new program and a lot of those guys have been there. So, I’m looking forward to building those relationships and, you know, learning from them, and hopefully, they can learn a few things from me,” he reflected.

Due to the Ivy League rule prohibiting grad transfers, Allocco will join a list of recent Tiger graduates to use their COVID-19 eligibility year through the transfer portal. Fellow senior Tiger Zach Martini will be heading to Rutgers. Former Tiger standout Ryan Langborg ’23 transferred to Northwestern last spring while Jaelin Llewellyn ’22 committed to Michigan after his senior year at Princeton.

The main advice that Allocco received from his friends and coaches

was to trust himself.

“It’s just all about trusting your gut,” Allocco noted. “Those are some of the biggest things that you know if you can see yourself thriving there and building relationships with these people. That’s a lot of the advice that I got.”

“I just tried to be a sounding board for him if he needed anything,” Head Coach Mitch Henderson ’98 wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “Mush sees through just about anything, so the main advice was just trust yourself.”

Furthermore, Allocco is the second Ivy transfer in recent years to head to South Bend. In 2021, Yale’s Paul Atkinson also used his extra year of eligibility to transfer to Notre Dame. Atkinson went on to average 12.5 points per game and led Notre Dame back to the NCAA tournament.

“Mush is a winner through and through. It was clear to everyone in this process that they see that in him and want him to bring those intangibles to their program,” Henderson added.

After playing in every game for the Tigers for the last three seasons, Allocco’s absence will be felt on and off

the court for the Tigers.

On the court, he succeeded in every aspect of the game. Allocco was a twotime second-team All-Ivy honoree and received a third-team All-Met selection by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association this season. Off the court, Allocco was a locker room figure and a leader for his teammates.

“The thing that I’ll miss the most, but also cherish the most, is just the relationships I built, specifically with the basketball team and my teammates, former teammates, and the coaching staff has been so good to me,” Allocco noted. “I mean, I couldn’t ask for a better experience than I had here these past four years.”

Should sophomore guard Xaivian Lee return to Princeton, the Tigers will have a strong core and likely be favorites to win the Ivy League.

“I have no concerns with that group,” Allocco added.

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

Tate Hutchins contributed reporting.

‘We did a hell of a job’: Princeton’s First Earth Day in 1970

By Gabriella Gregory Contributing Archivist

On the first ever Earth Day in 1970, Princeton was one of more than 1,500 college campuses that organized rallies and forums for environmental awareness. Princeton students organized an “Environmental TeachIn” at Dillon gym where executives, lobbyists, government officials, and Princeton affiliates were invited to speak on “the pollution problem.”

Discussions of “the pollution problem” included hopeful reports of anti-pollution efforts made by the airline industry, including using commercial jets that were quieter and more environmentally-friendly than before. As one airline executive noted, “If other industries do as much as the airlines, then we will have some action.” Other discussions reinforced the need for government

action and enforcement, noting the recent successes of New Jersey antipollution litigation: a compelling record of “160 straight court victories in pollution cases.”

The ‘Prince’ reported lower-thananticipated attendance levels, noting “A disappointingly small crowd of 600,” although it would probably be considered a significant turnout to any event today.

Despite the seemingly small number of attendees, students were encouraged to continue making their voices heard on environmental justice, with conservationist group “Friends of the Earth” leader Gary Soucie highlighting a focus on the government’s role. He urged, “The public must insist on governmental responsiveness.”

Another attendee of the event was former University Trustee Laurance S. Rockefeller ’32, who encouraged

students to reach out to the individuals at the root of operations that harm the environment: “we’ve got to have cooperation on the one hand and we’ve got to have confrontation on the other.”

The ‘Prince’ also conducted an interview with Casey Wolff ’70, who organized this first Earth Day event at Princeton. He spoke on its significance 54 years later, noting, “We had one of the most extraordinary panels any college could hope to have. I thought we did a hell of a job.”

In the spirit of Earth Day, another piece published in that year’s April 22 ‘Prince’ issue encouraged Princeton’s newly-founded Environmental Advisory Committee to examine the environmental impacts of Princeton’s investment habits and maintenance policies. The piece notes University plans to establish a Program

in Environmental Studies.

The piece also highlighted the relevance and interest in environmental topics across academic disciplines at Princeton at the time, noting, “The architecture, biology, engineering, geological and geophysical sciences and physics departments are already planning courses in the environment for next year.”

Since its creation in 1994, the Program in Environmental Studies has sought to prepare Princeton students for leading discussion and action in response to significant environmental challenges faced by humanity. To continue this mission, the University is currently constructing a new environmental studies building that is expected

Gabriella Gergory is an contributing archivist for the ‘Prince.’

to open in early 2025.

AMMAAR ALAM / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

A man dribbling a ball on a basketball court with a defender attempting to guard him.