March 9, 2017

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Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Thursday March 9, 2017 vol. CXLI no. 24

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } STUDENT LIFE

99 RCAs chosen out of record number of applicants By Kevin Agostinelli Senior Writer

“My RCA was one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met,” said Fares Marayati ’19, “She always made herself available even in the middle of her busy schedule and we all felt like we always had someone to go to when we just needed to talk.” Marayati added that his RCA provided the supportive space to help each freshman in the advisee group grow as a person and establish “unusually close” and longlasting friendships with every ’zee. His RCA, Jordy Lubkeman ’16, was in Forbes College. Inspired by similar experiences with past RCAs, 271 students applied for 99 RCA and assistant residential college advisor positions this past winter, a sizable increase from the typical number of 240–255 applicants, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Michael Olin said. According to Olin, approximately 37 percent of student applicants for the position of residential college adviser were offered a position for the 2017–18 academic year. RCAs from this academic year are not guaranteed reappointment, and there were approximately 50 projected new (non-returning) RCA openings. For the two-year residential colleges, which only house freshmen and sophomores, Wilson College accepted 15 RCAs and two ARCAs, Rockefeller College accepted 15 RCAs and three ARCAs, and Forbes College accepted 15 RCAs and three ARCAs. For the four-year colleges, which have upperclassmen and SCIENCE

ON CAMPUS

underclassmen, Butler College accepted 12 RCAs and three ARCAs, Whitman College accepted 12 RCAs and two ARCAs, and Mathey College accepted 12 RCAs and three ARCAs. While ARCAs are not assigned to a specific advisee group, they aid RCAs with any management duties and would potentially replace any RCAs who have to vacate the position. Olin noted in an email that the position of RCA is of “critical importance” to the University experience, especially for first-year students. During Orientation, RCAs are tasked with engaging in conversations about alcohol, sexual assault, and other campus issues with their freshman advisee groups while also planning enjoyable activities to ease the transition into the University. Because the RCA position is one of great responsibility, Olin noted that a successful RCA will possess a variety of skills, including a concern for and willingness to assist others, as well as an understanding of the experience of students from underrepresented groups and commitment to supporting the needs of those students. The ideal RCA also demonstrates the ability and willingness to help establish and maintain a safe environment and to address violations of University policy if and when such violations are observed, Olin said. He added that RCAs should also have the ability to respond to a wide variety of situations with students and make referrals to the appropriate University resources. The selection process holds similarly elevated standards, See RCA page 2

ON CAMPUS

Venter discusses genetic engineering, human longevity

GSG talks elections

By Samvida Venkatesh and Ariel Chen

The Graduate Student Government Assembly held an open meeting March 8 to discuss the results of the 2017 GSG digital election and elect representatives into the government’s remaining open positions. From the digital election, Jonathan Balkind GS, a Ph.D. student in computer science and a Wilson residential graduate student, was elected president and Akshay Mehra GS, a geoscience Ph.D. student, was reelected vice president. Seven people were elected to the GSG, all of whom ran uncontested, and three more people were elected from yesterday’s meeting for social officer, treasurer, and communications director. This year’s election boasted the highest turnout in recent memory, with 721 out of 2,682 students voting, which was 26.9 percent of the graduate student body. This year’s election also featured a SPEAR referendum to divest from private prisons which passed by 85 percent among voting graduate students. Former Academic Affairs Chair Daniel Vitek attributed this year’s high turnout of 26.9 percent to the energy from the divestment referendum. “We had a referendum this year. Usually we vote for people, but in this case we were voting for an idea,” Vitek said. In previous years, election turnouts never surpassed 20 percent with 15.9 percent in 2016 and 13 percent in

In a quote written on a chalkboard in the Caltech archives, Richard Feynman said, “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” This quote is the root of inspiration for geneticist J. Craig Venter’s research and scientific mission. Genomics is at an exciting stage today where what we understand about the genome can be applied directly to human health, Venter said in a lecture titled “From Synthetic Life to Human Longevity” on Wednesday. Venter explained that there was no point in increasing lifespan alone, but the challenge was to increase an individual’s “healthspan.” He stated that 40 percent of men and 24 percent of women between the ages of 50-74 in the United States do not reach the age of 74. A third of this population dies of cardiovascular disease and another third of cancer, leaving all other causes of death to just a third of the overall percentage, he said. Venter, co-founder of Hu-

See VENTER page 5

Contributor

IMAGE BY CLAIRE LEE

Around 70 students gathered outside of Frist Campus Center to share personal experiences and voice their opinions.

Students celebrate International Women’s Day By Marcia Brown Head News Editor

Around 70 students gathered outside Frist Campus Center on March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day by sharing personal experiences with gender inequality and voicing their opinions on the importance of change. Anyssa Chebbi ’18, who helped organize the event, is currently taking NES 374/GSS 343: Global Feminisms: Feminist Movements in the Middle East and Beyond.

Chebbi said that members of the class originally planned to attend the Day Without a Woman protest in New York City, but later decided to instead organize a public event on campus. “We wanted to give students a space to talk about women’s issues and how they affect our daily life,” she said. “So that’s how that idea came about.” Chebbi added that she and the other planners of the event were surprised to see See WOMEN page 3

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Senior Columnist Marni Morse questions the sustainability of activism, and Senior Columnist Bhaamati Borkhetaria reflects on the value of friendship. PAGE 4

4 p.m.: Jonathan Simon, assistant professor of physics at the University of Chicago, will present “Building Quantum Matter from Light: From Topological Photonics to Polariton Blockade,” in Jadwin A10.

See GSG page 4

WEATHER

Science Senior Writer and Science Contributor

man Longevity, Inc., said that his goal was to change medicine’s approach to being proactive, predictive, personalized, and preventative by using whole genome sequencing and cutting-edge imaging and measurement technology. “Early detection is literally lifesaving,” he said, explaining that over 40 percent of people who entered his lab thinking they were healthy turned out not to be. He said that his own genome showed an increased risk for prostate cancer, which he corroborated with a measure of his testosterone levels. While men with over 22 triplet repeats of a certain sequence on their X chromosome have very low incidences of prostate cancer, Venter said he only had six, which placed him on the extremely low end of the spectrum. He said that based on his genome sequence and testosterone readings, he underwent a prostatectomy a few months ago. Early prediction of diseases like Alzheimer’s, which can be predicted

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Thursday March 9, 2017

Newly chosen RCAs excited RCA

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starting with the submission of an online application consisting of basic personal information, five short answer questions, and letters of recommendation. The application opened on Oct. 27 and closed on Dec. 2. Applicants were then separated into pools according to college choice and to the anticipated number of new RCA openings for each college, in order to ensure that the acceptance rate was even across all colleges. This year, the University was able to honor every applicant’s first, second, or third choice, Olin said. Interviews, which are held by the deans or the heads of the applicants’ desired residential college, occurred during reading period and typically comprised an individual interview and a group interview that tested applicants on how well they would deal with hypothetical scenarios and how well they work in a team. The interview selection team considered factors such as the candidate’s demonstrated interest in and aptitude for the RCA position, commitment to and involvement in the campus community, academic record, and disciplinary standing. While several newly accepted RCAs expressed their satisfaction with the RCA selection process as a generally positive experience,

Nick Wu ’19 admitted that the group interviews were not his favorite portion. “The scenarios and activities they had us do were kind of fun, but the fact that we were being evaluated at the same time felt off to me,” said Wu, who will be an RCA in Mathey College next year. Each residential college officially sent out their offers for the RCA positions during Intersession. Rachel Linfield ’19, who will be an RCA in Rockefeller College, noted that her desire to become an RCA was born out of her rewarding experience as a summer camp counselor during the past three years, in addition to the great resource that her RCA was for her during her freshman year. “During my time as a camp counselor, I felt that I was impacting younger girls in multiple ways, but I also felt that I learned a lot about myself in the process,” Linfield said. “I am so excited by the idea that I will be impacting the experience of new students at Princeton, and I hope my ’zees will always come to my room for help, for advice, or just to hang out.” Wu said that the best he can do for his future advisee group next year is to be as supportive and energizing as possible. “They all already have the tools to succeed, but sometimes it’s just a little tweak in mindset, or some random tips that they need to reach that potential,” Wu said.

Election boasted highest turnout in recent years GSG

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2015. President: Jonathan Balkind Vice President: Akshay Mehra Secretary: Bernat Guillén Pegueroles Academic Affairs Officer: Ekaterina Pukhovaia Facilities Officer: Mai Nguyen Health and Life Officer: Hendia Edmund Special Events Officer: Adam Fisher From the vote at Assembly: Social Officer: Amitesh Datta Treasurer: Zachary HervieuxMoore Communications Director: Emily Kern Balkind chose to run for 2017–18 GSG president due to his years and experience as communications chair of the GSG, collaborating with other parties on campus to advocate for important issues, such as reforming the University’s academic calendar. “Creating collaborations with parties on campus has allowed for more graduate student advocacy and made grad students feel more at home in this community. I feel like the administration is becoming more awakened to grad students’ concerns,” Balkind explained. “We’re trying to form a student body that feels more like a cohesive student body.” Improving housing is a big priority Balkind said, as insufficient on-campus housing is a consistent complaint among graduate students, over 30 percent of whom do not live on campus, according to the Graduate Student Housing Report from March 2017. “We want to move and get some concrete promises from the administration,” Balkind said. The report, which had an approximately 51 percent response rate, revealed that around 92 percent of surveyed graduate students wanted on-campus housing, primarily to find a greater sense of community, gain access to resources, save money on housing, and facilitate their ability to research and teach. He also emphasized the need to incorporate “more diverse viewpoints” into the GSG by bringing people on board have only been involved with GSG through “events or direct advocacy.” Graduate unionization was another urgent concern Balkind addressed with the wider Assembly. “We will continue to provide impartial information on graduate unionization to the student population,” Balkind said. “So that when and if an election does happen on campus, students understand exactly what they’re voting for.”

Robert Decker, a French and Italian Ph.D. student and supporter of unionization, encouraged people to invite the Princeton Graduate Student Union to explain the union’s cause and why they support unionization, particularly if they are illinformed. A PGSU town hall will be held this Monday, March 13, at 6 p.m., with speakers from NYU, Temple University, and Rutgers University, all of which have established student unions. Balkind said that that when unions form on campus, the message is often spread by word of mouth. He said he wants GSG to provide more formal channels of information. During the meeting’s open forum, students shared a new project to start an academic writing center for graduate students, according to Michael Zhang, an art and archaeology Ph.D. student. Zhang said the program would focus on “how to write with a scholarly focus, applying methods, using academic language.” The writing program would specifically help graduate students improve their scholarly English writing skills, a particular need for international students for whom English may not be their first language. “The University doesn’t offer professional help for grad students to improve their academic English writing,” said Luciano Vanni, a Ph.D. student in art and archaeology. “Apparently it’s one of the only universities [that does not offer help]. Students who need help in academic writing can enroll in courses, but each course usually costs around $10,000 per semester, and the University doesn’t provide financial aid, according to Vanni. “You have to pay on your own, or have a department fund you ... I’m speaking for myself,” Vanni continued. “[There is] a remarkable amount of writing and a very short amount of time to do it.” Vanni is originally from Italy. “We’re trying to gauge the level of interest for such a program,” Zhang said. Graduate students also discussed the Day of Action on March 6. Feedback was positive across the board. “I was there [at Frist] for a good portion of the day,” Decker said. “It seemed like it was rather successful. I went to one class that was very full and the other classes were very well attended. From a political perspective, it didn’t seem like it was necessarily one-sided,” citing conservative teach-ins that were held that day. Another graduate student who gave a teach-in at the event remarked on the “real sense of community among the graduate students, faculty, and undergraduates.” The meeting took place in Jadwin 102 at 5:45 p.m.


Thursday March 9, 2017

Dillon ’06: We stand in solidarity with all the women in our lives WOMEN

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such interest from the student body. “It was really cool to see so many people come together so quickly,” she said. “We made an event on Facebook, and it exploded so quickly. The next day we got an email from Dean [Jarrett] Fisher offering to help us through the logistics of organizing the event.” Students who attended the event expressed appreciation for the public space to speak out and listen to other students discuss their views on why it is important to continue fighting for equal rights across gender. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to other women speak,” Emily Kamen ’17 said. “Everyone was really respectful of everyone else’s voices and opinions, so that’s what I really appreciated.” Many others emphasized the need for more gatherings like this one in order to spread awareness of the magnitude of gender inequality and the urgency of eliminating it. “I think a demonstration like this shows that students care about these kinds of issues,” Angela Wu ’19 said. “Gender inequality will continue to be a pressing issue and that’s why there are people here today who want their voices to be heard by gathering in a public place like this. Having an area where likeminded people can express

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their views about gender inequality and intersectionality is so important.” Kamen said that feminist ideas should not be considered radical, since they are just a call for basic equal rights. “As some people mentioned in their speeches, these ideas felt radical in a way that they really should not feel radical,” she said. “I wanted to be here to see what people had to say and to be a part of something that I hope can galvanize more thought.” Maggie Dillon ’06, executive director of Princeton in Asia, also attended the event, along with two others involved in Princeton in Africa and Princeton in Latin America. “It’s interesting that International Women’s Day is not a holiday that’s largely celebrated in the United States,” she noted. “All of us here are from Princeton in Asia, Princeton in Africa, and Princeton in Latin America, so we have experience living in countries where everyone in the community stops for a day to honor and recognize women and the incredible importance of women in society.” “We wanted to be here and recognize that and stand in solidarity with all of the women in our lives and around the world that make it a better place,” she said. Red ribbons were distributed to those who attended the event to help spread further awareness of the movement for women’s rights.

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Opinion

Thursday March 9, 2017

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Will the action continue?

vol. cxli

Marni Morse

senior columnist

I

was thrilled when I saw so many people taking time out of their day on Monday to participate in the Day of Action. Every lecture I went to overf lowed with people; people covered all corners of the room and stood four deep in the doorway. Sometimes we even had to move to a larger room. And it wasn’t just students, but faculty, staff, and members of the community who joined as well. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people in Frist Campus Center — and that includes for late meal.

But as with the other actions after the election, this inspiring, heartwarming moment tends to be followed by a deep cynicism. Where were all these people before the election? And where will everyone be in November for the New Jersey gubernatorial race? Or for the 2018 midterm elections? Or 2020? Or 2048, for that matter? On the one hand, I think I have the right to be cynical. As an intern this summer in Washington,

D.C., I spent my weekends in Virginia volunteering for the Clinton campaign with my mother. I reached out to friends and family in the area, trying to drag them along with me, and I made sure they continued to volunteer regularly once I came back to Princeton. I spent the fall trying to organize students to volunteer in Pennsylvania, driving myself and whomever I could persuade to go with me on the weekends. I coordinated weekly phone banks on campus, but barely anyone showed up. The whole process was like pulling teeth. And, quite frankly, I know I still could have been doing more myself. And I realize that the many reasons for the prior inaction are completely understandable. I recognize that plenty of the people currently engaged socially and politically were not fans of Clinton or the Democratic Party for one reason or another, so it just wasn’t a cause they wanted to fight for. I also realize

that a lot of people just didn’t realize the urgency before the election. To many students, Trump seemed so out of the box that it was assumed he could not win; plus, the expert polling predictions ranging from a 70 percent likelihood of a Clinton win to 85 percent made people complacent. The fact that the race in Pennsylvania was tightening didn’t seem compelling enough, I guess. Part of me understands all of this, and so I can persuade myself that my cynicism is misplaced. But then I remember. The truth is that we were facing a lot of problems even before this election. Deportations, drone strikes, police brutality, gun violence, rising economic inequality — the list goes on and on. Many of the issues people are now organizing around are not new; people have been organizing around these issues for years, even if most of us here in the Orange Bubble haven’t necessarily been. I suppose there is an

Sarah Sakha ’18

increased sense of urgency after the election. It’s understandable; what’s at stake f lashed before everyone’s eyes. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel that way too. And this reminder is on the news every day. And of course I’m glad activists have been able to focus this energy into good, progressive work to help improve the community and the world. Hopefully this burst of energy will only continue to grow and the positive change is just beginning a never-ending journey upwards. And with a constant negative news cycle, with a rightly hyperbolic nonstop coverage, perhaps people will be regularly reminded of the need to speak out and act. I just can’t help but wonder, though: How long will it actually last? And will it be enough? Marni Morse is a politics major from Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mlmorse@princeton.edu.

window of opportunity sophia gavrilenko ’20 ..................................................

editor-in-chief

Matthew McKinlay ’18 business manager

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice presidents Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 Gregory L. Diskant ’70 William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Joshua Katz Kathleen Kiely ’77 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Randall Rothenberg ’78 Annalyn Swan ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73

141ST MANAGING BOARD managing editors Megan Laubach ’18 Grace Rehaut ’18 Christina Vosbikian ’18 Head news editor Marcia Brown ’19 news editors Abhiram Karuppur ’19 opinion editor Newby Parton ‘18 sports editor David Xin ‘19 street editor Jianing Zhao ‘20 photography editor Rachel Spady ‘18 web editor David Liu ‘18 chief copy editors Isabel Hsu ‘19 Samuel Garfinkle ‘19 design editor Rachel Brill ‘19 associate opinion editors Samuel Parsons ’19 Nicholas Wu ’18 associate sports editors Miranda Hasty ’19 Claire Coughlin ’19 associate street editor Andie Ayala ‘19 Catherine Wang ’19

Collecting people Bhaamati Borkhetaria senior columnist

D

associate chief copy editors Caroline Lippman ’19 Omkar Shende ‘18 editorial board co-chairs Ashley Reed ‘18 Connor Pfeiffer ’18 cartoons editor Tashi Treadway ‘19

rescheduled misery with. them. But it’s something uring Bicker who lived in that hallway dinners, came out of his room and at least three times, I am lucky to have so entirely different to fall I was asked a question that, saw me. He and some are the staple of such many of these people in apart in front of them and like most Bick- other friends helped me relationships. This is what my life. The friend who have them piece you back er questions, was banal: up. He yelled orders for networking might look showed up looking like together — tell you that death, with red eyes and they care about you, not What do you look for in a someone to bring me like in the real world. snow from the courtyard We end up connecting a massive fever, to hug with words but with their friend? The responses I heard as he sat me up and took with at least some of me when I felt like the presence. What I am saying is followed these lines: I look off my heels despite my these people on a deeper world had turned on me. protests. I spent that night level. But these are not The friend who slept in nothing new. But it’s for people who are similar that will my bed (for almost two worthwhile to pause for a to me so that they like the lying in his bed, crying friendships same things that I do. I and playing Green Day endure. When we leave days in a row) and listened second and compile a list look for someone who likes songs as I contemplated campus for good, they will to me rant about Harry of people who will do for Potter characters as a way you what my friends have to eat all the time because my swollen foot. And then fade into insignificance. I’m not criticizing of distracting myself. done for me. It doesn’t have I need a food buddy. I look the next morning another for someone who loves friend showed up to take these friendships. They’re The friend who ran home to be long, but it has to be because from a night out so that filled with people who you unconditionally. I look for me to McCosh Health necessary Center because I simply spending time with she could quell my panic know will be there for you. someone rich so that they different people makes you attack at 2 a.m. The friend By all means, keep can pay for my food. I look couldn’t go alone. That’s what I value in a better, smarter person. who skipped a shift at collecting different people for someone who reads as friends. The knowledge And sometimes deeper work so that she could be on campus. But also take much as I do so that we that, if I need them, friendships spring from there for me when I was the time to care about can collectively rave about they will be there in the this act of “collecting.” falling apart. The friend the people who you know those books. But I’ve had a lot of time whom I didn’t previously will drop their lives in a That last response might blink of an eye and care enough about me to be recently to ref lect on the recognize as a close friend, second to come take care have been mine. But it was inconvenienced by my people that I consider my but who stayed with me of you. And even more not what came spilling stupidity. real friends. The biggest till 4 a.m. holding me and importantly, be prepared out of my mouth. At the University, it’s criterion: Will they be then, the next day, helped to do the same for them Instead, I told the story easy to find witty, smart, there for me when I need me stare at a wall while I when they need you. of spraining my ankle last fun people to hang out them? When you’re down coped with my life. year. It was a late night. I Certainly it’s great Bhaamati Borkhetaria is a was wearing new heels. with. Because there are so in the dumps, the people sophomore from Jersey City, many, we begin to collect that come through are the to hang out with these And then, snap. I was N.J. She can be reached at them so that we might say people that matter. They people on a normal day lying on the ground in bhaamati@princeton.edu. “hi” when we pass them are the people you trust — to grab a meal with 1927-Clapp ‐ Hall, unable to on the street. Occasional enough to share your them, to go out with move. One of my friends


Thursday March 9, 2017

President, Pope released statements in response to Venter’s project VENTER

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20 years in advance of the first symptoms by using whole-genome sequencing and neuro-quant data, can be prevented with the right drugs, Venter noted. He added that the same could be done with cancer tumors, and there was the potential to move to entirely preventative cancer vaccines, something that already exists for some forms of the disease. Venter said that genotype could predict not only disease but also other phenotypes. His Face Project uses machine learning to reconstruct a three-dimensional human face from the genome alone, he noted. Venter also said that recordings of a voice could be used to predict the speaker’s age, sex, and height. All of this information comes from about 40,000 genome sequences that has produced over 20 petabytes of data, Venter explained. He added that the sequencing of one million human genomes could produce one quintillion bytes of data, an amount that nobody in the world knows how to handle, yet the government could not be convinced that genomics was a big data problem. Sequencing the first human genome, a project whose private arm was spearheaded by Venter, took over nine years, cost more than a billion dollars, and, in 1999, had the third largest computer in the world built solely for that purpose, he explained. Venter’s other major project was the synthesis of a living organism from scratch, which he and his team at the J. Craig Venter

Institute accomplished in 2008 by converting digital binary bits into an organism that could live on its own. “The day we announced this, both the President and the Pope released statements, with the President calling for this to be the number one priority of the bioethics committee, and the Pope reassuring people that we had not actually created life, but just changed one of life’s motors,” he said. Venter’s team also discovered that the genome could be modularized so that entire sets of genes could be classified as “metabolism,” for example, and inserted into the genome. He said that to distinguish this synthetic life from existing organisms, into the genome of the organism was coded the names of the forty scientists that worked on the project, and quotations from James Joyce, Robert Oppenheimer, and Feynman. Venter explained that despite having created an entirely new organism, scientists still do not understand the functions of a third of the genes, only that they appear throughout the biological tree and are necessary for the organism’s survival. “Like any good science, we found out how little we know rather than how much we know,” Venter said. The event, part of the Princeton Public Lectures – Vanuxem Lecture Series, was attended by members of the community in addition to Princeton students and faculty. The lecture took place in McCosh 50 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

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IMAGE BY SAMVIDA VENKATESH

Craig Venter presented research on genomics in a lecture on Wednesday.

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Sports

Thursday March 9, 2017

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S BASKETBALL

Men’s basketball undefeated

This past weekend, the Princeton men’s basketball team won their 27th Ivy League Championship at Jadwin Gymnasium. Their undefeated season not only makes them the 14th team in Ivy League history to achieve this record, but also gives them a top seed in the inaugural Ivy League Basketball Tournament. The League has never had an official tournament before and will host its first ever in The Palestra in Philadelphia, in sponsorship with Citizens Bank. The Tigers’ first matchup is set to be against the Quakers at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The team last played Penn on Feb. 7 and won with a score of 6449, so it is certainly favored for this game. If the Tigers were to win the Ivy League Tournament as they are expected to, they will earn their 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2011.

IMAGES BY SARAH SAKHA

Tweet of the Day “Get your student tickets while you can! Still a few available at Frist. On sale until 5pm tonight. #TigerUp #GoTigers #TigersTakePalestra” @PUTigers_

Stat of the Day

14 wins The Princeton Men’s Basketball Team finished their season with an undefeated record in the Ivy League.

Follow us Check us out on Twitter @princesports for live news and reports, and on Instagram @princetoniansports for photos!


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