Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Wednesday April 21, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 38
Twitter: @princetonian Facebook: The Daily Princetonian YouTube: The Daily Princetonian Instagram: @dailyprincetonian
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
ON CAMPUS
Designed by: Jessica Cui
Faculty may host in-person classes, office hours outdoors By Mark Dodici
News Contributor, Multimedia Editor
Classes and office hours may now be held in-person and outdoors for the remainder of the semester, according to an email sent to all faculty on April 20 obtained by The Daily Princetonian. The memo, sent by Deputy Dean of the College Elizabeth Colagiuri, indicated that any such meetings will not require additional approval so long as they follow specific social distancing guidelines. The blanket approval will allow faculty to take advantage of the sunny weather expected for the last week of classes. In the memo, Colagiuri noted that faculty “have increasingly reached out” to the Office of the Dean of the College (ODOC) with a desire to host in-person meetings, and hoped that these events could
ease the feelings of isolation and anxiety experienced by many students this semester. The memo lays out several specific safety policies. Meetings must be held on campus with no more than 20 participants, each of whom must be wearing a mask at all times. Social distancing of six feet between participants is required and attendance records must be kept for contact tracing purposes. Any activities requiring someone to take off their mask are discouraged. Faculty were asked to “take it outside organically” — they should not request setups from building services or move furniture outside. If the space they were planning to utilize is already occupied, faculty hosts should relocate their event. Importantly, the memo notes that students should not
MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
See NEWS for more
Students working in Blair Courtyard on a sunny afternoon.
SPORTS
‘Creating our competitive identity’: Women’s swimming and diving sets eyes on the fall By Rachel Posner, Nolan Musslewhite Contributors
The days leading up to Feb. 22, 2020 were among the best in the history of women’s swimming and diving at Princeton. The Tigers dominated the pool at the 2020 Ivy League Championships to clinch an epic 107-point victory over Harvard, bringing the Frank Keefe Trophy home to New Jersey for the 23rd time. Over four days of competition the team shattered six school records, three pool records, and a conference record in front of a roaring crowd. Three weeks later, the University ordered its students home as COVID-19 lockdowns forced nearly all swimming facilities to shutter, abruptly truncating the team’s success. “That was a very emotional time,” recalled Anna Durak ’22. “You’re coming off of this really high high, and then being sent home with a lot of pools shut down was mentally hard.” Over a year later, the team is regaining its confidence and positioning itself for a competitive fall as training and team-
building resume. With campus closed in the fall of 2020, the women’s team scattered into training pods across the country. Some swimmers remained in their hometowns with their pre-collegiate club teams; others gathered to train with teams in Virginia Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and San Diego. Durak, who is still swimming with the Virginia Beach pod at Tide Swimming, explained her decision as one of athletic necessity. The lockdowns marked the longest pause she had taken from swimming since she was five years old. “The pools have definitely been hit hard by COVID regulations,” she said. “Some people weren’t allowed to swim for eight months, which is why I came here! My pool was getting shut down and reopened, shut down and reopened, shut down and reopened.” Even while scattered, the team found ways to stay connected virtually throughout the fall. The swimmers began “lapchats,” random pairings that serve as short conversation-starters during the week,
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA DURAK
The pool at Tide Swimming.
In Opinion
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA DURAK
Anna Durak (left) and teammate Macey Mannion (right) on the beach in Virginia.
regular team FaceTimes and Kahoots, and team “families,” small support subgroups to encourage social bonding and team unity. “We would try to do group workouts and have team goals to give us a purpose and unite us as athletes,” explained Jen Secrest ’23, a sophomore team captain who also trained with the Virginia Beach pod in the fall but returned to campus in January. When students were invited to return to campus this spring, seven swimmers and three divers capitalized on the opportunity to train together again. The on-campus training squad completes daily twohour practices complemented by drylands, and can train all together due to the small size of the squad and the extra capacity in DeNunzio Pool. The team has taken advantage of the modified season to experiment with new training regimens. “We’ve gotten really big into something called ‘surf and turf,’” Secrest explained, describing it as “a mix between swim and dryland,” balancing in-water and out-of-water
Columnist David Palomino calls for Professor Keith Whittington to heed students’ voices on Supreme Court reform, following his appointment to President Biden’s commission on the Supreme Court.
training more than in a typical season. The long, competition-free season has also given the team an opportunity to focus on stroke fundamentals and body mechanics. “The team is uniting around technique,” Secrest said. The lack of meets during what is normally a lengthy and intense racing season allowed the coaches to hone in on stroke work in ways that would have been more challenging before the pandemic, with swimmers having to prepare and taper more for racing. Even while off campus, Durak feels the team is rekindling its fighting spirit after the disappointment of a canceled season. The women now have their sights set on the fall. “We’ve started to create our competitive identity again,” she said. “We’re working on mindset — remembering to keep things in perspective, to make sure that all of our decisions are for the team and that we’re keeping ourselves and our teammates accountable.” Coming out of this year, the swimmers aren’t taking any-
In Prospect
thing for granted, and they are training to be in the best possible situation heading into next season. The team wants to use its success at Ivies in 2020 to cultivate another stellar season. “We wanted to use that confidence and excitement to propel us forward,” Secrest said. “We didn’t want to become just satisfied with where we were.” After their success last February, the team met and created individual and group goals for the next four years. Secrest credits that goal-making process with fending off team inactivity and demoralization: “Creating those big goals really helped motivate us throughout this time rather than just remaining stagnant.” For Durak, the upcoming season — her last as a Princeton athlete — is particularly sentimental. She’s taken up the motto “be great and be grateful,” and looks to savor every moment while preparing for what she hopes will be an excellent season ahead. For the seniors, this season is more bittersweet. Many opted to return to campus hoping to See SPORTS for more
Associate Editor Aster Zhang ‘24 speaks with the management of Olsson’s Fine Foods in Palmer Square about grilled cheese, business decisions, and being “pandemic-proof.”