Commencement 2025 - The Daily Princetonian by The Daily Princetonian

CONGRATULATIONS!

PHOTO BY LOUISA GHEORGHITA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

This Year’s Undergraduate Class

The Class of 2025 entered Princeton at the tail-end of the pandemic. During their time at Princeton, the University dramatically expanded financial aid; affirmative action fell; protests rocked campus; and Donald Trump was re-elected president. Campus has reckoned with free speech, academic mediocrity, diversity, equity and inclusion, and student mental health, with members of the Class of 2025 often stepping into the University-wide or nationwide spotlight.

They presided over a remarkably successful period for men’s and women’s basketball in a shifting landscape for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, and saw the downfall of the football team from the bonfire of their first year to the defeats of their last. They are the final class before Princeton’s moves to expand the student body, and the last students to have had the misfortune of living in First College.

The Class of 2025 leaves an institution transformed: by an expanded student body, by new construction, by national politics, and by international events. They have seen mandatory COVID testing, the fall of TigerConfessions, a raccoon attack, and more rainy Lawnparties than they would have liked. Now, they leave behind the confusion of construction schedules and of whether things are called minors or certificates, and step into an uncertain world beyond.

THE GREAT CLASS OF 2025

RYLAND GRAHAM / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Junior Year: Clio Hall Sit-in.

ANGEL KUO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Sophomore Year: March Madness.

CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Freshman Year: Bonfire.

LOUISA GHEORGHITA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Senior Year: Firestone Library

vol. cxlviii

editor-in-chief

Miriam Waldvogel ’26

business manager

Jessica Funk ’26

149TH MANAGING BOARD

upper management

Eleanor Clemans-Cope ’26

Isabella Dail ’26

director of outreach

Oliva Sanchez ’26

Bridget O’Neill ’26

Bryan Zhang ’26

creative director

Malia Gaviola ’26

strategic initiative directors

Accessibility

Suthi Navaratnam-Tomayko ’26

editors at large

Research

Andrew Bosworth ’26

Education Hayk Yengibaryan ’26

149TH EDITORIAL BOARD

Chair

Christofer Robles ’26

Members

Isaac Barsoum ’28

Frances Brogan ’27

Eleanor Clemans-Cope ’26

Preston Ferraiuolo ’26

Anna Ferris ’26

Ava Johnson ’27

Raf Basas ’28

Bryan Zhang ’26

149TH BUSINESS BOARD

assistant business manager

Alistair Wright ’27

directors

Andrew He ’26

Tejas Iyer ’26

William Li ’27

Stephanie Ma ’27

Jordan Manela ’26

James Swinehart ’27

Adelle Xiao ’27

Chloe Zhu ’27

business manager emeritus

Aidan Phillips ’25

149TH TECHNOLOGY BOARD

chief technology officer

Yacoub Kahkajian ’26

software engineers

Abu Ahmed ’28

Jaehee Ashley ’25

Brian Chen ’26

Nipuna Ginige ’26

Angelina Ji ’27

Allen Liu ’27

Rodrigo Porto ’27

Stephanie Sugandi ’27

THIS PRINT ISSUE WAS DESIGNED BY

Juan Fajardo ’28

Malia Gaviola ’26 AND COPIED BY

Bryan Zhang ’26

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

president

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

Miriam Waldvogel ’26

Jessica Funk ’26

FRESHMAN YEAR 2021 – 2022

The Class of 2025 arrived at a campus newly in-person after a year of virtual Princeton. The return was far from normal: Tornadoes and flash flood warnings rocked the first week of classes, and there was daily COVID testing. Still, 2025ers prevailed in the fall, celebrating the football team’s victories over Yale and Harvard with a bonfire — the only one of their time at Princeton — and showing up mem -

OCT NEWS

‘A perfect storm’: Unruly crowds disrupt A$AP Ferg’s Lawnparties performance, with alleged student injury

NOV NEWS

orably for A$AP Ferg’s Lawnparties performance.

The look of the main campus started to change as the Class of 2025 arrived. When they got to campus, the old Princeton Art Museum was on its way out. While art museum construction has progressed with the graduating class, it will not finish with them: the new museum is now set to open this fall.

MAR SPORTS

Women’s basketball ousts Kentucky for second March Madness win in program history

‘Bookended by a bonfire’: Tigers take home Ivy League title for first time since 2018

The Spring 2022 semester showed that the class was engaged with some of the international issues of the day. Princeton students and faculty joined in protests against the war in Ukraine, and the following month, students voted on a referendum calling for the University to halt its use of Caterpillar machinery in its construction projects.

APR NEWS

USG Senate upholds appeal over Caterpillar referendum, will withhold statement to University for or against referendum

APR

PROSPECT

East Pyne courtyard film set for ‘Oppenheimer’ creates campus chaos

‘A perfect storm’: Unruly crowds disrupt A$AP Ferg’s Lawnparties performance, with alleged student injury

By Drew Somerville & Evelyn Doskoch | October 3, 2021

Crowded, dangerous conditions disrupted Lawnparties on Sun- day, causing delays to headliner A$AP Ferg’s performance and injury to at least one student attendee.

Students gathered in the backyard of Quadrangle Club well in advance of A$AP Ferg’s performance, where student opener Naaji Hylton ’22, known professionally as J. Paris, began his act at 3 p.m. By the time Paris finished, a large crowd had gathered throughout the venue — and within minutes, security guards and other staff members began to plead with students to back away from the stage, where student attendees were being pushed against the barrier.

“You’re going to hurt someone,” a member of the security team said. “This is going to be a dangerous situation.”

By 3:40 p.m., the same individual reported a student injury in the crowd.

“We have a young woman at the front who is bleeding now,” he said. “You’re hurting people. Stop.”

Security team members repeatedly called for students to back up, seemingly unheeded. As students continued to press forward, speakers onstage insisted that A$AP Ferg would not begin performing until the crowd calmed down.

“The show doesn’t start until the security guards tell us that the barrier is in a better position and not going to break,” an official said.

Many seemed to cooperate with the security team’s requests, moving backward when instructed and chanting, “BACK UP!” When one “instigator” was removed from the venue by security, cheers erupted from the student body.

After repeated attempts by security to control the crowd were unsuccessful, Social Committee member and Class of 2024 Social Chair Lauren Fahlberg ’24 went on stage with similar pleas.

“For the love of God, stop talking!” Fahlberg shouted, visibly frustrated.

A representative of the Department of Public Safety (PSAFE) joined Fahlberg, announcing that A$AP Ferg would not perform at all unless the crowd in front of the stage dispersed within five minutes.

“We have spent so long planning this,” Fahlberg said repeatedly, referring to the Social Committee. “A$AP Ferg is doing a huge favor by coming to visit us.”

Lawnparties, which occurred in-person for the first time since fall 2019, faced controversy even before the day began. On

Tuesday, Sept. 28, the Undergraduate Stu- dent Government (USG) Social Committee announced that the original performer, LANY, would no longer perform due to reports of predatory behavior.

A$AP Ferg, announced on Friday by the USG Social Committee as LANY’s replace- ment, garnered a positive reaction from students, with one calling A$AP Ferg a “better choice” and another deeming him “the type of artist I was looking for.”

The Social Committee has not publicly stated how A$AP Ferg was compensated, or whether the contract with LANY was terminated. Still, at one point in the performance, he gave some insight into his last-minute availability.

“I am so glad that I was able to come here and do this shit last-minute,” A$AP Ferg said. “Only because I live a fucking hour away.”

xemptyz

When the start of Ferg’s act prompted students to gather again near the front of the stage, some in the crowd became frustrated at their peers’ disregard for staff instructions.

“Why is your first instinct to all crowd again?” Josiah Gouker ’22 yelled at students moving toward the stage. “That is the opposite of what we need to be doing. Just stay where you are; you can hear it wherever you are.”

Gouker is an Opinion columnist and Satire contributor for the ‘Prince.’

A$AP Ferg also dealt with uncoopera- tive students and overcrowding, having to stop his performance mid-song and address the audience. He claimed that the show could be canceled entirely, under certain circumstances.

“They’re saying that it’s over because they don’t want anybody to get hurt,” he told the crowd. “Damn, I want to perform.”

After confirmation from the show organizers that the show could continue if the crowd moved away from the stage, A$AP Ferg urged the crowd to comply.

“Can y’all move all the way back? Turn around and walk to the back,” he said.

A$AP Ferg began to freestyle using the words ‘walk to the back,’ leading to — for the first time — a substantive movement of the crowd. The concert resumed, with A$AP Ferg noting feeling “proud” of the crowd for finally listening.

At one point in the resumed concert, a student was lifted by peers and crowd- surfed.

A$AP Ferg’s show was interrupted for

a second time, again due to crowding concerns, at around 4:20 p.m., after which point the show continued without serious interruption.

The Social Committee held a giveaway on their Instagram page for one student to meet A$AP Ferg after the show. Rishi Gor- repati ’25, who won the giveaway, told The Daily Princetonian in a message that he did not get to meet A$AP Ferg.

“Apparently, he left early,” Gorrepati wrote.

Aside from the headliner act at Quad, Lawnparties performances took place in six of the 11 eating clubs on Prospect Ave- nue. Performers at Tower Club, Tiger Inn, Colonial Club, Ivy Club, and Terrace Club included The Wldlfe, LZRD, smallpools, DJ Kazuo Nakamura, and Ruby the Hatchet. xemptyz

USG Social Chair William Gu ’23 reflected on the day in a message to the ‘Prince’.

“Hopefully, today’s Lawnparties provided underclassmen an introduction to one of Princeton’s greatest traditions, as well as upperclassmen a reminder that

Princeton is back and better than ever!” he wrote.

Gu did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the crowd control problems during A$AP Ferg’s performance.

Jack Amen ’25, who watched the Lawnparties headliner act from a raised section of the Quad backyard, told the ‘Prince’ that he escaped the dangerous conditions and was generally amused by the crowd’s behavior.

“It was such a perfect storm of absurd- ism,” he wrote. “My friends and I were checking Twitter a lot because a bunch of [Princeton] people were live-tweeting their reactions in real-time.”

Amen added that “word spread through the crowd” about the dangerous situation near the stage, and said he was “disap- pointed” in the students who caused it.

“It definitely shouldn’t have gotten to that point,” he wrote. “It really serves to reinforce ... how partying here recently is more about desperation than it is about having fun.”

USG debates language of referendum regarding Princeton’s Caterpillar machinery use

By Annie Rupertus | March 29, 2022

The third referendum proposed at the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) meeting on Sunday, March 27 called for the University to boycott Caterpillar construction products. Deliberations began with a statement from the referendum sponsor, Eric Periman ’23, who serves as president of the Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP).

During the meeting, Periman explained PCP’s rationale, saying, “We’ve recently been really concerned by the use of Caterpillar manufacturing construction machinery on campus for the various campus construction projects, including the E-quad construction, the art museum, the New Colleges East and West, [and] the Lake Campus development project.”

“Their machinery is routinely used for some really despicable and inhumane purposes,” Periman continued.

Periman cited the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as one of the motives for the referendum.

“BDS is a Palestinian-led organization that targets boycotts, divestments, and sanctions to the state of Israel with regard to their treatment of Palestinian people, [and] the violations that that has for international law,” he said.

Periman claimed that Caterpillar machinery was used in the demolition of many Palestinian houses and that “Caterpillar knows that its machinery is being used in the violation of human rights.”

The ballot in question, if passed, would call on the University administration to stop the use of Caterpillar machinery in “all ongoing campus projects,” and discontinue the future use of Caterpillar machines on campus, including use by contractors.

Members of the USG Senate raised a number of questions and concerns regarding the referendum during the language review discussion.

USG Treasurer Adam Hoffman ’23 spoke in reference to the criterion that USG referenda cannot claim to exercise power beyond what an undergraduate referendum can do. Hoffman previously served as the vice president of Tigers for Israel.

“It’s actually illegal to boycott Caterpillar,” Hoffman claimed.

He also raised a concern that BDS campaigns on college campuses might lead to an increase in antisemitic attacks, an occurrence that has been previously reported

across some U.S. college campuses. He claimed that when a 2015 referendum called for Princeton to divest “from multinational corporations that maintain the infrastructure of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank,” a member of the CJL staff saw a rise in antisemitism on Princeton’s campus.

Senator Ned Dockery ’25 later added to this, asking Periman to consider including a clause in the referendum commenting on the potential direct effect of the measure on antisemitic attacks.

To this, Periman brought up instances “as recently as this year” of PCP activists and non-PCP-affiliated Palestinian and Muslim students also facing discrimination. He did not amend the referendum language.

“It seems to me this referendum tries to sneak in BDS,” Hoffman later argued, referencing the omission of language referring to BDS in the ballot question text itself but the inclusion of the movement in the question’s explanation. He called for fellow USG members to vote no on the language approval.

Periman then addressed the Senate body, arguing that “[Hoffman] would like you to believe this is a BDS referendum — it’s not. BDS does not appear in the resolution or in the ballot question. It only exists in the explanation; that’s not what’s being implemented.”

Andrew Zucker ’25, a member of the Sustainability Committee, said that “the boycott of a company that conducts business with Israel” qualifies the measure as a BDS referendum, regardless of whether it is explicitly stated.

Zucker currently serves as the secretary for Tigers for Israel.

Periman, Hoffman, and others continued to debate the phrasing of the referendum and whether the inclusion of BDS in the explanation section constituted part of the resolution.

“That’s an interpretation that Senate members are going to have to consider when they vote,” Hannah Kapoor ’23, Vice President of USG said.

At this point, the meeting reached the one-hour mark. Senate members extended the meeting in ten-minute intervals for nearly an additional 90 minutes.

Over an hour and a half after discussion of this referendum language began, the Senate began the voting process. It approved the referendum language with twelve members voting in favor, five abstaining, and five oppos-

ing. The votes are as follows:

Voting in favor were USG President Mayu Takeuchi ’23, Senator Sean Bradley ’24, U-Councilor Stephen Daniels ’24, Academic Chair Austin Davis ’23, Senator Kanishkh Kanodia ’23, Kapoor, Senator Mariam Latif ’24, Social Committee Chair Madison Linton ’24, U-Council Chair Riley Martinez ’23, Senator Walker Penfield ’25, Campus and Community Affairs Chair Isabella Shutt ’24, and U-Councilor Vian Wagatsuma ’23.

Abstaining from the vote were University Student Life Committee Chair Avi Attar ’25 and Dockery, as well as several absent Senate members; votes from those who are not in attendance are automatically marked as abstaining, so U-Councilors Mohamed Jishi ’24, Anna Sivaraj ’23, and Jiwon Yun ’22 were marked as such.

Voting in opposition were Hoffman, U-Councilor Carlisle Imperial ’25, U-Councilor Alen Palic ’23, U-Councilor Eric Sklanka ’23, and Zucker, who attended and voted by proxy as a representative of Sustainability Chair Audrey Zhang ’25.

The Daily Princetonian was unable to verify the vote of Senator Gisell Curbelo ’23.

DEI Chair Braiden Aaronson ’25 advocated that the referendum be considered “frivolous.”

After approving the language of the referendum to appear on the ballot, the Senate then debated the question of frivolity.

Citing Hoffman’s prior claim that it would be illegal for the University to cease using Caterpillar products, Daniels said that the referendum should be considered frivolous because “the University is not actually able to carry out this action.”

Shutt contested that the measure would be legal, saying that the anti-BDS laws discussed do not “pertain to University contracting of construction equipment.”

The purpose of the frivolous measure under the Senate’s Constitution, Shutt said, was to prevent “someone put[ing] up a referendum that said every student must wear green on Wednesday, [for example,] that we cannot

then allow it on the ballot.”

Following Shutt’s comments, Penfield motioned to vote on whether the referendum is frivolous and Shutt seconded.

Kapoor granted a request from Daniels to delay the vote to give members the opportunity to resolve the issue of whether or not federal and New Jersey laws would make the referendum’s implementation unfeasible.

As the legal discussion continued, Aaronson said that the referendum should be considered frivolous as “a BDS referendum” that attempts to “sneak around the Senate language review process,” done necessarily in “bad faith.”

The Senate voted and ultimately did not find the referendum frivolous, failing to reach the 5/6 threshold to mark a referendum as such. The votes were as follows:

Voting in favor of deeming the referendum “frivolous” were Daniels, Hoffman, Imperial, Linton, and Zucker (representing Zhang).

Abstaining from the vote were Takeuchi, Attar, Bradley, Davis, Kapoor, Martinez, Palic, Penfield, and Sklanka. Jishi, Sivaraj, and Yun were again counted as abstaining because they were not in attendance.

Opposing the deeming of the referendum as “frivolous” were Dockery, Kanodia, Latif, Shutt, and Wagatsuma.

The ‘Prince’ was unable to verify Curbelo’s vote.

After the USG meeting, PCP member Harshini Abbaraju ’22 told the ‘Prince’ that she “watched in great dismay as the discussion around this referendum devolved into bad faith [and] unfounded accusations.”

Nevertheless, Abbaraju and other members of PCP expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the vote and their excitement for the petition and campaign periods to come.

The ‘Prince’ requested comment from other community members in attendance but no others provided comment.

USG Senate meetings are held in Robertson Hall Bowl 016 at 8 p.m. on Sunday evenings and are open to all.

ANNIE RUPERTUS / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN PCP President Eric Periman ‘23 addresses students after the USG meeting adjourned.

‘Bookended by a bonfire’: Tigers take home Ivy League title for first time since 2018

By Isabel Yip & Rachel Posner | Nov 22, 2021

Alongside friends, family, and fans, the Princeton student body gathered on Cannon Green on Sunday night to watch a bonfire in celebration of the football team’s defeat over both Harvard on Oct. 23 and Yale on Nov. 13 this season.

The last bonfire took place in 2018, when members of the Class of 2022 were first-years. Undergraduate Student Government President Christian Potter ’22 commented on how special it is for the Class of 2022 to have bonfires bookending their college experience.

“Coming to Princeton, I didn’t know how important athletics and football would be; and when we had our bonfire freshman year, especially for our class, we were like, yeah this is a really big deal, this is a really big part of Princeton,” Potter said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “To have it senior year, after the pandemic, after everything, it’s another reminder that when we come back to full Princeton life, this is what this means. It means showing up to the games, it means winning, it means having these great celebrations, so I think it’s really special for our class.”

The Tigers received the title of Ivy League Champions this Saturday with a 34–14 defeat over the University of Pennsylvania. First-year defensive lineman Tommy Matheson spoke on the heightened stakes of the game.

“Going into that game, we wanted to win. Internally, we thought it meant nothing if we lost that game,” Matheson said. “I just think, you know, this whole bonfire is great, but if we weren’t the Ivy League Champions it wouldn’t have felt as nice.”

Matheson said being cheered on at the bonfire “was one of the most cool, one-of-a-kind experiences of my life … and so hopefully we’ll get a lot more.”

Princeton shares the title with Dartmouth College, after the Big Green defeated Brown University 52–31 on Saturday. Princeton and Dartmouth, the Ivy League co-champions, both ended their seasons 9–1.

The Tigers secured the title of Ivy League Champions for the 13th time in program history. As per tradition, their wins over both Harvard and Yale in the

same season ensured a bonfire celebration for the Princeton community.

Beginning Sunday at 10 a.m., each class took part in building the bonfire. Students decorated wooden pallets to commemorate Princeton’s double victory and stacked the pieces to create an ignitable tower. An outhouse with the scores of the Harvard and Yale games — 18–16 and 35–20 respectively — topped off the pile of pallets declaring student sentiments towards these two rivals.

Students wrote, “Harvard is a safety school” and “Yale is number 5 in the ranking but last in our hearts” in colorful script to be burned in the celebratory bonfire, as well as: “Princeton forever, see you all in hell!”

Whig Hall and Clio Hall were lit orange in celebration of Princeton’s Ivy League victory as spectators began to congregate around barricades in anticipation of the bonfire.

The bells of Nassau Hall began to ring at 7:30 p.m. Before speeches commenced, the Princeton University Band, cheerleaders, and winning foot-

ball team paraded around the bonfire.

Morgan McDonald ’25, taking part in her first event as a cheerleader during the bonfire, told the ‘Prince,’ “it felt so nice after the past year and a half to come together and celebrate something.”

“I’m a very traditional person,” she added. “I think today reminded everyone what it means to be a Princetonian.”

Speeches followed these initial festivities. Speakers included Program Coordinator in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students Mitchel Charles ’18, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, USG President Potter, Senior Class President Santiago Guiran ’22, Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack ’00, and Princeton Football Head Coach Bob Surace ’90.

The women’s lightweight crew team was invited to lead the crowd in a Locomotive cheer as a way to celebrate their IRA National Championship title this past spring.

“We feel really honored that the new

athletic director, John Mack, wanted to honor us in such a public setting,” Junior rower Sarah Polson said. Junior rower Artemis Veizi added, “It was also really exciting to celebrate the football team and their accomplishments. It’s nice to be a sports team supporting the other sports teams on campus and having that 37 — soon 38 — varsity team unity.”

Looking back on their spring 2021 achievements, Polson said it was “amazing” that the team was allowed to compete at all, and that “the circumstances lended itself to a boat that was one of the fastest boats we’ve ever put out.”

“We’re just excited to build off of that,” she added.

Following the speeches, the football team proceeded to light the bonfire pile. The lights illuminating Cannon Green were turned off, and the lawn went dark aside from the subtle glow of the bonfire.

After a few minutes, flames erupted, and cheers burst from the crowd. Smoke rose and blurred the view of East Pyne Hall. As wood from the bonfire continued to crumble, cheers continued to rise.

For spectators watching the bonfire’s flames nearly reach the trees behind Nassau Hall, the celebration was a unifying experience.

“This has made me realize how happy I am to be a part of the Princeton community,” said Nina Boudet ’25.

“It was huge energy … everyone was just in a great mood for this, it’s been a long time coming for sure,” Potter said. “It feels like a big victory, not just over Harvard and Yale, but over a lot of challenges and adversities.”

The Princeton University Band concluded the bonfire with a performance of “Old Nassau.”

Peter Anella ’25, a member of the rugby team experiencing the bonfire during his first semester on campus, expressed his excitement over the sporadic tradition.

“How many more times is this gonna happen in your life?” he asked. “Probably never.”

SPORTS Women’s basketball ousts Kentucky for second March Madness win in program history

By Isabel Rodrigues | March 21, 2022

For Ivy League women’s basketball teams, advancing past the first round of NCAA tournament play has meant defying the odds.

Only two teams from the Ancient Eight had ever won a tournament game before this year: Harvard in 1998 with a classic upset over Stanford from the 16-seed, and Princeton, who beat Green Bay in front of President Barack Obama in 2015.

On Saturday, March 19, at Indiana University’s historic Assembly Hall, the Princeton Tigers (25–4 overall, 14–0 Ivy League) battled through 40 minutes of cutthroat basketball against one of the hottest teams in the country. They came out victorious, defeating the Kentucky Wildcats (19–12, 8–8 Southeastern) by a final score of 69–62. Senior guard Abby Meyers led scoring for both teams, registering a career-high 29 points on 43 percent shooting.

Kentucky entered the tournament confident and ready to continue the success they had had in this year’s contentious Southeastern Conference (SEC) tournament. In the conference championships, the Wildcats stunned the nation, as they came from behind to beat No. 1 South Carolina in the final round thanks to a late-game three-pointer from forward Dre’una Edwards. The win gave the Wildcats their first conference title since 1982.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were having a successful season of their own, having finished Ivy League schedule undefeated in conference play for the second consecutive season and bringing home their third-straight Ivy Tournament title. The Tigers also broke into the AP top 25 rankings towards the end of the season and solidified their dominance on the defensive end as one of the top-five scoring defenses in the nation. Because of the cancellation of the 2020–21 Ivy League basketball season season, this would be the first opportunity in two years for the Tigers to play in an NCAA tournament game. After the win over Kentucky, Meyers spoke about having the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament again.

“We all grow up dreaming about playing on this stage in Division I basketball, in the NCAA Tournament,” she said. “To finally be here after a year and half, two years, some of us for the first time, it’s a special moment.”

The last time the Tigers were in the NCAA tournament, they faced the same opponent. In 2019, the two teams, sitting at the exact same seeds, played an aggressive back-and-forth game. Junior guards Julia Cunningham and Grace Stone were the only two current Tigers to have played in the prior matchup, which ended in an 82–77 Wildcats victory.

But history didn’t repeat itself this time.

As a wave of Kentucky fans entered the stadium to enjoy the rematch, a small contingency of Princeton alums, friends, and family made their way to a pocket of seats just behind the media bench. They were quickly joined by a decently-sized group of Indiana fans who, having just finished watching their home team trounce Charlotte, were excited to cheer against Kentucky, their rivals at the state’s southern border.

The atmosphere in Assembly Hall was filled with excitement as the starting lineups for both teams were announced, with colorful lights and enthusiastic cheerleading squads making the college arena feel like a professional stadium at Princeton’s most anticipated game of the year. With a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on the line, the matchup was destined to be unforgettable.

The game opened with full court pressure from the Kentucky defense. Princeton sophomore guard Kaitlyn Chen, fresh off of a 30-point performance against Columbia in the Ivy League Tournament final, scored the first points of the game, just beating the shot clock under the basket off a beeline pass from Meyers.

Sophomore forward Ellie Mitchell continued her rebounding prowess, ripping the ball from the outstretched fingers of Kentucky forward Treasure Hunt for her first of the game. With a new possession ahead of them, the Tigers looked to push the ball quickly down the floor, but Meyers stumbled and Kentucky guard Jada Walker was quick to take the ball down the floor for an easy layup, tying the game at two apiece. Two more costly turnovers for the Tigers in transition were converted to quick

coast-to-coast layups for the Wildcats as the Princeton defense struggled to keep up with Kentucky’s nimble offense and quick decision making from Walker.

A third Tiger turnover created yet another possession for Kentucky, but this time the Princeton defense was able to get set in time to force a turnover of their own. An outlet pass from Chen got the ball to Meyers in transition for a trademark mid-range jumper to bring Princeton back within two. Using the newfound momentum, Stone impressed the Bloomington crowd with a strong short jumper right in front of the basket to tie the game 6–6.

A hefty block from Cunningham on Kentucky forward Emma King made it Princeton ball once again, and they were quick to take advantage of the defensive stop. A savvy spin move from Meyers followed by a swift corner jump shot from Chen put the Tigers up 10–6 as Kentucky worked through a bout of turnovers and difficulty on the defensive end. Mitchell’s rebounding on defense kept Kentucky from getting second chances on missed shots, and her keen attention to the passing lanes made it tough for the Wildcats to get into the paint.

Despite a clutch three-pointer from Walker with only 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter, which put the Tigers down by one, Chen drained a buzzer-beating jump shot to keep the lead in Princeton’s favor, 12–11. After the game, Chen spoke to the press about her in-game decision making.

“[Kentucky players] are really fast, talented players, so at times it was difficult,” she said. “My coach and teammates will back me on any decision I make, I know they will be there if I ever get in trouble.”

Turnovers continued to plague the Tiger offense as they headed into the second quarter, but their quick switching on defense and defensive rebounding kept Kentucky on their heels. Mitchell and sophomore guard Chet Nweke got their first points by taking advantage of a porous Kentucky defense that left the paint wide open for quick layups. On the defensive end, Cunningham was glued to Kentucky guard Rhyne Howard, one of Kentucky’s strongest scorers and a projected top pick in the upcoming WNBA draft, forcing Howard to take tough shots and making each rebound a battle for the ball.

With five minutes left in the half, Walker made a steal on an off-target pass from Meyers and expertly dished to Kentucky guard Robin Benton, who took it in for a quick layup, pulling Kentucky within four. Taking advantage of the Tigers’ struggles with passing turnovers, Walker made yet another steal, and Kentucky guard Nyah Leveretter finished the layup to put the score at 21–17.

Despite this being her first season on the court with the Tigers, Chen led the Princeton offense with the savvy of a player who’s been to the NCAA tournament a dozen times before. With Kentucky finally finding their rhythm, Chen found herself with the ball, just steps away from the basket. Instead of forcing a layup against a much taller Kentucky defender, she dished the ball to Mitchell behind her, who put it up for an easy two points to extend the Princeton lead to 26–19.

Princeton’s swarming defense stopped the Wildcats in their tracks through the final few possessions of the half. Howard’s scoring prowess shone through, however, as she sank a confident deep three-pointer, her first made basket of the night, to bring the score to 32–26 with seconds remaining before the break. After the game, Kentucky Coach Kyra Elzy spoke about Howard’s impact on basketball at Kentucky in her final season.

“Her ability to score on all three levels; her basketball game speaks for itself,” Ezry said. “She has left her legacy at Kentucky and for women’s basketball.”

Howard’s return to form gave Kentucky some much-needed momentum, too, as she forced her way to the basket for a layup in the first seconds of the third quarter. Not long after, Chen pulled off yet another highlight-worthy stunt: after attempting to get to the basket, she was cut off by Kentucky’s Hunt, but changed course on the spot, instead pulling up for a fall-away corner jumper.

As the Tigers continued to hold the lead throughout the quarter, shooting troubles abounded for both teams, until a foul on Howard sent her to the free throw line where she converted for two points. The free throws finally brought Kentucky within

striking distance at 38–36. Not to be outdone, Chen used a turnover on the next Kentucky possession to sink a bank shot for two more Princeton points. The Princeton offense worked like a well-oiled machine, as Nweke found a wide-open Cunningham for three, and the Tigers went on another scoring run.

Not a single player hesitated to take it to the basket, or kick out the ball to an open shooter on the perimeter. On the defensive end, the Tigers kept the Wildcats at bay from three while simultaneously keeping the paint well-protected. By the end of the third quarter, the score sat at 48–44, the Tigers just able to keep a battling Kentucky team at bay.

Chen started the final quarter for the Tigers with a bang, finding a hole in Kentucky’s defense and landing a clean jumper to put the Orange and Black up by six. Meanwhile, for Kentucky, the turnovers and missed shots continued, as a Princeton double-team caused Edwards to travel under the basket. Stone turned the turnover into points for the Tigers on a heroic and-one layup under the basket on the ensuing possession, pushing the lead ahead to 53–44 as the contingent of Princeton fans roared behind her.

Another masterful basket from Howard soon quelled Kentucky’s shooting woes, but Meyers was quick to respond with a bank shot to stop the momentum in its tracks. Chen followed up Meyers’ efforts with another tough layup, and, not to be outdone, Meyers attacked on the next possession with an acrobatic reverse layup right over Kentucky guard Jazmine Massengill. The Tigers charged ahead, 59–52.

Shortly afterwards, Edwards was quick to catch a bad pass from Meyers and turn it into a jumper. She mimicked the feat on the next possession, converting a missed layup from Stone into a neat pass to Benton for three, bringing the Wildcats within five.

Unfortunately for Kentucky, Edwards’ spectacular back-to-back plays would be the only points the Wildcats could find for the next four minutes, as shots continued to rattle out and the clock started to wind down. The Tigers were also struggling to get shots to fall until Mitchell secured her third steal and slung the ball to Chen. Chen, forever calm under the pressure, caused Massengill to foul, putting Princeton in the bonus and getting herself two free throws to boost the Tigers’ lead to 64–57 with 37 seconds remaining.

The Princeton crowd was beginning to get excited as the Tigers closed in on their second-ever win in March Madness. A final missed three-pointer from Howard and a last rebound from Cunningham capped out the game, with a final score of 69–62 in favor of the eleventh-seeded Tigers.

As the buzzer sounded, the team sprinted to center court, jumping and cheering as Princeton fans celebrated their now victorious squad. Despite logging 19 turnovers, six more than their season average, the Tigers never let up on either end of the court. Princeton out-rebounded Kentucky 37–30, and shot 49.1 percent from the field.

The historic upset sends Princeton to the Round of 32 for just the second time in program history, joining the barrage of upsets to descend upon this year’s women’s March Madness tournament. They have also extended their season winning streak to an incredible 18 games.

The Tigers will face No. 3 seed Indiana (23–8, 13–2 Big 10) on Monday and attempt to continue their NCAA success. Princeton coach Carla Berube spoke to the press on Sunday about what the disjointed but ultimately successful performance says about the road ahead for the Tigers.

“We’ll be ready. We’ll know them [Indiana],” she said. “You can say we’re doing X, Y, Z, but once you’re out there, clearly, some of last night did not go according to plan.” She paused, before adding, “we made more plays than Kentucky did, and that’s how you win the game.”

The Round of 32 matchup against Indiana will be played at Assembly Hall, the home court for the Hoosiers, and will be broadcast on ESPNU at 8 p.m. Monday night. A watch party will be hosted for the Princeton Community at Jadwin Gymnasium at 7:30pm.

East Pyne courtyard film set for ‘Oppenheimer’ creates campus chaos

By Hope Perry | April 14, 2022

The quiet majesty of East Pyne was shattered on Thursday, April 14, as news spread across campus that Academy Award-nominated director Christopher Nolan was on campus shooting his upcoming film “Oppenheimer.” Hundreds of people crowded around the courtyard, some on the ground in the hot sun and others pressed against windows, jostling one another for the chance to glimpse a celebrity.

On one side, crowds formed around caution tape that extended from the courtyard’s eastern entrance all the way down Firestone Plaza to the University Chapel. On the other side, near Nassau Hall, a smaller group of students jockeyed for a view of the film set.

“Dude, I’m so missing class for this,” one student yelled to his friends. “It’s Christopher fucking Nolan!”

from Matt Damon aimed personally towards me,” Fletcher Block ’25, told the ‘Prince.’

Paige Morton ’25, who scored a video with Matt Damon, said in an interview that “he was really nice and really willing to take pictures with students, which I thought was really cool.”

Rumors swirled that Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Robert Downey Jr. were on campus, but that wasn’t true, according to crewmembers speaking to the crowd. One crewmember said Downey Jr. had left town after previous days of filming.

The film is based on the 2005 book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

Dr. Michael Gordin, a professor of the history of science at the University, speculated that the scene filmed in

most fleeting look at the actors. Anyone who managed to enter East Pyne would’ve found tons of people crowding around every window, cameras open on nearly every phone. Staff cleared out the largest window areas, mentioning that people might be visible in the shot if they crowded too close. Across the courtyard, a crowd of people on the third-floor men’s restroom nearly leaned out the window; a crewmember yelled at them to close it.

Professor Daniela Mairhofer of the Classics Department has an office with windows that look directly over the courtyard. When asked if she had received any prior warning or instructions from the crew, she said she hadn’t. “Not beforehand,” she said, “but when they started filming, a crew member came to my office and told me to turn off the lights … I am sitting and working now in the dark, all in the line of duty for a (hopefully) good movie.”

take film projects on campus on a case-by-case basis. All filming is carefully planned with a focus on safety and minimizing any disruption to the University community. Generally, Princeton seeks only to recover any costs to the University that are incurred by the production.”

The University Office of Communications did not respond to a specific question about whether PSAFE officers were additionally compensated or supported for their role in enforcing the barriers and filming perimeter.

After filming for over an hour at East Pyne, some of the cast and crew took a break in Whig Hall and then moved to the University Chapel to continue production.

Mujtuba Yousufi ’24 was able to score a picture with Christopher Nolan in the chapel, and told the ‘Prince’ how he made it happen.

Nolan has been nominated twice for best picture,

SOPHOMORE YEAR

2022 – 2023

The Class of 2025 returned in their sophomore year to an expanded campus, with New College West and Yeh College largely constructed over the summer of 2022. As First College began to be demolished, its members were placed into New College West, and other members of the Class of 2025 became new residents of Yeh College.

In September, the University made two major financial announcements: That Princeton would cover the entire cost of atten -

dance for families making less than $100,000 a year, and that it would dissociate from 90 fossil fuel companies and stop investing in publicly traded ones.

When Declaration Day came in the spring, the Class of 2025 celebrated their majors in front of orange and black banners and drizzly rain. It was the first time in four years that the number of students declaring COS BSE dipped, following tech layoffs and the ChatGPT’s

introduction to the world in November.

Both Princeton’s men’s and women’s basketball teams had a banner year. The men’s team beat the Arizona Wildcats over spring break to send them to the Sweet Sixteen, and women’s basketball made it through the first round of March Madness before falling to Utah in the second round.

SEPT NEWS

Princeton to eliminate student contribution, cover entire cost for families making up to $100K

SEPT

OPINION

Restructuring late meal’s pricing

So we’re still pretending tuition is necessary?

FEB

OPINION

If ChatGPT can do our homework, AI isn’t the problem

Princeton to eliminate student contribution, cover entire cost for families making up to $100K

By Drew Somerville | September 8, 2022

Beginning in Fall 2023, most families making up to $100,000 annually will be eligible to receive financial aid covering the entirety of the expenses to attend Princeton. The University announced the expansion of their financial aid program on Sept. 8, adding that the student contribution requirement of financial aid packages will be eliminated.

Previously, families making up to $65,000 were eligible to receive this amount of aid, but the new expansion is expected to allow over 25% of undergraduates to attend Princeton free of cost.

The expansion also acknowledged that many families making more than $100,000 will receive additional aid, “including those at higher income levels with multiple children in college.”

“A majority of the additional scholarship funding will benefit families earning less than $150,000,” the University’s announcement reads.

According to a graphic posted with the announcement, families making between $150,000 and $300,000 will receive between $11,000 and $15,500 more in aid.

The student contribution will also be eliminated for all students, which was previously set at $3,500. The allocation for the contribution is also being expanded to $4,050 “to provide more flexibility for students to cover course books and other miscellaneous expenses.”

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Dean of Admission Karen Richardson ’93 emphasized that the contribution “should not be a barrier for students to participate in other activities,” including study abroad, extra- and co-curriculars.

“Hopefully by eliminating the need to have that student contribution will allow students to think more broadly about how they might engage in their time at Princeton,” she said.

The expansion “will make it

possible for the students with the highest financial need to bring two guests (typically family members) to campus for first year move-in and for senior year Commencement,” as part of “other enhancements” to the financial aid program, the announcement reads.

In a video address accompanying the announcement, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 emphasized that this expansion will help to “ensure that talented students from all backgrounds” have access to a Princeton education.

Eisgruber thanked the generosity of “alumni and friends” of the University for making the expansion possible.

According to Princeton Alum- ni Weekly (PAW), the 2021–22 giving cycle was the most generous in Princeton’s history, with $81.8 million received from alumni.

Richardson told the ‘Prince’ that “tremendous returns from the endowment” are also responsible for this expansion. She pointed out that the University has made other changes in policies in recent history to “make a Princeton education accessible to more students,” including “the graduate stipend major increase” and “increasing the size of the [undergraduate] student body.”

Richardson said that she expects the process of applying for aid to become “more transparent” due to the Financial Aid Estimator, which provides “readily available information” about aid packages.

Dean of the College Jill Dolan emphasized the importance of this expansion for the future of the University in the announcement.

“Princeton’s generous financial aid program has transformed the socioeconomic diversity of our undergraduate student population, allowing more students from across backgrounds to learn from one another’s life experiences,” Dolan said.

Princeton to dissociate from 90 fossil fuel companies, including Exxon Mobil

By Paige Cromley | September 29, 2022

On Sept. 29, Princeton University announced that its Board of Trustees voted earlier in the month to dissociate from Exxon Mobil Corp., NRG Energy Inc., and 88 other corporations “active in the thermal coal or tar sands segments of the fossil fuel industry.”

The anouncement also stated that the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) will “eliminate all holdings in publicly traded fossil fuel companies” and “ensure that the endowment does not benefit from any future exposure to those companies” as part of the Board’s “commitment to achieving a net-zero endowment portfolio over time.”

Princeton has current or recent financial relationships with 10 of the 90 companies listed as subject to dissociation, including Exxon Mobil, NRG Energy, and Canadian Natural Resources.

According to the announcement, the “quantitative criteria used to determine the dissociation list were

based on recommendations made by a panel of faculty experts in a report submitted in May.”

The Faculty Panel on Dissociation Metrics, Principles, and Standards had been created after the Board of Trustees first announced its intention to dissociate from “companies engaged in climate disinformation campaigns or that are involved in the thermal coal and tar sands segments of the fossil fuel industry” in May 2021, following recommendations from the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) Resources Committee.

The thermal coal and tar sands segments of the fossil fuel industry were identified for their exceptionally high carbon dioxide emissions compared to other fossil fuels, according to the announcement.

Dissociation includes divestment — a decision to refuse to invest — from a corporation, but is defined by the University as “also refraining, to the greatest extent possible, from from any relationships that involve

a financial component with a particular company,” including “soliciting or accepting gifts or grants from a company, purchasing the company’s products, or forming partnerships with the company that depend upon the exchange of money.”

This includes research partnerships with a financial component, such as Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, which has had an ongoing research partnership with Exxon Mobil since 2015.

To compensate for the research funding lost as a result of dissociation, the University will “establish a new fund to support energy research at Princeton.”

In the announcement, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 was quoted praising this new fund, saying, “Princeton will have the most significant impact on the climate crisis through the scholarship we generate and the people we educate.”

In the May 2022 issue of the

Princeton Alumni Weekly, the University released figures related to its holdings in the fossil fuel industry, revealing a $1.7 billion exposure to the industry with $13 million directly invested in fossil-fuel corporations. In the 2021 fiscal year, Princeton’s endowment was valued at $37.7 billion.

The announcement also points out that the University could reform relationships with companies subject to dissociation in the future if it deems that they have “sufficiently changed their practices such that they no longer meet the criteria” for dissociation.

Currently, the University is contacting the leaders of the companies on the list, and if “a company provides information in a timely manner that resolves the concerns or demonstrates changed behavior moving forward, it could be exempt from dissociation and removed from the list.”

Students have been advocating for fossil fuel divestment for almost

a decade. Most recently, campus activist group Divest Princeton held a rally on Sept. 23 where students expressed concern about the slow pace of University action, as well as its acceptance of research funding from fossil fuel companies.

Divest Princeton student coordinators Nate Howard ’25 and Aaron Serianni ’25 wrote in a joint statement to The Daily Princetonian that “[t]his decision is the result of a decade of activism by Princeton students, faculty, staff, and alumni.”

They said, however, that “Princeton still falls short.”

Howard is a contributing columnist for the ‘Prince.’

“Divest Princeton will keep fighting for our goals of full divestment and the end to all fossil fuel funding of research on campus,” the two student coordinators wrote. “We know that it’s possible: They’ve come this far. It’s Princeton’s moment to become a leader.”

So we’re still pretending tuition is necessary?

By Rohit Narayanan | September 8, 2022

Earlier this morning, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 announced an enormous increase in student financial aid. Increasing student aid is one of the better uses of the University’s recent financial gains, second only to expanding the student body (which Princeton is also doing). But increasing aid is not enough — Princeton needs to take steps to drastically reduce its sticker price, if not eliminate tuition altogether. Tuition is completely unnecessary to university finances and by keeping its sticker price high, Princeton contributes to tuition infla -

tion across the country where aid is not so plentiful.

Students may already be aware that the University doesn’t rely primarily on tuition to fund its operations, but the numbers are staggering. In 2021, net tuition and fees — that is, student payments minus student aid — came out to a grand total of just under five percent of the University’s operating revenue. The total amount raised by tuition and fees, just more than $100 million, is less than the more than $300 million surplus that Princeton ran in 2021. That means Princeton could have cut all student fees cam -

pus-wide while still having a budget surplus of about $200 million. We pay tuition out of a sense of tradition more than anything else.

Now, the most obvious argument against eliminating tuition is that eliminating tuition would be a massive giveaway to the richest families on campus. If Princeton is able to be perfectly price discriminatory and fleece the rich for every last cent they could pay, why shouldn’t it? In The Harvard Crimson, Editorial Editor Joel Sabando argued that Harvard’s tuition should be much higher: up to $1 million so that the ultra-wealthy pay the same proportion of their income as any other Harvard student.

But viewing tuition at ultra-elite colleges as a method of economic justice is missing the forest for the trees. Even if every dollar in tuition was put to great use at Princeton or Harvard, which it obviously isn’t, that money is benefitting Princeton and Harvard students who already have extraordinary advantages just from attending. If you think the wealthy need to contribute more to society, that money should be paid in taxes which benefit the average American, not tuition to elite colleges.

One might think that every extra dollar counts, and if families can pay, they should. But that ignores the fact that Princeton is contributing to an inflated college price market. Princeton is one of the best-known colleges in the world and its decisions have impacts. If Princeton substantially dropped maximum tuition, say even to just $10,000 annually including room and board, our peer institutions would face enormous pressure to do the same, especially from the upper-middle-class students who have the most sway over the University. If our peers kept increasing tuition, they would be hit on the very metrics that they care most about: number of applicants, U.S. News and World Report rankings, and yield rate.

Other private colleges might have to start dropping tuition to match, and as tuition at private colleges starts to drop with lots of press and fanfare, public colleges could start feeling the pressure not to charge well above the private options. The only tangible way to reduce tuition prices is to apply

downward market pressure. Currently, elite colleges charging exorbitant fees (even if they’re mostly returned in aid) allow other colleges to raise prices as well. Princeton and Harvard can’t solve this problem on their own, but in a market economy, price signals from the biggest brands are bound to make a difference.

Let’s be clear about what lowering tuition means for colleges across the country — it means cutting costs. Princeton may not rely on tuition to stay afloat, but other colleges do. The University of Virginia (UVA) credited 35.6 percent of its non-medical revenue to student tuition and fees in 2021 and only spends 6.3 percent of its academic budget on student aid. If UVA had to slash tuition, that would mean substantially cutting yearly costs. Some statistics suggest that colleges should cut down on administrative costs. While bureaucratic bloat is no doubt a real problem, pretending that waste, fraud, and abuse will be perfectly targeted by cost-cutting measures is naive. The argument about bureaucratic bloat is also often tied to conservative critiques of “diversity deans.” Even if we did want to cut these positions, we aren’t going to meaningfully reduce costs on the back of DEI programs. If we cut costs, the student experience will be affected.

It seems arrogant to sit at Princeton, with its massive endowment, and plot to worsen the student experience at other universities. But the truth is that students are not paying for an “experience,” they’re paying for a degree. College costs have gone up because the degree is valuable enough that people are willing to pay for it and able to pay for it because of federally guaranteed student loans. But the “high tuition high aid” model pioneered at Harvard and Princeton has contributed to a world where colleges compete more on amenities than price, where colleges gouge prices and taxpayers to guarantee the money, and where generations of students are hampered by mountains of debt. Because of the market economy, other colleges have adopted the high tuition, but not the high aid.

We have at least some responsibility to try and set it right.

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM

If ChatGPT can do our homework, AI isn’t the problem

By Christopher Lidard | February 1, 2023

Recent coverage of ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI that uses the power of machine learning (ML) to generate responses to text prompts, has primarily fallen into one of two camps: those that assert the death of the college essay and those that hail a new era of streamlined education where students are freed from mucking through first drafts. My perspective is more realistic and lies somewhere in between: the limitations of ChatGPT are significant enough that it can and should serve as a helpful tool, but it won’t be able to kill the college essay or revolutionize much of anything, at least in its current form.

Last month, Senior Columnist Mohan Setty-Charity ’24 urged the University to be cautious before rushing to ban tools like ChatGPT. He is correct, but not because artificial intelligence (AI) will replace the college essay for Princeton students. Instead, we should use the advent of this tool to question whether our homework assignments are just asking to create coherent text rather than develop coherent ideas.

To start, GPTZero is not particularly effective at writing college essays. As advanced and sophisticated as language models like ChatGPT may seem, it is important to remember that they are just algorithms trained on vast amounts of data. Further, as computer science professor Arvind Narayanan and PhD candidate Sayash Kapoor recently explained, they can easily become “bullshit generators” if we don’t use them with caution. This is because ChatGPT,

like any AI model, is only as good as the data it is trained on. If the model is trained on a dataset that contains inaccuracies or biases, it will reflect those in its generated text. Further, the actual output of ChatGPT is based on the probability of certain sentence constructions, not any measure of truth. This means that any text produced by ChatGPT, while potentially helpful in terms of finding content or ideas, needs to be thoroughly checked for accuracy and precision before being submitted as student work. In my experience, over a longer stretch of text, it doesn’t appear that GPT says anything beyond the superficial. Even those with heavy reliance on the tool for written work will still have to undertake a great deal of original thinking to create any assignment worthy of merit.

Given this, if students are being assigned essays that can be written by ChatGPT, perhaps it’s not a good assignment in the first place. ChatGPT begs us to rethink the purpose and value of homework. Some would argue that ChatGPT subverts the purpose of a good education by providing students with instant, personalized assistance on a wide range of subjects and topics. Yet if Princeton homework can be completed by a machine, what is its true value?

Instead of assigning homework as a way to evaluate learning, it should be used as an opportunity to challenge students and their ability to extend upon core concepts, while generating original arguments and insights. ChatGPT can be used to help students achieve the bare minimum, but Prince-

ton courses generally have a more ambitious aim: to teach students to think critically, solve problems, and apply what they have learned in new and creative ways. That is something that ChatGPT cannot do well, and, consequently, any student will still find themselves “filling in” critical thinking for their essays. AI is simply a tool, and, like any tool, it needs to be used with caution and in conjunction with human intelligence. The aspects of homework that are actually valuable won’t be lost if students draft individual parts of essays with ChatGPT, then edit them. In fact, this represents a valid and time-efficient way of completing written work that avoids the minutiae of drafting while preserving the voice and original thinking of the writer.

The sure sign of pure ChatGPT output that will show through in any written work is a lack of critical thought. A ban is not necessary for students to face the consequences of an unedited draft. On the other hand, if a ban on ChatGPT were put in place, teachers may rely on tools like GPTZero, an AI detection algorithm made by Edward Tian ’23. While GPTZero is an impressive tool, its accuracy remains untested in a real-world context at this time. Teachers don’t need to rely on the suspicions about esoteric measures such as “perplexity” and “burstiness” that GPTZero may raise; the clear lack of coherence or accuracy from ChatGPT output is a much easier indicator of failure to

demonstrate critical thought. These key differences become clearer and even more obvious as a user becomes more familiar with AI-generated text. I anticipate that faculty will learn rather quickly how to spot the aforementioned ‘generated bullshit,’ and assign a commensurate grade without bringing honor into question. In contrast, if faculty were to become reliant on an AI detection tool with contested accuracy because of a ChatGPT ban, the amount of false positives and false negatives may confound a grading process that should be focused on a broader sense of understanding. It is clear that banning ChatGPT at Princeton University is not only unnecessary—it would be silly. If anyone were foolish enough to turn in a raw ChatGPT-produced essay, it would be easily detectable with other AI tools such as GPTZero, not to

mention that the inaccuracies in the text could be easily spotted by any grader. The University needs to see clearly how the limitations of this product allow for a better learning environment that is by no means substantively threatened by plagiarism or dishonesty.

By the way, more than 80% of this column was drafted by ChatGPT. It took me slightly less time to edit and augment than writing an article from scratch, but much of the work of developing ideas remained the same as an original piece. If you run it through GPTZero, it raises some flags, but this column has been so heavily edited that it appears to be human text. My main thesis statement, most importantly, was 100% original, much like any ChatGPT-assisted essay worth turning in.

JUNIOR YEAR 2023 – 2024

As the new juniors came back to roam campus in the fall, they left something behind — their electric scooters, which were newly restricted in the fall of 2023 before being banned in January. They walk-a-flocked to Lawnpaties on their own two feet to see Waka Flocka Flame in the pouring rain and experienced a tree crash into Edwards Hall in the early hours of the morning.

International events were felt acutely even within the Orange Bubble. After the start of the Israel-Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, students and community members demonstrated intermittently, calling for the University’s divestment from Israel. On April 25, after protests erupted at Columbia and a number of other universities nationwide, a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment”

was launched at Princeton.

Prospect Avenue had a busy year: The first year of the class-size expansion hit the Street in the winter, and a record 80 percent of participated.sophomores In November, it surfaced that the Cloister Club might be sinking, but the club made it through the year and another, leaving the street complete as the Class of 2025 graduates.

JAN NEWS

Cloister Inn to stay afloat through spring semester

FEB

OPINION

Zero suicides is not just a dream. We can make it reality.

MAR

OPINION

SHUT UP AND DANCE: Women’s basketball roars past Columbia for fifthstraight Ivy title

APR NEWS

Labyrinth will no longer supply books for Princeton course

A timeline of the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’

Zero suicides

is not just a dream. We can make it

reality.

By Eleanor Clemans-Cope | February 23, 2024

Content Warning: The following article includes mention of suicide.

University Counseling services are available at 609-258-3141, and the Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 988 or +1 (800) 273-TALK (8255). A Crisis Text Line is also available in the United States; text HOME to 741741. Students can contact residential college staff and the Office of Religious Life for other support and resources.

Back in February 2023, our Princeton community found itself in profound grief after the passing of Maura Coursey GS. In October 2022, we mourned Misrach Ewunetie ’24. This February, we find ourselves grieving again for two more students, both first-years, lost. There is a mental and behavioral health crisis on this campus.

As I wrote last February, if Princeton had the national average rate of suicides among 15- to 24-year-olds, there would be one death each year. One death would still be too many, but our community has experienced tragedy far beyond that: We have grieved seven preventable deaths in the past three years

This is heartbreaking and unacceptable. But leadership is defeatist, disengaged, and complacent: At the Council of the Princeton University Community meeting on Monday, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 said that “there are tragedies that take place, even when people do all the things that they should be doing.”

This perspective is dangerously misguided. While peer institutions have struggled to find sufficient solutions to the mental health crisis, we can look to clinical settings to find successful programs that are increasingly proving the inspiring reality that at a committed, effective organization, suicide is preventable. Individual support, from a loving friend or parent, is not enough to reach zero suicides — this is a challenge that must be taken on by organizations. Princeton can be that organization.

The “Zero Suicide Approach” is effective at dramatically reducing suicide rates, although its implementation has so far focused on clinical settings. In implementing these evidence-based practices, a mental health center in Maine decreased suicide deaths by 60 percent, a New Hampshire mental health center decreased suicide deaths by 44 percent, and the Betty Hardwick Center for mental health in Texas got to zero, among many other success stories. Although these are mental health institutions with many high-risk patients, this approach is applicable to Princeton: We have the need for it, and we have the resources to screen, identify, and support every student that needs help. We can bring the Zero Suicide approach to the world of residential communities. This approach is not just a possibility but a necessity for the University.

So how do we achieve this?

Right from the start, the leadership of Princeton University — administration, faculty, USG, CPS — must fully embrace the Zero Suicide core value: “the belief and commitment that suicide can be eliminated” on our campus. This leadership piece is by far the hardest part. That’s why, at the beginning of this school year, I called for President Eisgruber to step up or step aside. This is still his burden. We must demand better. What we need now is new leadership.

And with that new leadership, we need to appoint a “Zero Czar.” The idea of appointing a czar to address a mental health crisis is not new, but a Zero Czar would be new for universities. This person, a top administrator with a singular focus on preventing student suicide, must have the trust and confidence of the student body and access to as much money as they need to achieve the goal — don’t worry, the University can afford it.

Eisgruber’s misguided remarks give the false impression that a comprehensive strategy is already in place, but this is far from the reality. The Zero Czar has plenty to work on.

The Zero Suicide approach has a few

core strategies, with many components that Princeton hasn’t tried and none at the scale and depth that is necessary.

First is comprehensive suicide prevention that reaches every student. This would require an enormous and game-changing investment in evidence-based clinical care. We would start with a simple two question universal annual screening with follow-up questions for those with a positive screen. The continuum of care must reach a huge expansion of free, high-quality, immediate, evidence-based, unlimited clinical care at McCosh with supports as small or as intensive as students need — a departure from now, where some Princeton students are not able to access basic mental health care. Treatment must be provided with the “no wrong door” attitude — anything that a student does to indicate that they want or need care should be enough to get them immediate access to free, high-quality care.

The continuum of care for suicide prevention also encompasses state-of-the-art suicide postvention to support those at heightened risk

after an event. As part of an effort to continuously improve, the University should also conduct a confidential internal review of every death on campus to examine the context and delivery of care in order to identify specific areas for improvement, similar to the CDC’s Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs).

From these reviews, the University needs to update its lethal means safety — “making a suicide attempt method less available or more difficult to access immediately” — after every event. Although the University has already put a number of precautions in place, they can do better. The window of time between contemplating suicide and taking action can be alarmingly narrow — often less than ten minutes — and contrary to the common belief that individuals determined to end their lives will simply find another means if their preferred method is unavailable, evidence strongly suggests otherwise.

Another important strategy is an extreme culture shift towards viewing suicide prevention as a collective responsibility of our campus. To support this, leadership must put in

place new evidence-based community structures to promote a radical increase in connectedness and belonging. The practical implications mean not just further supporting student social activities, but also recognizing the crucial role every campus employee plays in fostering student connections with every community member— every interaction has the potential to enhance students’ sense of belonging. When a student feels disconnected, encouraging interactions with instructors and graduate students can fill crucial gaps. This means all campus relationships are critical components of a comprehensive strategy to nurture a supportive and interconnected campus community.

The Princeton community must abandon the insidious idea that suicides are inevitable. These deaths are preventable, and the University leadership has a duty to act. This is not just an aspiration, but an achievable goal. By adopting an informed strategy, Princeton will be a model of a safer, more supportive academic community. We can and should demand this from our University.

CALVIN GROVER / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

SPORTS SHUT UP AND DANCE: Women’s basketball

roars past Columbia for fifth-straight Ivy title

By Max Hines | March 16, 2024

NEW YORK, NY — Af-

ter a season of buildup between the two Ivy League superpowers, the final battle arrived.

When the Tigers last traveled up to Manhattan three weeks ago, the women’s basketball team left a soldout Levien Gymnasium with their first conference loss of the season, falling 67–65 to the Columbia Lions. Today, when an opportunity arose to avenge that defeat and return to the NCAA Tournament yet again, the ladies delivered.

“It’s one of the goals we’re working for every year. It’s really special,” senior Ellie Mitchell said after the game. “You’ll carry it with you for the rest of your life.”

In a decisive beatdown, Princeton (25—4 overall, 13—1 Ivy League) steamrolled Columbia (23—6, 13—1) 75–58 in the Ivy Madness championship game, punching a March Madness ticket for the fifth-straight year and leaving no doubt which of these two big cats reigns supreme in the Ivy League jungle.

In front of a hostile pride of Lions fans, Princeton took the lead from the get-go and never looked back, overcoming their shaky semifinal performance yesterday to put together potentially their most complete game of the season when the lights shone brighter than ever.

“We knew the scout, we knew the game plan, and they executed it really well,” Head Coach Carla Berube said after the game. “I think today, the difference maker was just the poise, the patience that we had to get the best shot that we could.”

Senior forward Ellie Mitchell won the opening tip for the Tigers, setting the tone immediately in front of the hostile crowd. Mitchell passed to sophomore guard Madison St. Rose, who made a quick jumper and another for the Tigers to quickly go up 4–0. Princeton kept the ball rolling in the opening minutes, forcing four turnovers to prevent Columbia from gathering any offensive momentum.

Helped by Princeton’s famously strong defense and shots on the inside from Mitchell and fellow senior guard Chet Nweke, the Tigers rolled into the media timeout up 11–5, clearly unfazed by Columbia’s home court fans.

Out of the timeout, the Tigers kept the defensive momentum going with

renewed energy from the bench. First-year guard Ashley Chea and sophomore forward Tabitha Amanze made their presence known, as Chea collected a layup, a key block, and assisted an Amanze layup. Amanze and her 6-foot-4-inch frame helped power the defensive onslaught, as the Tigers forced seven Columbia turnovers in the first quarter to power a 19–14 lead.

“Our bench is awesome,” Chen said after the game. “They bring the energy every night, and we couldn’t be here without them.”

Key to the defensive success was containing star Columbia guard Abbey Hsu, who scored her first points of the game with just seconds to go in the quarter. Hsu — the Ivy League Player of the Year — controlled Harvard to the tune of 22 points and 14 rebounds last night and is the engine that powers the Lions’ attack.

While she was contained in the first, Hsu began to wake up in the second. Starting things off with a deep three, Hsu had eight in the quarter before the first timeout.

Heading into the media timeout with three and a half minutes to go, Mitchell’s and Hsu’s efforts nearly canceled each other out, as Princeton maintained a 29–25 lead. While Mitchell honed her craft in the paint, all of Abbey Hsu’s shots thus far came from beyond the arc, where she sunk three out of seven.

Not to be counted out, Princeton’s star power had answers. Senior guard and captain Kaitlyn Chen began to heat up after a relatively quiet first 15 minutes by draining two free throws and scoring on an easy layup on a play set up down low by Mitchell.

Led by Mitchell and Nweke, Princeton outrebounded Columbia by four and outscored them in the paint 26–6, but Columbia outscored Princeton 18–3 from long distance on nine more attempts. A clear battle of styles was developing, and the second half was set to determine who would emerge victorious after Princeton led 34–27 at the break.

“Whether it was getting into the post or it was on drives, I think it was really important for us to get paint touches that can open up things on the outside,” Berube said. “You’re always looking to score from inside.”

St. Rose started the scoring out of halftime with a quick jumper. Guard Cecilia Collins took the reins of the Co-

lumbia offense, dropping five points in the first five minutes, including a deep three that awakened the crowd. Heading into the media timeout, St. Rose answered, ending the Tigers’ one-ofnine three-point shooting drought with a jumper from long range.

The third quarter has been the Tigers’ all year, and they continued that trend today. Chea came to life from long distance, draining two corner threes and adding a jumper. Finishing the quarter on a layup from junior forward Parker Hill with seconds to go, Princeton went into the fourth with a 55–39 lead.

Notably, Hsu scored zero points on zero attempts in the quarter. While Princeton’s 21 points in the quarter are the flashiest number from the frame, Hsu’s 0–0 proved to be a major setback in the Lions’ attempt to claw back the lead.

“Abbey has the ability to get up some quick shots and get them right back in the game,” Mitchell said. “It wasn’t going to be the one person that was on her, so I think that’s what we did [to stop her.] We had each other’s back, trust[ed] their help, and just communicated well.”

While Hsu tried to bring the Li ons back into the game with a quick three to start the fourth, Princeton kept their momentum going. Four Tigers scored in the first six minutes, contributing to Princeton’s 10–9 ad vantage in the beginning of the quarter. Heading into the media timeout, St. Rose dropped the hammer, sinking her second three of the game to bring Princeton up 65–48 with just under four minutes to go.

If Columbia wanted a glimmer of hope, their odds were longer than Princeton men’s basketball’s near-successful Hail Mary attempt earlier today. In the final minutes, the Tigers pushed their lead towards 20 as the narrow window Columbia had to secure a comeback fell out of reach. When the final buzzer sounded, Princeton emerged victorious, winning in dominant fashion with a score of 75–58.

St. Rose led the scoring for the Tigers with 18 points followed closely by Chen, who was named Ivy League Tournament MVP for the third-con

secutive year, with 17.

“When you have Kaitlyn Chen on your team, you’re going to be okay,” Berube said. “You have someone that is the floor general; she’s poised, and she said it herself, she was a bit more poised tonight.”

Ellie Mitchell had yet another double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mitchell is already the leading rebounder in Princeton history, and Saturday night’s success only added to her impressive time on the Tiger squad.

“Ellie sets a standard, like that’s what we are all striving to be,” Chen added.

The Tigers head into the Big Dance looking for their third-consecutive first-round victory after a win over Kentucky in 2022 and a dramatic triumph against NC State last year. After season-ending second-round losses to Indiana and Utah the last two years, the Tigers will look to accomplish a feat the program has never reached before — the Sweet 16.

Experts predict them to be a nineseed, which would be the Tigers’ highest seed since the storied 2014–

team, who entered the tournament with a 30–0 record as an eight-seed. The Tigers, if given a nine-seed, would have a first-round matchup with an eight-seed before a potential showdown with a first seed. Tiger fans can find out the Tigers fate tomorrow night when ESPN airs Selection Sunday, March 17 at 8 p.m.

It’s a waiting game for Columbia, who likely remain on the outside looking in despite ranking 57th in the NET and making it to the Women’s NIT final after being snubbed yet again last year.

“Columbia should be in the NCAA tournament,” Berube stated, echoing Columbia’s Head Coach Megan Griffith. “They are a really, really good team.”

While Berube’s defensive machine may seem like an arduous undertaking to manage, she still sees every game as a riveting experience and challenge — and looks forward to fighting to advance in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s exciting, it’s fun, and we’re going in there, whoever we play, looking to win games.”

Labyrinth will no longer supply books for Princeton courses

By Christopher Bao & Annie Rupertus | April 9, 2024

After 17 years, Princeton’s coursebook partner ship with local independent bookstore Labyrinth Books is coming to an end.

Starting this summer, coursebooks will be supplied through the online retailer eCampus. According to the University and Labyrinth, the split was a mutual decision. Some students, though, expressed disappointment with the switch, as well as surprise. At publication time, there has not been a formal, publicized announcement issued to the University community.

Many students head to Nassau Street at the start of each semester to purchase coursebooks through Labyrinth at a 30 percent discount, which they can return for a full refund during the two-week add/ drop period and sell back to the bookstore at the end of the semester.

“The change was based on our mutual agreement that our long-standing system no longer made sense for the store or for the University,” University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian.

A press release from Labyrinth sent to the ‘Prince’ noted that the bookstore would shift its focus to expand its “used and antiquarian holdings.” They also hope that the shift will allow the downstairs area to include “more flexibly sized event areas, and smaller meeting spaces, as well as remodeled displays and inviting seating.”

eCampus offers new books, used books, ebooks, and rentals. Students will still be able to sell books back, but the University did not directly respond to a question about how buy-backs will operate through eCampus.

The new website states “More information about this program will be available soon” at the time of publication. Students will still be able to sell textbooks from the 2023–24 school year back to Labyrinth until June 15.

Books for summer programs will be available online for purchase starting May 1 and Fall semester coursebooks will be available beginning August 1. Students can order books to any shipping address.

Princeton University Mail Services processes roughly 20 percent of the packages they receive annually between late August and September, reflecting the high volume of incoming mail during move-in. The University did not directly respond to a question about whether the new coursebook system could further delay Mail Services processing times in Frist Campus Center at the start of the semester, although Morrill did write, “It should be noted that eCampus stocks and houses its own inventory in a state-of-theart distribution center, offers free 2-day expedited shipping to Campus and has a vast selection of digital resources, as well as providing a guaranteed book buyback price for students displayed on selected titles at the time of checkout.”

The University also did not directly respond to a question about the environmental impact of switching to a coursebook delivery system.

When asked about the transition and potential renovation process, Labyrinth co-owners Dorothea von Moltke and Cliff Simms noted that “the timeline is uncertain, will depend on finances, and may necessitate store closures at different moments.”

The partnership between

Labyrinth and the University dates back to 2007. Simms was quoted in a University article upon the beginning of this partnership, saying “Princeton University has taken the changing bookselling landscape in town as an opportunity … to help ensure that there will still be an independent, community bookstore on Nassau Street and that it can meet the University’s own book-related needs, including course books, as effectively and economically as possible.”

Labyrinth believes that the bookstore will still serve a crucial role in University and town community even after the conclusion of this 17-year-long partnership.

“In continuing to support a post-coursebooks Labyrinth, the University is reiterating the conception it had articulated when they invited Labyrinth to Princeton in 2007: to support a bookstore that serves the needs of both the University and larger community by offering a rich selection of books and program of events,” Labyrinth’s press release continued.

Von Moltke and Simms noted in a separate statement to the ‘Prince’ that the split may have an impact on staff, stating that “approximately a third of our overall revenue has come from coursebook sales. Without coursebook rushes and the preparations, which include receiving, handling, shelving thousands of books, and the labor of returning books to publishers when they don’t sell, we are now in the process of assessing how many fewer people in different areas of the store we will need.”

Labyrinth Books has made recent headlines due to its workers’ unionization in January, which the store’s own-

ership ultimately supported. Still, employees have protested ongoing challenges such as “understaffing and intimidation.”

Currently, employees and management are engaged in collective bargaining.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Labyrinth Books employee Elise Agnor wrote that “Labyrinth Books claims to be pro-union but they are operating in a way that undermines the Union, and the news about Labyrinth’s contract with Princeton is a prime example.”

She continued, “The Union is focused on trying to negotiate a fair and equitable contract; if management actually wants to be considered a pro-union employer, they should act like it and come to the table to negotiate over any changes to status quo, which they failed to do adequately and accurately here.”

Another employee of the store, Meg O’Brien, wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince’ that the news of potential staffing impacts was unexpected, and that “sharing this news with the local newspaper before the terms and conditions of any potential layoffs have been agreed to at the bargaining table is disrespectful to the workers.” She also stated that Labyrinth’s management “must maintain status quo within the store until such a time that an agreement has been reached and ratified.”

The University indicated that the changes come in part as a result of shifting demand from students.

Morrill noted that surveys of faculty and students conducted in 2023 “indicated increasing demand for digital materials and need for flexibility in assigning readings as the semester progresses,” which also factored into the decision.

Indeed, the owners of Labyrinth told the ‘Prince’ that “Post [COVID-19], coursebook sales have dropped by 50 [percent] from 2019. However, the number of books ordered by faculty remained fairly steadystate. COVID-19 accelerated the availability of most course materials in the form of free PDFs. Ordering, receiving, stocking, and returning unsold coursebooks have demanded the [repurposing] of staff and space for [five] months of each year, but with no sustainable returns on invest ment.”

Dean of the College Jill Dolan notified faculty of the switch to eCampus at the end of March. Morrill noted that students will receive relevant information over the summer.

As the change has not yet been announced to the student body, all the students interviewed by the ‘Prince’ for this piece were not yet aware of the change, although the new coursebook landing page has been live since at least March 29, according to Internet Archive.

“This is a travesty,” was the initial reaction of Maia Weintraub ’25 upon hearing the news. Although she noted eCampus could potentially be a convenient option, she said, “I just kind of like the feel of going to a real life bookstore and picking up books, and it kind of takes the fun out of it” to order books online.

Although Sharon Leonard ’27 does not envision that the switch will have a major impact on her, she told the ‘Prince’ that she was “surprised because [she] thought that Labyrinth and Princeton had a really strong connection.”

Cloister Inn to stay afloat through spring semester

By Sofia Arora | January 10, 2024

Cloister Inn will remain open through the spring semester, despite previous concerns of a potential closure. The eating club’s leadership is pursuing a sophomore ‘takeover’ this spring to ensure its long-term survival.

In a letter mailed to Cloister alumni in mid-December, the eating club’s Graduate Board of Governors explained that the club raised over $100,000 in less than two weeks at the end of 2023 in an “unprecedented show of “Thankssupport.” to our alumni, we’re halfway through our fundraising goal of $250K and are on pace to finish through the end of the school year,” the Board wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian.

The alumni letter emphasized that while the eating club will have enough funds to operate for the spring semester, the long-term future of Cloister remains uncertain.

“[O]ur work is not finished. The urgency we communicated was very real, and while we are now optimistic, we aren’t getting complacent,” the letter reads.

Cloister is currently one of the smallest clubs on the Street with 44 members, according to an internal email sent to Cloister members. Membership rates at the eating club have been decreasing since the pandemic.

To increase membership, Cloister leadership is encouraging prospective members to consider staging a ‘takeover,’ recruiting large groups of students to join the eating club during 2024’s Street Week, to bring the club to full capacity and revitalize it through new undergraduate leadership.

As an incentive, the incoming Cloister class will be rewarded with a $50,000 discretionary fund, termed a

‘Membership Fund,’ if a successful takeover of 50 or more undergraduates is achieved. The fund would finance new members’ wish list of improvements and changes to Cloister’s amenities and services.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Cloister Board President Jose Pincay-Delgado ’77 suggested ideas including “upgrading our movie room [and] hot tub, planning fun off-campus trips, [and] booking live bands.”

According to the Board’s statement to the ‘Prince,’ Cloister leadership has already received a number of proposals from groups of undergraduates interested in a club takeover, detailing their ideas for how the extra funds would be used.

The alumni letter shared a similar sentiment, adding that “interest is gathering among sports teams and interest

groups – both those that have a legacy of Cloister membership as well as new ones.”

Historically, Cloister has been home to athletes involved in water sports. Currently, one-third of Cloister is part of the swimming and diving, water polo, or rowing teams.

The Board also added that the Membership Fund at- tracted more alumni support, including those “who specifically wanted to donate to help bolster the Membership Fund.”

Beyond the Membership Fund, alumni donations are also being used to ensure the quality of service at Cloister.

The alumni letter stated that club leadership prioritizes offering a “fantastic sophomore member experience” to new members, regardless of how many members are in the club. With low current membership, Cloister must reach into their

reserve funds to provide this experience, especially since the “financial benefit of a large class of sophomores will not be felt until Fall 2024 when they become full members.”

During its closure during the COVID-19 pandemic and the following years of low membership, Cloister had used 90 percent of its reserve funds, according to a previous letter sent to alumni. According to Form 990 tax filings for the fiscal year ending June 2022, Cloister reported a net loss of almost $270,000 in 2022.

In their most recent letter, the board added that they need to rebuild their reserve funds in addition to funding the Membership Fund and club services for the “club to be sustainable for the short and long term.”

A timeline of the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’

Plans leak

Unlike other universities where encampments began unexpectedly, planning documents for the Princeton encampment were leaked to conservative outlet National Review. They published a story on Wednesday morning, before the actual sit-in began. The documents, independently verified by the ‘Prince,’ outlined a plan for at least 20 people camping overnight. A leaked press release — similar but not identical to demand sheets circulated at the actual sit-in the next day — noted protesters would call for the University to “divest and disassociate from Israel” and publicly endorse a ceasefire.

The University responds Hours later, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun sent a campus-wide email warning that anyone 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.” The move followed mass arrests at Columbia and Yale at their encampments earlier in the week, and marked a rare step in which a university preemptively warned that it would arrest student protesters for setting up tents.

In a message to a planning group chat obtained by the ‘Prince,’ an organizer called the email “a partial bluff” and wrote “we will not be deterred.”

GSG criticizes bar of grad students from campus

The executive board of the Graduate Student Government (GSG) issued a statement urging the University to allow Sayed and Sivalingam to return to campus. University spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss clarified that the students would be permitted to return to their housing, as their bar from campus did not extend to non-dormitory residences.

CJL, Chabad comment on sit-in

Later that afternoon, Executive Director of Princeton’s Center for Jewish Life (CJL) Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91 issued a statement on the sit-in. While he said that some rhetoric and activities were “hateful toward Israel and disturbing for many to experience,” he added that “it’s also important to say that despite these concerns, the majority of students are not living in fear.”

Rabbi Eitan Webb, the co-director of Princeton Chabad, had counterprotested at the sit-in and wrote in an email to the Chabad listserv that he “came away inspired.”

“I’ve probably had more than 50 conversations with students over the last day and they care too,” he wrote. “The Jewish people are alive.”

Around 30 students held Shabbat dinner at the sit-in later that night, including kosher-for-Passover food.

Sit-in begins, two students arrested Protesters established Princeton’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at 7 a.m. Thursday morning in McCosh courtyard. Initially, they erected tents on the grass, and after a warning at 7:03 a.m., two graduate students — Achinthya Sivalingam GS and Hassan Sayed GS — were arrested at 7:06 a.m. mid set-up. Both students were immediately barred from campus. Soon after the arrests, the other protesters packed the tents up but remained in the courtyard on tarps and blankets. Building on about 40 initial participants, attendance ballooned to about 250 by noon as news spread.

Flyers circulated throughout the day demanded that the University divest from Israel, call for a ceasefire in Gaza, dissociate from Israeli academic institutions, cultivate relationships with Palestinian institutions, end TigerTrek Israel and Birthright Israel trips sponsored by the Center for Jewish Life (CJL), and dissociate from the Tikvah Fund, a politically Zionist nonprofit that has funded campus events in the past.

Prayers

That day, McCosh courtyard became the “Popular University for Gaza,” a movement organized by the national wing of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Several dozen Muslim students led prayers at the sit-in, surrounded by protesters holding up keffiyehs and blankets for privacy.

Professors lecture at the sit-in Students, faculty and alumni also addressed the crowd throughout the day. At least two history professors also held classes in the courtyard — Max Weiss delivered a lecture for his course History of Palestine/Israel, and Gyan Prakash’s World After Empire seminar met on the grass as well. These professors have since been criticized by alumni for doing so.

Chris Hedges barred Chris Hedges, the former Middle East bureau chief at the New York Times, also spoke and was briefly threatened with arrest from Department of Public Safety (PSAFE) officers for using a megaphone. Hedges was eventually barred from campus for 24 hours.

Statements in support of arrested grad students

Following the arrest of the two graduate students, a group of 145 faculty voiced their support in a letter to University administrators.

The letter demanded “that any and all punitive measures taken against the students be immediately reversed and expunged from their university and public records,” and called for the University to “provide a public and transparent accounting of how disciplinary measures are going to be taken with students moving forward.”

Protesters call for Lawnparties cancellation

As Lawnparties neared, organizers called for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) to cancel the event, sending a message to residential college listservs that included a template for students to copy and send to USG.

“It is vile to continue with festivities while 35,000 people have been killed in just 200 days,” the template read in part. “There is no neutrality. Silence is complicity.”

USG response

Later that night, USG members held an emergency meeting to discuss a potential statement on the sit-in ahead of Lawnparties. The meeting was mostly conducted in an executive session closed to the public, and did not produce an immediate result, despite a petition from several USG members to condemn the arrest of the graduate students.

Lawnparties held mostly uninterrupted

On Sunday, April 28, the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” reminded students of their presence during spring Lawnparties, as many protesters left McCosh courtyard at noon, moving to the Fountain of Freedom in Scudder Plaza, a hotspot for Lawnparties photos.

USG Senate amendment to condemn arrest fails in confusion

Later that day, the USG Senate gathered in a rushed special meeting called by President Avi Attar ’25 at 5 p.m. in Robertson 100, with 24 of the 26 voting members present. They approved a statement calling on the University to “publicly reaffirm the right to speak and peaceably assemble” and “commit to suspending neither student groups nor individuals without meaningful due process.” USG sent a final statement to University officials before the Council of the Princeton University Committee (CPUC) on Monday afternoon.

Morrison Hall locked

Morrison Hall, located just west of Cannon Green and home to the Department of African American Studies (AAS), was locked Tuesday morning. Four of the five undergraduates arrested at Clio were seniors in the AAS department.

Arrested students speak at press conference

At 2 p.m., people involved with the occupation of Clio held a press conference at Palmer Square.

“We prayed and sang together while ziptied and handcuffed. Criminal charges have been filed, disciplinary charges are still pending,” said Khari Franklin ’24, one of the arrested students.

Meanwhile, back at the sit-in on Cannon Green, counterprotesters in support of Israel began to set up south of the lawn. One of the organizers of the counterprotest, Ilay Furman ’25, told the ‘Prince,’

“It is important to remember that we have a lot of kidnapped people still in Gaza that weren’t able to celebrate [Passover].”

Calhoun responds to sit-in

Calhoun also sent an email about the Clio Hall occupation to the student body. She described the takeover as having “created a dangerous situation for protesters, University staff, and law enforcement,” and that staff inside Clio were treated in an “abusive” manner.

Protesters stage sit-in at Clio Hall

Minutes after the CPUC meeting began, a group of students and faculty entered Clio Hall to begin a sit-in at the office of Dean of the Graduate School Rodney Priestley. After approximately 45 minutes, PSAFE officers warned that anyone remaining in the building after 5:30 p.m. would be arrested. Several people, including two student journalists, and professors Ruha Benjamin, Dan-El Padilla Peralta, Naomi Murakawa, and Divya Cherian exited Clio shortly after. The crowd grew to around 200 people who gathered in front and behind Clio, chanting and banging on buckets in support of the 13 people inside. According to an Instagram post from Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD), protesters occupied Priestley’s office to force the University to negotiate. Several dozen protesters blocked the front and back doors of Clio, but made a path as staff were escorted out by PSAFE. Around 6 p.m., officers emerged with Ariel Munczek Edelman GS and Sam Nastase, a researcher in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and escorted them to a TigerTransit bus parked beside Clio.

In one of the most intense moments of the protest, a large group of people gathered around the bus, banging on the windows and shouting, “Let them go.” Others wedged green safety cones in the back left wheel of the bus and blocked it from moving up Elm Drive.

After 30 minutes of chaos outside the bus, history professor Max Weiss addressed the crowd with a megaphone, asking for the road to be cleared so the students on the bus could be released with summonses. The crowd did not budge. Weiss and senior research scholar Zia Mian then stepped onto the bus to discuss with PSAFE before Edelman and Nastase were released three minutes later to cheers from the crowd.

All of the protesters inside Clio were then periodically released through the front to shouts and cheers from the outside crowd, and given a 7:30 p.m. deadline to turn themselves in to PSAFE Headquarters. PSAFE escorted them to their dorms, where they were given ten minutes to gather their belongings. They were then barred from campus.

Students hold silent march and Shabbat services

More than fifty students took part in a “Silent March for Free Speech,” which started at Frist Campus Center and paused for 15 minutes — one for each arrestee — at Nassau Hall.

Additionally, around twenty students held Shabbat services at the sit-in, marking the second service since it began on April 25.

Undergrads begin hunger strike

At least 17 undergraduates began a hunger strike on Friday to urge a meeting between the University and protesters about divestment from Israel. The strikers also called for the criminal and disciplinary charges against the 13 students arrested at Clio Hall to be dropped.

Affinity groups release coordinated statements

At least six student affinity groups released separate statements criticizing the University’s response to the occupation of Clio, including the arrest of students and the closure of Morrison Hall.

More student groups comment on Clio sit-in

At least three additional student affinity groups released statements in support of student protesters, while proIsrael student group B’Artzeinu condemned the occupation of Clio Hall.

Arrested protesters release statement

The 13 arrestees released a statement of their own, declaring that the University “left us no choice but to bring our demands directly to the administration.”

Faculty witnesses address Clio sit-in

Meanwhile, Benjamin and other faculty released a letter accusing Calhoun of mischaracterizing the actions of student protesters during the Clio Hall occupation “in a misleading and even inflammatory way.” Benjamin called the students’ behavior “cordial, quiet, and organized.”

Buildings near Cannon Green remain locked

Throughout the day, both doors to Whig Hall were locked in addition to Morrison Hall and Clio Hall. East Pyne became the only building directly adjacent to the sit-in that remained open for student prox access.

Calls for VP Calhoun’s resignation grow, Eisgruber responds

Pushback against Calhoun escalated as protesters marched to Firestone Plaza to oppose an event organized by her office on May 2. Additionally, a letter signed by 82 faculty members called for her resignation and urged the University to drop charges against the arrested protesters.

Amidst growing discontent with Calhoun’s handling of the protests, Eisgruber expressed his support for her in a statement to the ‘Prince,’ writing, “Some commentary on this week’s incident at Clio Hall has veered into attacks on VP Calhoun that are false and unfair.”

Stolen poster

On Saturday night, two individuals stole a poster that read “Hunger Strike for Palestine” from a tree on the east side of Cannon Green. PSAFE officers took statements from witnesses and filed a report, but individuals at the sitin chose not to press charges.

Hundreds rally on Dean’s Date

More than 350 people rallied outside Nassau Hall in the hours after Dean’s Date, the deadline for undergraduate students to submit all written work. Several students arrested at Clio Hall — at the time still banned from campus — gave speeches through FitzRandolph Gate. Others criticized Eisgruber, who declined to meet the demands of the sit-in at a Monday meeting with members of the protest’s bargaining team.

“My last words to him as he walked out of that room yesterday were that this will be his legacy, that he stood by and supported a genocide. This will be what he is remembered for,” Brandi Bushman GS said.

Jewish community members hold step sing

About an hour after the protest, around 200 people attended a step sing a few hundred feet away at Blair Arch organized by a group of Jewish students.

Ellie Naider ’25, president of the Chabad Student Board, called the last several months “a mix of complex emotions for Jewish students on campuses everywhere” in a speech.

“What is especially concerning to me is that many will try to diminish the current experience of Jewish students — rolling their eyes that we are dramatic, and that we can’t possibly be experiencing antisemitism at this level,” she said.

Hunger striker hospitalized

Later that day, one hunger striker was admitted to the hospital, according to a social media post by PIAD.

Eisgruber announces protesters must clear camp

After nearly three weeks of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” Eisgruber sent an email announcing that all protesters must clear Cannon Green ahead of preparations for Reunions and Class Day. The email responded to student complaints about the meeting between organizers and administration on May 6, with Eisgruber writing that the issues could not be resolved “through negotiations with a single interest group.”

Eisgruber noted that the University was exploring the possibility of a restorative justice process for arrested students, as well as new “academic affiliations with Palestinian scholars, students, and institutions.” Additionally, he reported that administrators had offered to “convene a working group on the experience of Palestinian students, staff, and faculty at Princeton.”

Looking ahead, Eisgruber confirmed that the CPUC Resources Committee would meet on Tuesday to make an initial assessment of the divestment demands. He clarified that “ requests for severing ties from the United States military, academic boycotts of Israel, ceasefire statements, or complete amnesty for arrested protesters” would not be fulfilled due to incompatibility with the University’s governance and mission.

Late night arrest warnings issued, but no arrests made

After multiple brief interactions with protesters over the past several days, PSAFE officers issued three paper handouts titled “Warning and No Trespass Notice” late Tuesday night. The cards threatened immediate arrest in response to the attempted construction of a tarp structure to shelter some of the students currently participating in a hunger strike. Protesters had previously attempted to construct various shelters on Cannon Green, such as a tarp hung over a rope between two trees, only to be asked by PSAFE to take them down. ODUS policy prohibits camping in “vehicles, tents, or other structures,” as well as sleeping outside.

During discussions with a protest marshal into Wednesday morning, officers could not provide details about what constituted a structure, and told protesters that someone from ODUS would meet with them in the morning. One officer suggested that students could “hunger strike in their dorm room.”

While no arrests were made that night, the interactions with PSAFE over structures marked a relatively tense moment for the sit-in, now nearing a week on Cannon Green with only sporadic contact from University officials.

Protesters, PSAFE dispute structures

Over the weekend, as temperatures dropped and it rained intermittently, some protesters constructed a makeshift shelter at the sit-in to shield the strikers from the elements.

Because University policy explicitly forbids “tents, or other structures,” PSAFE officers asked protesters to take tarps sheltering hunger striking students down when the rain stopped that morning. Later that day, students reassembled the lean-to.

‘Black Princeton’ group chat deleted following leak

Also on Wednesday, Abigail Anthony ’23, a reporter for The National Review, began posting screenshots on social media from a group chat called “Black Princeton” where students were discussing the Clio occupation. Anthony had first reported that students at the University were planning an encampment earlier that week.

Her posts to X included students’ full names, and the group chat was deleted hours later. Anthony wrote in a message to the ‘Prince’ that multiple current students sent her the screenshots. She declined to explain her decision to post them and her choice to disclose student names.

The Black Student Union (BSU) wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince,’ “The Black Princeton chat has become a cultural institution within our community, existing for years with students and alumni alike. The deletion of the chat is a great loss to the community, but we are focused on the safety of all of our students first and foremost.”

Sit-in meets with Eisgruber

As day four of the hunger strike dawned, a group of students, faculty, alumni, and postdocs met with Eisgruber, Priestley, and Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs Amaney Jamal in the first formal interaction between protesters and administrators regarding divestment from Israel since the beginning of the sit-in. Multiple students present at the meeting told the ‘Prince’ that Eisgruber declined to meet any of their demands, describing the meeting as unproductive. The hunger strikers said that their strike would continue.

Eisgruber said via a university spokesperson that divestment would require “an orderly process that includes input from across the community.”

Patrick Jaojoco GS, a student present at the meeting, noted with frustration that “We’ve submitted requests through every formal and procedural

Princeton High School students walk out

Around 50 Princeton High School (PHS) students walked out of school at around 1 p.m. to join protesters at the University’s sit-in. Princeton Police officers accompanied protesters to campus.

Administrators, protesters negotiate end of sit-in

Administrators from ODUS entered the sit-in on Tuesday for the first time to speak with protesters. Following the meeting, University Facilities began to place signs around the site that read “THIS SPACE IS CLOSED.” Protesters sent messages asking students to convene to defend the site, but saw limited participation. Protesters met with ODUS administrators multiple times, with the University maintaining a vague deadline for decamping. “Eisgruber failed to provide a clear timeline, emphasizing a smooth return to ‘business as usual’ in a time of genocide,” organizers wrote in a press release.

Students “rotate” hunger strike

The 13 students who had only consumed water since Friday, May 3 ended their hunger strike that day. Seven other students took their place.

Organizers of the sit-in had previously cited the hunger strike as a source of leverage during negotiations with University officials, which broke down the week before. A group of faculty had also published a letter in the ‘Prince’ calling for the Board of Trustees to “closely monitor and investigate the inner workings of this administration” due to the urgency of the strike.

After three weeks, sit-in closes

Around 5 p.m. on May 15, organizers declared that the sit-in would disband that day. A PIAD spokesperson also confirmed to the ‘Prince’ that the hunger strike had concluded.

That evening, protesters officially bid the sit-in farewell. Several speakers reflected on the three weeks of the sit-in at McCosh courtyard, where the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” began.

Around 9 p.m. on May 15, protesters began to clear the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” Princeton’s longest sit-in in history. They began removing signs, food, and tarps from the site on Cannon Green, finishing most of the work by midnight. A few people who lingered sang “Happy Birthday” to celebrate the three weeks of the sit-in.

In its final nights, fewer than a dozen people congregated on the green. When asked to leave, protesters collected their tarps and supplies, exposing patches of dead grass — their final imprint.

SENIOR YEAR 2024 – 2025

The national news cycle loomed large for much of senior year. Like college students across the country, seniors cast ballots for the 2024 presidential election, overwhelmingly choosing Kamala Harris. Now, funding cuts and hiring freezes from the Trump administration have scrambled summer internships, research projects, and even some graduates’ prospective career trajectories.

Several campus cultural traditions also shifted. The Class of 2025 grappled with ordering cousebooks through the widely disliked online

SEPT NEWS

Princeton’s race statistics appear unchanged, but a new statistic may say different

OCT NEWS

retailer e-Campus. They P-12ed to a diminished Dean’s Date following the implementation of a new exam schedule meant to spread out final assessment deadlines. And they devised ever-inventive methods to circumvent package processing at Frist, sending their shampoo and clothing purchases to their eating clubs, Two Dickinson Street, and other locations.

After several years of remarkable success, the men’s basketball team had a difficult season, falling in the semifinals of Ivy Madness and los-

APR NEWS

‘An existential crisis’: The faculty research stopped after research grants suspended

ing a shot at making the NCAA tournament. Two coaching assistants were let go at the end of the season, and standout junior Xavian Lee transferred to the University of Florida. The women’s team did compete in March Madness, but lost in the First Four to Iowa State.

APR NEWS

Students boogie in the breeze at spring Lawnparties

MAY OPINION

Seniors deserve better than Jay Shetty

‘An existential crisis’: The faculty research stopped after research grants suspended

Luke Grippo | April 16, 2025

Professor of Civil Engineering

Peter Jaffé began researching industrial cleaning chemicals 20 years ago. In 2016, he decided to focus his research on developing ways to biodegrade perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are widely used in everyday consumer and industry products — although we are also exposed to them in our food, water, and air. Dubbed “forever chemicals” for their non-degradability, PFAS can weaken the immune system, increase risk of cancer, and cause other health concerns in humans.

Three years later, the Department of Defense (DOD) took an interest in Jaffé’s work and began funding his research. According to the Environmental Working Group, an American activist group focused on agricultural industry research and advocacy, there are over 723 military sites in the U.S. and U.S. territories that are contaminated by PFAS.

After six years of federal funding,

Jaffé says that he and his team have found a way to biodegrade these chemicals. An almost $2 million grant for a field demonstration was the next step. However, this funding was lost on April 1, when several dozen grants awarded to University researchers from NASA, the DOD, and the Department of Energy (DOE) were suspended, reportedly worth at least $210 million.

“We have done a lot of work showing that we can biodegrade these PFAS,” Jaffé told The Daily Princetonian in an interview. “The University has a series of patents out on it, and we need that field demonstration to get people to believe that it works and invest in them [and then] apply it.”

Now, Jaffé is unable to conduct that field demonstration. In the blink of an eye, the work Jaffé had been working on for 20 years has vanished — unless something changes soon, he remarked.

Jaffé is not the only professor who is affected by the freeze. In the wake of the grant suspensions, many professors have been thrown into disarray,

worried about how they will be able to pay their researchers and continue their research — research that is changing the world, they say.

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Elie Bou-Zeid, who lost a DOE grant, wrote to the ‘Prince’ that he believes professors across the country are being directly attacked.

“This is a deliberate attack to weaken and even permanently harm universities like Princeton,” Bou-Zeid said. “As academics, we should have no illusion that this is a misunderstanding or an accident. We are not ‘bystander victims.’ We are the target.”

Several professors said that the University had stepped in to cover expenses for professors and graduate students.

Chemistry professor Roberto Car had a DOE grant supporting the Computational Chemical Science Center (CCSC) suspended. The grant had partly or fully supported five graduate students and five postdocs.

“In the end, the University will

come as a helper of last resort — they will essentially guarantee that the postdocs can stay until the end of their current term, and for the PhD students, they will stay until completion of their thesis,” Car said.

“The University is saying, for the moment, ‘let’s use what resources we do have to support people, and in particular, people more at the junior level, which means often graduate students, whose stipends are coming from these grants, and postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty members,’” Michael Strauss, the Chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences, said.

Students, Jaffé summarized, “will be able to get through.”

Physics professor William Jones wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince’ that his group is currently developing a polarimeter — a device that measures the re-orientation of light waves — named Taurus that will “measure fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background.” This project is directly funded by NASA and would fly on a NASA stratospheric super-pressure balloon.

The grants Jones and his student team were receiving helped the group develop highly sensitive detectors known as quantum limited superconducting transition edge sensors, which are integral to Taurus’ functions.

The award was apparently suspended with no explanation by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Jones said.

“Our NASA program officers are not able to provide us any information about the reason or procedure,” Jones wrote.

Jones also explained that should his grant be reinstated, the group might have already missed their best opportunity to launch Taurus. “These launches are only offered every two years, so missing that date would devastate our students and researchers, not to mention our budget,” Jones said.

Strauss also said that there was significant funding lost from the Department of Energy intended for fusion energy development.

“There seemed to be little rhyme or

reason other than it was connected to Princeton,” Strauss said.

The suspension of some grants have had a ripple effect in certain research centers.

Chemistry professor Gregory Scholes wrote to the ‘Prince’ that he lost a grant that supported BioLEC, a center whose goal is “to work out ways of producing energy-rich feedstocks that will give America an economic advantage,” according to Scholes.

“There are many impacts on researcher training, potentially losing expertise for complex experiments, or falling behind other countries at the leading edge of a fast-moving field,” Scholes added. “I’m hopeful that the situation will be resolved soon.”

Jaffé expressed his sentiment to the ‘Prince’ that he and his team will continue to fight for their research. “We have some momentum left. We have our cultures. We have done something.”

“It’s not that we abandoned overnight,” he said.

Gabriel Vecchi, a geosciences professor, had climate research impacted by the Department of Commerce’s decision last week to end $4 million in funding to climate research at Princeton.

“Our goal is to minimize any impact on the scholarly progress, education, and career development of … our team,” Vecchi, the Knox Taylor Professor of Geosciences and head of the Vecchi Research Group, wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “I know that our work is valuable to the world and the United States of America.”

While much remains uncertain, professors said they had an urgent need for assistance.

“We’ve managed to develop a full technology,” Jaffé said. “The trouble is, the longer we wait, the more we lose the expertise in the lab … then we lose the know-how.”

“This was 20 years worth of different grants and works and discovery and build-up to get finally out the door, and being this close to end, and it’s being killed. It hurts,” he said.

Princeton’s race statistics appear unchanged, but a new statistic may say different

By Isabel Yip | September 22, 2024

Enrollment statistics for the first Princeton class admitted after the fall of affirmative action revealed mostly stable racial diversity — yet a significant increase in students marking their race as “unknown” at Princeton suggests that white and Asian American applicants may be omitting their race on college applications altogether.

While Hispanic/Latine enrollment saw a one-point drop between the Class of 2027 and the Class of 2028, and Black enrollment decreased by even

the number of students who did not indicate their race increased by almost 6 percent. Experts told The Daily Princetonian that non-reporting students tend to be white and Asian American.

This could account for the 2.2 percent drop in Asian American student enrollment between the Class of 2027 and 2028.

In an analysis of applicant information from students applying to the University of California system, Assistant Professor of Economics Zachary Bleemer showed that non-reporters of race on applica-

increase in ethnicity non-reporting after affirmative action bans is usually almost completely among white and Asian students, though that isn’t to say that’s what’s going on at Princeton,” Bleemer wrote in an email to the ‘Prince.’

Bleemer specified that a student survey would be needed to verify if this is the case at Princeton.

On their applications, only 1.8 percent of the Class of 2027 did not indicate their race, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill. The demographic breakdown of this year’s freshman class, however, showed that 7.7 percent of the Class of 2028 left their race unmarked.

The apparent drop in Asian American enrollment prompted Students for Fair Admissions, the group that sued Harvard to bring an end to race-conscious affirmative action, to send letters to Princeton, Yale, and Duke — which all saw declines in Asian American enrollment. The group questioned whether the three universities complied with the Supreme Court’s guidelines, claiming that the demographic breakdowns of their incoming classes “are not possible under true neutrality.”

Yet Brian Taylor, managing partner at admissions consulting firm Ivy Coach, doesn’t believe that Asian American enrollment has truly dipped since the fall of affirmative action. “It’s just that fewer students are filling out that ethnicity box on the common app,” he said.

Surprised to see a question asking applicants to indicate their race on applications, and nervous they may “face discrimination if they check Asian in that box,” Taylor said many Asian American applicants are opting to simply not indicate their race. Taylor even said he believes some Asian American students are being advised by their

support systems to leave their race blank.

“Therein lies your mother load of missing Asian American students,” Taylor said.

The University has repeatedly indicated their commitment to maintaining diversity at Princeton in spite of the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action. In anticipation of the decision in 2023, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 told The Philadelphia Inquirer, “We’re going to be as creative as we can within the boundaries of the law.”

In an email statement to the ‘Prince’ regarding how enrollment managed to remain stable, Morrill wrote, “At Princeton, we are adhering to the limits set by the ruling and continuing to use a holistic admission process that involves a highly individualized assessment of the applicant’s talents, achievements and his or her potential to contribute to learning at Princeton.”

While some have suggested that universities would rely on applicants’ zip codes and other indicators of background in lieu of considering race, Bleemer told the ‘Prince’ that there is no concrete evidence of this.

“We have evidence that public universities impacted by affirmative action bans sometimes provide admissions advantages to students from disadvantaged high schools, but no clear evidence on zip codes,” he wrote.

Taylor said he believes Princeton and other universities are “capitalizing” on the essay question about lived experience, allowing students to elaborate on their background. But he also said it’s even simpler than that — admissions officers can glean a student’s background from their name or from where their parents are from.

As a result, Taylor suggested that this “race unknown” category is skewing enrollment information. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Asian American enrollment increased this year,” he told the ‘Prince.’

NATALIA MAIDIQUE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The number of students in the Class of 2028 who chose not to mark their race on college applications rose by nearly 6 percent.

Princeton will resume fossil fuel research funding, stop disclosure from dissociated companies

By Victoria Davies | October 3, 2024

The University will resume accepting research funding from fossil fuel companies that fail to meet its dissociation criteria, according to an announcement released Thursday.

In the penultimate paragraph of the announcement is a caveat that the University will also “no longer publish the names of companies that meet the dissociation criteria and with which Princeton has had a relationship in the recent past.”

“Fossil fuel dissociation was the University’s first dissociation action that directly affected Princeton’s research enterprise. We have found that our initial approach not only had broad implications for current and future research projects, it also had a disparate and unfair impact across our faculty,” explained Provost Jennifer Rexford, Dean of the Faculty Gene Jarrett ’97, and Dean for Research Peter Schiffer. “They lost not only outside funding for research to combat the harms of climate change, but also access to collaborative partnerships focused on important work that is aligned with the University’s values.”

Princeton made the decision to disassociate from 90 fossil fuel companies in September 2022 as “a result of a community-initiated, two-year process that engaged a range of campus stakeholders.” By February 2024, “the number of companies subject to dissociation has expanded from 90

to 2,371” as a result of newly-available data.

Going forward, the University will allow funds if they “support only research projects aimed toward the amelioration of environmental harms of carbon emissions”; the faculty who are supported by the funds retain the ability to publish their results; and the funding must be in the form of “sponsored research grants that support research projects.”

The University has already completed dissociation from 29 companies as of January 2024, including ExxonMobil Corporation, Syncrude Canada Ltd, and BHP Group Ltd. In 2018, BP completed a $10.5 billion acquisition of BHP’s assets. BP currently sponsors High Meadows Institutes’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI).

An additional eight companies were removed from the dissociation list, according to the announcement, because the University no longer receives any funding from them. The memo only lists the dissociated companies with which the University “has a current or recent relationship that involved a financial component.”

In 2023, an Exxon official told The Guardian that the company had contributed over $10.7 million in research funds to the University over the past 10 years. The University annual sponsored research report has disclosed that researchers have received $848,140 from Exxon in Fiscal Year 2023 alone, while Syncrude contrib -

uted $104,165 during the same period.

The University also maintains ties with several other significant oil companies that were not included on the dissociation list, including Shell USA, Inc., which invested $119,942 in FY2023

This announcement comes around two weeks after the release of a Sunrise Princeton report, which argues that, despite having cut ties with cer tain major fossil fuel producers two years ago, the University continues “to invest in, prof it from, and pro duce re search that serves the inter ests of fossil fuel compa nies.”

“This complete ly invalidates the years of advocacy by stu dents, faculty, staff, and alumni who worked with the University and went

through their bureaucratic processes,” Hannah Reynolds ’22, a leader of Divest Princeton, wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. “This shows that Princeton doesn’t care about its own policies or bureaucratic practices unless it results in the outcome that benefits its short-term financial interests.”

The University has also

faced federal scrutiny on its research when a joint

congressional report was released on the efforts by fossil fuel companies to evade climate change initiatives. The report included a chapter about the potential influences of BP on climate research conducted by the CMI. In response to allegations that Princeton’s research was influenced by fossil fuel companies’ financial contributions, Director of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI) and Professor Emeritus Stephen Pacala dismissed

“You will have to trust me, other professors at Princeton who are involved, or BP people’s word that we simply don’t consult the company when picking projects,” Pacala said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian in the spring.

VEENA KRISHNARAJ / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Seniors deserve better than Jay Shetty

By Izabela Konopka & Joshua Yang | May 4, 2025

We are writing to express our strong disapproval of the selection of Jay Shetty as the 2025 Class Day speaker. The conduct of Shetty, a self-described former Hindu monk turned wellness podcaster, does not reflect our values as a class. We deserve better than a self-help guru and repeated plagiarist who runs a “school” that an expert claims exhibits “similar patterns” to a multi-level marketing scheme.

We agree with the Class Day chairs that mental health and community wellness are critically important topics to discuss at Class Day. A social media influencer with no public record of clinical or medical training in these areas, however, should not be the one to do so. Though we acknowledge the logistical difficulties in doing so, we strongly urge that the Class Day chairs consider replacing Shetty with a different speaker.

It is ironic that the Class Day speaker announcement video highlighted Shetty’s commitment to asking questions such as “How do we show up as our authentic selves?” when, in fact, he has repeatedly misrepresented his actual life experience. As an investigation in The Guardian details, Shetty has engaged in a pattern of behavior which we believe to be highly inappropriate and clearly disqualifying.

Shetty’s claims about his education and background do not hold up under scrutiny. He stated in his 2020 self-help volume, “Think Like a Monk,” that he lived in India as a Hindu monk for three years — a narrative central to his authority as a spiritual guru. But considerable evidence points to him having spent much of that period in England traveling, blogging, and giving lectures. He has also claimed to hold a degree in behavioral science, even though the institution which supposedly gave Shetty his degree has indicated that it does not offer a program in behavioral science. Shetty has since changed his story; he now says that his three years as a monk were spent in both India and the United Kingdom and that his degree is in management science.

Shetty’s involvement in a questionable business venture also deeply concerns us. The Jay Shetty Certifica- tion School (JSCS), which trains students to become certified life coaches via a six-month-long, $7,400 online course, has claimed it is accredited by Ofqual, an agency that regulates certifications in England — a claim that Ofqual has denied. JSCS appears to have since removed references to Ofqual on its website. The College of New Jersey Emeritus Professor William Keep, an expert in multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs), told The Guardian that although JSCS does not meet the formal definition of an MLM, it shares qualities with MLMs. (Shetty’s lawyers disputed this charge to The Guardian.)

Given the emphasis Princeton places on academic honesty, it is noteworthy that Mr. Shetty’s own

work would be subject to multiple and brazen violations of Princeton’s academic honesty guidelines. As The Guardian details, “Shetty built his social media presence by lifting content from other people, making inspirational quotes — many of which had been copied, oftentimes verbatim, from accounts with smaller followings — look like original content.” After a social media influencer exposed Shetty’s methods in 2019, Shetty updated previous posts to include attributions and removed many others; his lawyers told The Guardian “it was a learning experience” for Shetty. We reiterate our deep disappointment in Shetty’s selection as Class Day speaker. Class Day is an opportunity in which “the Graduating Class has full charge and which we run to suit ourselves, in our characteristic way.” In the past, Class Day speak-

ers have included public servants of import such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, Congresswoman Terri Sewell ’86, and Senator Cory Booker. They have also included prominent entertainers such as Trevor Noah, Ellie Kemper ’02, and Marshawn Lynch. These speakers have, through their actions and words, demonstrated a commitment to the principles that make us proud to be Princeton students. The selection of Shetty falls far short of that standard.

As Shetty has posted, “Give yourself permission to walk away from anything that gives you bad vibes.” (Shetty did not come up with that quote himself.) We urge the Class Day chairs to walk away from Jay Shetty and reconsider our choice of whom we wish to serve as capstone to our time at Princeton.

Students boogie in the breeze at spring Lawnparties

By Luke Grippo & Devon Rudolph | April 28, 2025

From food trucks, to the dunk tank outside of Cannon Dial Elm Club, to Campus Club’s whimsical land of blowup slides, Taco Bell, and a foam machine, students had many ways to enjoy the day before the signature headliner performance. This year’s headliner was 29-year-old rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.

When students first arrived on Prospect Street, they were met with four food trucks: Nomad Pizza, Maddalena’s Cheesecake on a Stick, Tico’s Juice Bar, and Kona Ice. Nomad Pizza was by far the most popular, with the line reaching about 80 people consistently throughout the afternoon.

Between fueling up at the food trucks and Campus Club, which had Taco Bell until it ran out at about 1:30 p.m., students took to Prospect Avenue and the eating clubs.

Cap and Gown Club’s Lawnparties festivities were sponsored by Red Bull and featured a Red Bull branded car in its front yard. Jason Park, the DJ for Cap and Gown hired by Red Bull, shared his excitement to be djing for the University.

“I mean, the day is beautiful, so how could I say no,” Park told The Daily Princetonian. “I’m ready to have a good time.”

Tower Club, Colonial Club, and Terrace Club featured live performers in the courtyards of their clubs: Tower had singer Upsahl, Colonial hosted the band I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (iDKHOW), and Terrace featured the band Acid Dad.

Among the eating clubs, Tiger Inn (TI) and Cottage Club seemed the most popular. At around 1 p.m., when music from TI briefly stopped, around 100 people crammed the sidewalk outside Cottage, waiting to be let in.

Unlike last year’s warm and sunny conditions, this year saw temperatures of low sixties, with consistent 16–18 mile-perhour winds that made it feel almost 10 degrees colder. Some students shared that they were enjoying the day but the chilly

weather was making it difficult.

Alison Silldorff ’25 said in an interview with the ‘Prince,’ “I’m feeling great. I’m actually feeling a little cold though — it’s colder than I expected it to be today. But having a good time, and also my last lawnparties, Woo! Woo!”

“I’m also feeling chilly and unprepared, because I didn’t bring anything to put over my shirt, but I’m excited to hear some more live music, and soak in the good vibes with some friends,” George Tidmore ’26 added.

Overall, students enjoyed everything there was to offer on the Street.

“I feel really happy. This is my last Lawnparties. So, [I’m] having a great time doing everything that I haven’t done before — like going to TI,” said Faith Wangermann ’25.

Many students were also

thrilled to see A Boogie perform. Die-hard fans arrived early to stake out the best spots closest to the stage, lining the fences as early as 12:45 p.m.

The opening student act, Oh S*** Look Out, took the stage at 2:30 as students began filling the Frist North Lawn. The band was initially supposed to open for Lawnparties in Fall 2024, but did not end up doing so due to “logistical challenges.”

Oh S*** Look Out performed six cover songs, including “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes, leaving the stage at 2:55.

“It was nice to look out at the big crowd, and [it was] the biggest crowd I’ve ever played for,” band member Leah Shefferman ’27 said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “So I was a little nervous, but it was really exciting.”

After the opener, the crowd waited for A Boogie Wit Da

Hoodie to perform while DJ Ominaya played music. Several announcements were made from Public Safety (PSafe) officers instructing attendees to move backwards due to pressure building near the stage.

“I think it’s really unfortunate that we continue to have struggles of pushing in front of the crowd. As the person who was in the front, it was really horrible,” Jana Ter Wee ’28 told the ‘Prince.’

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie did not take to the stage until 4:08 p.m., leaving over an hour between the opening performance and the headliner. He performed some of his major hits, including “Swerin’” and “My S***.”

“I was a big fan of the songs,” Wyatt Manner, a first-year at Johns Hopkins University, said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie performed for around half an hour

before ending the concert, and many attendees commented that the set list was too short. Ter Wee, talking about both NLE Choppa, last semester’s headliner, and A Boogie, also said that both performances “were just annoying for the crowd, since they took an hour to start, and they were both very, very short performances.”

For others, though, the headliner and performance were major hits.

“This was my dream come true,” said Katelyn Rodrigues ’23. “I wanted to see Boogie Wit Da Hoodie for a while. He didn’t perform in my four years, so I’m back.”

“Everyone needs to know I’m here for [A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie],” said Tsehai Dennis ’28. “I literally wrote about him in my supplements for Princeton; he’s the reason I got into this school.”

LUKE GRIPPO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN Lawnparties Spring 2025.

The Class of 2025, by the numbers: Our annual senior survey

By The Daily Princetonian Staff

Welcome to The Daily Princetonian’s fourth annual senior survey. Our project seeks to better understand the nuances of the University’s soon-to-be newest alumni. Though the University publicly reports some information regarding demographics and academics, other data — such as the goings-on on Prospect Avenue, favorite dining halls, or the expected income after graduation of our seniors — are impossible to find publicly.

Our survey was conducted over a period of 29 days from March 10 to April 7, 2025. The Daily Princetonian emailed a Google Form to all members of the Class of 2025 included in the Residential College Student Facebook as of March 10 — a total of 1,308 people. 501 students responded, yielding a 38.3 percent response rate.

After a year of shared governance, grad students see progress — but say more work remains

By Sena Chang | May 10, 2024

On April 1, 2024, Princeton’s faculty approved a proposal from the Graduate School to include graduate student representatives on each of the Faculty Committee’s four key subcommittees for the very first time, introducing a new framework for shared governance. These subcommittees — part of the Faculty Committee on the Graduate School — oversee academic policy, curriculum, student life, and discipline, among other matters.

Students involved in the new shared governance model, which launched in the 2024–25 academic year, expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate in institutional decision-making. However, some pointed to the need for clearer structure as the model continues to evolve.

“I think it’s nice for graduate students to know how policies and decisions around graduate students are thought about, decided, and worked on,” Nikita Taniparti GS, who sits on the Policy Committee, told The Daily Princetonian. “We’re so engrossed in our own thing that it’s hard to really see how the University — especially administration — around graduate students works.”

“This feels like a very valuable way to give back to Princeton for me,” she added.

According to students and staff, the shared governance

model emerged out of calls to integrate more student voices into decisions made by faculty and administration. While students have participated in University-wide governance through bodies such as the University Priorities Committee and the Council of the Princeton University Community, this is the first time that governance in the Graduate School has been shared.

“This is an initiative that’s been in the works for several years now,” Rias Reed GS, one of eight student committee members, explained.

“Many of us, including students and the Graduate School staff, recognized the gap in student governance at the Graduate School level, but addressing this required a formal change to the School’s governance structure,” Lisa M. Schreyer, Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, said in a statement to the ‘Prince.’

Currently, there is a Graduate Student Committee with eight students, in addition to four subcommittees chaired by faculty with two student representatives each. Half of the students were selected by the Graduate School, and the other half were selected by the Graduate Student Government.

“I think the idea was to have this more formal avenue — to have more regular, periodic ways to communicate between the grad school and admin,” Taniparti added.

Reed believes that student input has enhanced the quality of the subcommittees, which used to be composed exclusively of faculty members.

A part of the Curriculum Subcommittee, Reed explained that integrating more student voices has been “incredibly effective,” given that students are the ones directly engaging with the course material and syllabus.

“I truly appreciate the Grad School for including grad student voices in early stages of thinking about different solutions, or different initiatives,” Reed continued.

“In these challenging times, we have found the subcommittees to be very productive sounding boards for issues that are impacting our community,” Schreyer wrote. “Having students in these conversations is invaluable.”

“It’s been good to interact with faculty and really share our opinions on each topic — surprisingly, we don’t disagree that much,” Nivedita Kanrar GS, who sits on the Student Life and Discipline Subcommittee, told the ‘Prince.’

However, students also acknowledged that the shared governance model is still in its first year and highlighted areas that could be improved.

For one, Kanrar explained that coordination as a broader Graduate Student Committee is sometimes difficult, as members are focused on each of their own subcommittees.

“If we wanted to make proposals ourselves, we would have to meet outside and independently coordinate, which is really very difficult,” she said. Such proposals would move through the Policy Subcommittee, which reviews and makes recommendations on policy issues.

“I would like to see more communication between grad students and the larger Faculty Committee of the Graduate School,” Reed added. “Those committees are still very much separate.” Reed explained that he proposed increasing opportunities for dialogue between the faculty and student committees, which “would be truly where I see more room for growth and effectivity.”

Anne Lheem, the University Administrative Fellow for the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, said in an email to the ‘Prince’ that she is helping conduct “a preliminary review of how the shared governance model is going at the Graduate School.” Lheem’s role is not tied to any single committee, but rather is seeking to collect insights on how the shared governance model more broadly has operated in the past year.

“We’re still defining the roles,” Kanrar said. “I think this is an active work between us and members of the Graduate School administration, and they’ve been flexible in this and open to discussions.”

Graduate student union vote fails, 391–652

By Meghana Velduis | May 15, 2024

Following elections held Monday, May 13 and Tuesday, May 14, University graduate students have voted against joining the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE), with 391 in favor and 652 against. This decision follows postdocs voting last week to join the United Auto Workers (UAW).

Unionization has been under consideration by graduate students at the University since 2016, when Princeton Graduate Students United (PGSU) was formed. They filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board

(NLRB) in April.

The election was held in Frist 302, similar to the postdoc election. Over 73 percent of 1,523 eligible graduate students voted in the election, per a statement to The Daily Princetonian by Dean of the Graduate School Rodney Priestley.

He also noted that the NLRB must “provide a final confirmation and certification of the election’s outcome” before the election results are finalized.

The loss follows a campaign by some graduate students to vote no on the union. According

to the campaign’s website, “Princeton University Graduate Students Against UE,” they urged students to “consider if this United Electrical Workers (UE) union is right for every Princeton grad student. If it passes, it will be very hard to go back.” The group points to a number of issues unionizing with the UE specifically, such as their union dues, and a lack of “informed consensus” facilitated by PGSU.

Aditi Rao, an organizer for PGSU, as well as the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ at Princeton, posted on Twitter, “This has been the most demoralizing 24 hours. Princeton is immi-

nently closing our camp, my peers foreclosed on our representation. It’s an acute loss.”

“I have so much grief in me for all of us who organized endlessly against every odd at every turn only to find ourselves here tonight,” Rao added.

“In this next chapter, we look forward to finding opportunities to continue to strengthen our partnership, enhance the student experience, and advance Princeton graduate education,” Priestley wrote in his statement to the ‘Prince.’ “As we have said throughout this campaign, the Graduate School will always support you.”

| IN MEMORIAM

Family and friends remember Justin Lim ’25’s passion and kindness

By Sandeep Mangat & Annie Rupertus | June 17, 2022

Justin Lim ’25, a first-year in the Operations Research and Financial Engineering department and compassionate son and brother died on May 17 at his home in Chicago, Ill. after battling mental illness. He was 19 years old.

Lim was born in Chicago on Dec. 28, 2002 to parents Peggy and Yung Bong Lim ’87. He grew up with his brother Jake Lim ’23, and the two were inseparable from a young age.

“Jake was Justin’s best friend and his rock. Justin called him the best brother in the world, and all who knew him knew how true this is,” said Justin’s mother at a memorial service organized by the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, which Lim had attended since he was three years old.

“I remember Justin as a happy, smiling child. He was a good sleeper, he was a good eater, and he could play for hours with his legos,” his mother said.

Lim was always a high-achiev- er — “so much so that he came six weeks early,” quipped his mother at the service — and excelled in tennis as much as he did in school.

“Outside of academics, tennis was his biggest passion, and he poured his heart and soul into being the best player he could be. He would wake up at the crack of dawn to play and improve, whether it was in preparation for a match or just to practice his strokes,” said his family in a statement to The Daily Princetonian.

Lim was a generous teammate and offered compassion and his quick-witted humor to the other tennis players at his high school.

Yaseen Qureshi, one of Lim’s teammates and a junior at the Laboratory schools, recalled Lim’s spirited nature.

“A distinct memory comes to mind when we practiced during the summers. Every time Mr. or Mrs. Lim would wait outside the courts, Justin would walk towards them with his arms wide open, and they would start running in the opposite direction out of fear of receiving a bear hug from the sweatiest teenager in the world,” Qureshi said at the funeral service.

His family told the ‘Prince’ that as co-captain of his high school’s

tennis team, Lim “encouraged his teammates to run laps at the pace of the slowest member.”

As Lim’s mother recalled at the service, he was not only a devoted player, but also a fervent spectator of the game, particularly fond of watching Roger Federer. Over the years, he developed a photographic recollection of a wide array of statistics.

“He could recall scores, opponents, seedings, and even specific outfits players wore at tournaments, dating back at least a decade,” his family told the ‘Prince.’

“We often quizzed him, but, despite our best efforts, we could never stump Accordinghim.” to Lim’s family he was always “intellectually curious,” ever questioning the world around him. From this curiosity grew an intellectual tenacity that brought him to Princeton, like his father and brother before him.

“He was thrilled to attend Princeton and share the Tiger experience with his brother and father. In one celebratory dinner with some Princeton families, he walked around the room draped with a Class of 2025 banner,” his family said.

The two brothers would often run into each other at Princeton, with Justin giving Jake a “hard high-five” while continuing on his way to class.

“Although his favorite color was yellow growing up, once he got into Princeton, he often wore orange and black,” Lim’s family said.

According to his family, “Justin had issues with anxiety throughout much of his life” and “his anxiety level increased substantially just before entering Princeton, and he developed an eating disorder.” Still, “he fought hard to get through his first year, focusing his time mostly on his academics, but he decided in April to take a gap year.”“As a family, we wish that the Princeton community could have seen more of what Justin was like before college — bright, witty, dedicated, empathetic, and compassionate,” his family told the ‘Prince.’

“We hope that, by sharing

about Justin’s struggles and passing due to his mental illness, others will be more willing to be open about, and seek help for, their own mental health challenges.”

At the funeral service, his mother recited Philippians 4:6, a Bible verse that she said comforted Lim.

“Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Lim, a member of Mathey College, left an indelible mark on the campus community. Madison Esposito ’23, who served as his Residential College Advisor, recounted their first meeting.

“I remember our fall semester one-on-one meeting fondly — we sat in the Blair courtyard on a sunny day, and he talked about his love for tennis and answered countless questions that I had about Chicago,” she told the ‘Prince.’

“I admired that Justin asked for help when he needed it. No matter the situation or the question he had, I knew that Justin would reach out to me if he needed to, and he would always express his gratitude even when thanks were truly unnecessary,” Esposito added.

Lim is also remembered as an integral part of his Community

Action orientation group. Gabriel Robare ’24, one of his group leaders, described him as “a kind, decent, and sharp young man.”

Robare is the head puzzles editor for the ‘Prince.’

On campus, Lim joined the Scholars of Finance (SOF), drawn to the club as a way to “combine his interest in finance and ethics,” his family Nishantsaid.Singhal ’23, the co-founder of the Princeton chapter of the club, described the impression Lim had on him.

“Justin was an intensely analytical, profoundly creative, and fiercely dedicated member of our community,” he told the ‘Prince.’ “While he is no longer with us, we will forever remember the impact and courage he spread not only at SOF but also in Princeton at large.”

Lim’s intelligence and lively spirit were noted in Princeton’s classrooms as well. “He was always sharp and asking questions,” said Brandon Cheng ’25, Lim’s partner for COS 126 assignments. Cheng shared that Lim “caught numerous bugs that [he’d] written, while keeping things light with a joke or two. That’s just who he is — intensely curious but also sneakily funny.”

Lim was indeed known for his humor, and over the years, his father would write down many of

his remarks, terming them “Justinisms.” His mother shared a few at the funeral service.

“I can do push-ups, going down is easy, it’s just going back up that’s hard,” was one wisecrack.

“I chuckled when he said these things, but now I hold on to them dearly, with a longing smile, every time I think of them,” his mother said.

Lim approached life with a steadfast optimism — “when Justin loved something, he was all in,” his family told the ‘Prince’ — and with this attitude developed his bright demeanor, admired and appreciated by his family and friends.

“I will always remember his smile and his beautiful round face, reminding me of a happy sun,” his mother said at the service.

“I hope you too will carry this image of him in your hearts as you leave today. Please take care of yourself and each other.”

Lim is survived by his father Yung Bong ’87, his mother Peggy, and his brother Jake ’23. The Justin Se Geun Lim ’21 Memorial Fund at the Laboratory Schools and the Justin Se Geun Lim ’25 Memorial Fund at Princeton have been created in Lim’s memory.

COURTESY OF THE LIM FAMILY

Justin Lim ’25.

Princeton sophomore Jaqueline Gonzalez ’25 dies following pro- longed illness

By Julian Hartman-Sigall | February 7, 2023

Content Warning: The following article contains mention of death.

University Counseling services are available at 609-258-3141. Students can contact residential college staff and the Office of Religious Life for other support and resources. For employees, Carebridge counseling services are available 24/7 by calling (800) 437-0911.

Jaqueline “Jaki” Gonzalez ’25 died at the Children’s Hospital of Chicago on Feb. 1 due to complications related to liver and kidney failure following a prolonged

illness. Gonzalez was on a leave of absence this semester to focus on her health. She was 19 years old.

According to a GoFundMe started by her family, Gonzalez was a resident of Harvard, Ill. and graduated as valedictorian from Harvard High School in 2021.

At Princeton, Gonzalez was a resident of Forbes College. In an email to Forbes residents earlier today, Dean of Forbes College Patrick Caddeau wrote, “Jaki was a valued member of the Forbes community, a talented and dedicat -

ed student, and a highly engaged member of multiple groups on campus.”

“Her passing is a tragedy for us all,” Caddeau continued.

Gonzalez was an active member in the Scholars Institute Fellows Program (SIFP) and the Freshman Scholars Institute program (FSI), which is run through the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity. In an email earlier today to the FSI and SIFP community, Director of the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportuni -

ty Dean Khristina Gonzalez wrote, “Jaki was a central member of our community.”“[Gonzalez] had a true commitment to supporting every other member in our community, whether it be by providing resources on our Discord server, helping fellow students in our SIFP precepts, or serving as a research assistant working to identify areas of growth or our programs. Her passing is a tragedy for us and for the world,” she wrote. Gonzalez’s passing is the fifth death of a Princeton student in the

past nine months.

A gathering to remember Gonzalez will be held on Feb. 8 at 4:30 p.m. in the Forbes College Living Room. All members of the Princeton community are invited.

A funeral for Gonzalez will be held on Feb. 8 in Harvard, Ill.

Gonzalez is survived by her parents Maria Dolores Martinez and Genaro Gonzalez Mercado, her older sister Daisy Gonzalez Martinez, and younger brother Giovani Gonzalez Mercado.

Farewell

By Ben Wachpress Class of 2025 President

I know I might be a little biased, but I truly think that we are one of the best classes to ever walk through FitzRandolph Gates. Four years ago we stepped onto campus just as the unprecedented time marked by the Covid-19 pandemic was coming to an end. We wasted little time trying to build relationships with each other: cramming into overcrowded dorm room parties during orientation, trudging through the pouring rain to make it to the ice cream social, and rushing to Colonial in a eager attempt to see the inside of an eating club for the first time. Our desire to connect with each other remained strong throughout our first-year, enjoying our first lawnparties, playing outside during our first snowstorm, and getting our first taste of how much Princeton loves to start construction projects set to be completed in 2026.

By sophomore year we started to get the hang of things a little bit more. We finally got to choose our roommates, and we were free of first-year B.S.E., language, and writing seminar requirements. During the fall semester, we enjoyed the open spots for sophomores at eating clubs and during the spring semester many of us joined eating clubs that would become second homes for the remainder of our time at Princeton. At the end of the year, we declared our majors and came together to take pictures on cannon green in our 2025 sweaters. It may have been 87 degrees that day, but the memories were worth the sweat stains.

Junior year, we became upperclassmen and took leadership roles across the university. We became RCAs and PAAs, team captains, and Presidents of student organizations. Just when we started to think we had a grasp on Princeton academics, we were smacked in the face with Junior Seminars, Junior Papers, and internship applications. As we always do, we made it through all of it with a little help from our friends — and a cool new tool called ChatGPT.

By senior year, we were seasoned academic weapons — or at least we thought so until we were faced with the insurmountable task of writing an entire book. Somehow, some way we did it and still made time to create lasting memories with our friends. We belted karaoke at pub nights, P12’ed, and, most importantly enjoyed our last of many late-night conversations, Bent Spoon runs, and gym sessions with friends.

We have accomplished so much over the past four years, but none of it would have been possible alone. Every achievement and every memory we cherish has been a product of our incredible community. We lifted each other up when times were tough, celebrated each other’s successes, and learned together. The friendships we’ve built, the moments we’ve shared, and the support we’ve given one another are what truly define our journey.

Congratulations to the Great Class of 2025 — I hope all of your dreams come true.

BROOKE MCCARTHY / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN