Dear Daily Princetonian,
I must take issue with Newby Parton’s column from April 13, specifically his call to “strengthen [Princeton’s] brand and reputation, provided we do not compromise our commitment to undergraduate education.” Mr. Parton has evidently failed to consider that fully one-third of Princeton's student community is made up of graduate students, who are consistently marginalized by University institutions. For example, the Undergraduate Student Government has a four-office suite dedicated to its use at the Frist Campus Center; the Graduate Student Government has a dedicated closet space in that suite.
If Princeton University’s reputation among scholars — who have attended graduate school — is dwarfed by that of Harvard’s, perhaps it is because of the graduate student experience at Princeton. Fixing this requires more substantive solutions than mere rebranding.
Best,
David Austin Walsh
Ph.D. Student
Department of History
Response
David Walsh rightly states that a better graduate school experience could strengthen the University’s reputation. I had already addressed this point in the second paragraph of my April 13 column, “Officium: The case for a new official motto.”
Walsh errs, however, in taking issue with my opinion that we should not compromise our commitment to undergraduate education. First, this dichotomy is false: We can improve the graduate school experience while maintaining our commitment to undergraduates.
Second, by taking issue with this statement, Walsh implies that we should, in fact, sacrifice some commitment to undergraduate education in order to refocus on the graduate school. To do so would be to give up Princeton’s competitive advantage. We are recognized as the best university in America for undergraduate education, and keeping this distinction benefits the University as a whole.
When Walsh chose to come to this University, he had full knowledge that we emphasize undergraduate education. For him to claim that he is “marginalized” is dishonest and disrespectful to groups who face real, systemic discrimination. Marginalization in America is mass incarceration, unjustified use of police force, surveillance of religious minorities and workforce discrimination against women who take maternity leave. Marginalization is not a white, male, Ph.D. student’s dissatisfaction with closet space at his Ivy League university.
Walsh’s self-centeredness of focus reinforces the second point I made in my column: We need the motto “officium” — service — to remind us to look outward and serve communities that struggle with real injustice.
Newby Parton
Associate Opinion Editor
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