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(12/07/23 5:40am)
Over the course of the last year, the Opinion section has published 211 columns and guest contributions. Though there has been much opined, even more has been left unsaid. We asked our columnists to share their opinions on a topic of campus life that never made it into a full piece.
(12/06/23 4:45am)
The climate crisis is the most pressing issue of the 21st century. It is shaped by, and actively shapes, every aspect of human existence. There is no field, no method of study that is insulated from its chaotic effects. In recognition of the extent to which these changes affect all of us, the University should amend its current 10 general education requirement categories to include an eleventh: one that prompts students to engage with the climate crisis and the future of life on this planet.
(12/06/23 3:52am)
When Sajan Rhea Young ’24 recently opened up about his historical connection to the University through the institution of slavery, I was reminded of my own heritage. I am a direct descendant of an enslaved man who was recorded to have worked at the University of Virginia (UVA). My family learned of this connection through a program for descendants of enslaved people who labored at UVA, in which the group worked with the university to track down descendants and provide them with enrollment and scholarship opportunities. UVA’s acknowledgment of my ancestor’s previously unrecognized contributions gave me and my family a sense of pride. Families who have a similar relationship to Princeton deserve that same reconciliation.
(12/05/23 4:34am)
Fall in Princeton: golden leaves, a brisk breeze on Nassau, and the Princeton Community Master Plan is once again under review. But this year is different: For the first time in twenty-seven years, and after consultation with over 7,000 residents, the municipality of Princeton has completely rescripted its Master Plan to address the current needs of the town.
(12/04/23 4:05am)
As students walk into their first ECO 100: Introduction to Microeconomics lecture at Princeton, they are unknowingly stepping into a classroom where economic theory trumps economic reality. The tenor of the first lecture is that markets can generally be trusted and government usually gets in the way. This perspective, emphasizing the superiority of the free market, is the inevitable result of unrealistic assumptions that are taken for granted for most of the semester: that economies generally run on perfect competition, are composed of rational actors, people have complete free choice, and prices accurately reflect value.
(12/01/23 5:30am)
The following piece represents the views of the undersigned Editorial Board members alone.
(11/30/23 4:34am)
The following is an open letter and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
(11/30/23 5:53am)
Cloister Inn is inviting sophomores to launch a “takeover” of the club in order to revive lagging sophomore interest, while telling alumni that there is a risk the club may close. With the Class of 2026, the largest class to ever matriculate at Princeton about to join the clubs, Cloister’s situation speaks to the long-time recurrent cycles of sign-in clubs and also raises questions about the importance of bicker to the Princeton social scene. In light of these new concerns, along with conversations over recent years about the role that bicker plays in students’ Princeton experiences, we asked our columnists and some guest contributors to share their thoughts on what the future holds for Princeton’s eating clubs.
(11/29/23 3:50am)
When I first arrived at Princeton, I thought my only obligation as a student was to try my hand at every opportunity that presented itself to me. In my mind, this meant taking the most interesting classes and meeting as many people as possible. It meant doing anything and everything I could ever want to do. To me, college was a time to be selfish. I worked hard to get here — why shouldn’t I make the most of it?
(11/29/23 2:13am)
The following is a letter to the editor and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
(11/28/23 2:57am)
In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, many wealthy donors have pulled or threatened to pull their donations to Ivy League schools. A non-profit organization founded by billionaire Leslie Wexler announced it is breaking ties with Harvard University, arguing that it cannot support an administration that has been “tiptoeing” around the issue of terrorist attacks. Similarly, at the University of Pennsylvania, former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman condemned the university’s “silence” about the attacks, and said he would halt his family’s donations to the school. Princeton has largely steered clear of this controversy at the moment because of President Christopher Eisgruber’s forceful denunciation of Hamas’ attacks, as Aidan Gouley ’27 noted in a recent column. However, watching the monetary fallout of political turmoil at other schools should cause both donors and the administration to reevaluate how much influence wealthy individuals should have on Princeton’s operation and educational mission.
(11/27/23 3:04am)
Princeton’s Community Care Day had everything from yoga to coffee to canoeing. Hosted by the Office of Campus Life, the soon-to-be annual event sought to encourage “the entire campus to focus on rejuvenation, mindfulness, and community-building” by organizing 24 free events for campus members to choose from. The day of events was framed as a relaxed way to bring about health and well-being on campus, especially during a stressful time of the semester. Though the event aimed to improve the mental health situation on campus, it fell flat due to disorganization, and, moreover, exposed the goal of sufficiently changing the state of campus mental health with a single day as overambitious and inadequate.
(11/25/23 3:40am)
The following is an open letter and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
(11/21/23 5:14am)
As I write this essay, the despicable poison of Jew-hatred has taken a firm hold at so many college campuses, Princeton included. The current climate seems to have provided the perfect conditions for pure, unadulterated religious and ethnic bigotry to show itself and flourish. Here at Princeton, activists proudly chant “Intifada” and demand the complete eradication of the world’s only Jewish state; elsewhere, from Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania to Ohio State and Cooper Union, frightening (and sometimes violent and illegal) exhibitions of anti-Jewish attitudes abound. As my Jewish friends tell me, now is — to put it exceedingly mildly — an alarming time to be a Jew on a college campus.
(11/20/23 3:51am)
There is no doubt that the United States values religious liberty: Freedom from government-established religion is, after all, a key right in our Constitution’s First Amendment. American universities like Princeton, which often present themselves as bastions of free thought and intellectual exploration, play a pivotal role in safeguarding this fundamental right. The relationship between religious beliefs and higher education is a multifaceted issue, encompassing the protection of students’ and faculty members’ religious expression, the accommodation of diverse faiths, and the separation of church and state within the academic realm.
(11/17/23 6:17am)
In the Nov. 7 elections all 120 seats in the New Jersey State Legislature were up for grabs, with many local mayoral and town council races also featured on the ballot. Many of these elections had a direct impact on Princeton or neighboring municipalities. We decided to ask our politically inclined columnists to reflect on the recent elections and chronicle a race, ballot, or result that they found particularly impactful.
(11/16/23 5:53am)
As Princeton’s campus has rapidly transformed, defined by extensive construction and considerable expansion, cross-campus commutes have grown longer, and students have found themselves increasingly short on time. It has become increasingly clear that “passing time,” the existing 10-minute gap between classes, does not work for Princetonians. Imposing significant limitations on everything from course scheduling to in-class engagement, it comprehensively affects the student experience and leaves students increasingly unable to participate in the intellectual moments that define a collegiate experience.
(11/15/23 3:05am)
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
(11/14/23 4:10am)
While scrolling through the “finances” section of the Daily Princetonian’s freshman demographics survey for the Class of 2027, one statistic caught my eye: Of the freshmen coming from families who made more than $500,000 annually, 44.6 percent considered themselves “upper middle class.” I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the word “middle.” As a general rule, if your family income is higher than double the median income of your region, you probably belong to the upper class. In a country where the median income is around $75,000, there is nothing middle class about earning more than half a million dollars a year. So, what compelled nearly half of the respondents to say they were in that income bracket?
(11/13/23 4:54am)
Princeton’s proclivity for celebrating excellence in sports with fire is the result of an evolving tradition. In the late 19th century, the bonfire started as a way to celebrate a baseball win that occurred over summer break, but has shifted in meaning over the years. It became an opportunity to generate hype for the football season and is now a way to recognize the football team’s wins over Harvard and Yale. Now, it’s time for the bonfire to make another evolution: To recognize the not-so-new era of female excellence in sports, Princeton should institute a bonfire tradition to celebrate a Big Three win for a women’s sports team as well.