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(09/18/23 2:18am)
This year’s Pre-read, “How to Stand up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future,” by Maria Ressa ’86, argues that defending democracy requires no less than a transformation in how liberal societies engage in discourse — not simply specific policy prescriptions or direct action-based activism. Ressa’s call for open discourse should be resonant on a campus where free speech is considered core. Each of us must work to build such an environment. As Ressa says, effective activism can only be preserved in environments that catalyze rigorous discussion and critical thought.
(09/15/23 10:12pm)
There’s a tweet from Professor Robert George that has been stuck in my head ever since I read it. It was posted right after President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 had first said that he didn’t think Princeton’s rigorous academics were to blame for the mental health crisis on campus. George chimed in on Twitter to agree. The real problem, George suggested, was “careerism.”
(09/15/23 5:30am)
As a student at a competitive public high school, affirmative action was first mentioned to me in order to discount the college acceptances of my Hispanic and Black peers. A Latina myself, I had two questions. First, as a soon-to-be applicant to competitive universities, I wondered if it was really true that I’d be given a boost in admissions. And second, as the daughter of highly educated Venezuelan and Lebanese immigrants, I wondered why I deserved that boost for parts of my identity over which I had no control. Since then, the more I have learned about race-based affirmative action, the less convinced I have been that any of its mainstream justifications — establishing diversity on campuses, rectifying past wrongs, and correcting for unequal opportunity — have merit.
(09/14/23 2:56am)
Returning to campus in the fall, it’s hard to ignore the ways campus has changed as Princeton reshapes itself. Most striking is the transformation that has occurred just outside the windows of Yeh College and New College West. Where there were once only low grasses and daffodils, now sprout black-eyed Susan, New England aster and goldenrod. Skies are now filled with swarms of bumblebees and warblers. The southern edge of campus has been transformed into a mini-meadow, able to house many new insects frolicking alongside the undergrads beginning the fall semester.
(09/13/23 4:11am)
The Princeton community is full of idealists, activists, and outspoken thinkers. Yet it often seems like this idealism and enthusiasm for service is not carried forward as Princeton graduates move beyond the Orange Bubble. Recent studies of alumni outcomes have demonstrated an apparent lack of commitment to the values Princeton claims to promote. Only 20 percent of employed graduates of the Classes of 2016–2020 work in social impact fields. A recent analysis of prominent campus activists found that some have graduated into fields that work expressly against the values they fought to promote at Princeton. We asked our columnists, young and idealistic, still within the comforts of campus, how they hope to contribute to the world post-graduation, and what they think a Princeton education should prepare them to do.
(09/12/23 3:51am)
The phrase “In the nation’s service and the service of humanity” inevitably comes up in any conversation about Princeton and public service and is often used as a means to critique graduates’ career paths. A Princetonian who goes on to work in finance or consulting, for example, is seen as betraying the University’s core values and not acting in “the service of humanity.”
(09/11/23 2:49am)
While researching theory on aesthetic appreciation and artistic analysis in preparation for a trip to Greece with the Western Humanities Sequence last fall, I read a few chapters from a 2015 dissertation in English on romantic hellenism. When I searched for the author’s email in order to thank him for his scholarship, I expected to find him on the faculty page of a University website. Instead, I found his LinkedIn, where it turned out he had followed up his Ph.D with a stint in consulting and was currently working as a research analyst.
(09/08/23 3:27am)
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.
(09/07/23 2:27am)
As I sat in my new room, move-in debris strewn around me, I checked the weather. My eyes widened when I saw the high temperature estimates — 92 degrees, 93 degrees, 94 degrees, 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Not for the first time, I looked at my already-overworked fans and wished that my room had air conditioning.
(09/06/23 3:09am)
To the Editor:
(09/04/23 2:02am)
I was disappointed to be disappointed by this year's Pre-read, “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for our Future,” by Maria Ressa ‘86. The book has its merits — Ressa, an investigative journalist targeted by the Philippines’ illiberal government, demonstrates her character, intelligence, and skill throughout the memoir-manifesto. A co-founder of the digital news company Rappler and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, she is an excellent and courageous journalist and a fierce voice for democracy and against misinformation. And yet, I found her book profoundly unfulfilling.
(08/24/23 2:36am)
Despite the fervor with which Princeton’s administration brandishes the University motto — in the nation's service and the service of humanity — the institution’s, and its alumni’s, neglect of developing civic service and engagement opportunities indicates a lack of commitment to upholding their mantra.
(08/24/23 12:48am)
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
(08/24/23 2:44am)
“It is the duty of Harvard to receive just as many boys who have come, or whose parents have come, without our background as it can … Experience seems to place that proportion at 15 [percent],” wrote former president of Harvard University A. Lawrence Lowell in 1922. He was defending Harvard’s Jewish quota, asserting that Jewish students were simply too divergent from Harvard’s mainstream to wholly assimilate, and thus — in his words — Harvard wouldn’t be able to “effectively educate [them] in the ideas and traditions of our people” above a certain quota. Fulfilling this quota was accomplished, among other methods, through instituting legacy admissions, which have only continued to support other discriminatory admissions policies since then.
(08/18/23 10:49pm)
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
(08/18/23 6:01am)
In light of the right-wing Zionist attacks on Professor Satyel Larson’s plans to teach Dr. Jasbir Puar’s “The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability” in NES 301, we, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with Professor Larson, whose teaching and scholarship we value and admire greatly.
(08/11/23 4:36am)
Imagine some Eisgruber-shaped phantom came to you and offered you a deal. If you correctly identify which student at Princeton best embodies the phrase “in the nation’s service and the service of humanity” you will get some indispensable Princeton prize, like the right to disappear the electric scooter that almost bowled you over.
(08/10/23 2:28am)
On May 30, Larry Giberson ’23 graduated from Princeton with a degree in Politics. His graduation deserves attention because he participated in the January 6th riots at the Capitol. He has identified himself in photos at the riot and recently pleaded guilty to a felony charge of interfering with police during a civil disorder. So why did Princeton grant him a degree?
(07/27/23 2:32am)
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
(07/27/23 1:11am)
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.