‘A keener sense of sympathy’: The 2021 valedictory speech
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.
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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.
In her final letter for the spring semester, editor-in-chief Emma Treadway sends a note of encouragement. She asks, “As future leaders who are working to better the world, what is all that work without empathy and a respect for ourselves and the people we serve?”
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.
As those of us on campus begin to leave, we must continue to abide by COVID-19 health guidelines.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
The prospect of reparations for Black communities and individuals across the United States for the harms of slavery and persistently entrenched racial discrimination has been a part of public policy conversations since the post-Civil War era. In the last year, the issue has gained more traction as the nation, states, municipalities, and institutions reckon with racism in their own histories, and consider how to address those issues both now and into the future.
It turns out that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had a plan for my third and final opinion column this semester. The College for All Act 2021, introduced last week by Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), promises to be the #NewDeal4HigherEducation that America’s public colleges and universities need.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
With the window for redrawing voting districts upon us, the topic of gerrymandering should be on everyone’s radar. This article is the third and final edition in a series that explores the need for structural reform in the electoral system, the power of data to achieve these ends, and the ongoing efforts at Princeton in the Electoral Innovation Lab. You can find the first two articles of the series here.
It is a pretty safe rule of thumb to assume that no one wants to get sick. You don’t get diagnosed with, say, the flu, and then get treated under the pretext that your illness is your fault. That would be blasphemous medical practice, and everyone knows it. So, why don’t we treat mental illness the same here at Princeton?
When I read Dean of the College Jill Dolan’s announcement about the postponement of Dean’s Date until May 10, I was pleased to see the administration taking a step to support students’ mental health. The change will give many of us needed breathing room during a semester when burnout, loneliness, and grief have been all too common, and I thank the administrators who listened to students and implemented it. However, I am concerned that a delayed Dean’s Date will not adequately alleviate the stress of students with final exams. Professors must scale back their exams.
Following the indictment of former tax collector Joel Greenberg, Florida representative Matt Gaetz is under fire for alleged sexual misconduct. An inquiry is underway, investigating the possibility of Gaetz having had sex with a 17-year-old girl. I find Gaetz’s accusations so pertinent because of my closeness in age to the woman Gaetz may have had sex with — myself and my first-year female peers are merely a year older than her — and because of the frequency with which college-aged women — possibly even Princeton women — use sugar dating apps like Seeking Arrangement. It is thus out of disgust for Gaetz and concern for my colleagues who are, or are considering becoming, sugar babies, that I feel it is so important to warn Princetonians not only about Gaetz’s sexual deviancy, but also its inextricable connection to sugar dating, which can often fuel problematic behavior.
On Feb. 4, The Daily Princetonian published an investigation documenting multiple allegations of what we view as predatory behavior and sexual misconduct against classics professor Joshua Katz, some of which reach back more than a decade. Two weeks later, Katz released a statement confirming he had a relationship with a former undergraduate student that violated University rules, and revealed that the administration allowed him to resume teaching after a yearlong unpaid suspension.
Violence is quintessentially American. That’s not an opinion. There have been at least 50 mass shootings — or incidents in which at least four people have been injured or killed by gunfire — in the past month. As of writing, police have killed 292 people so far in 2021 and 985 since April 27, 2020. There is also the United States’ long history of violence against and exploitation of those deemed less valuable on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality, and ability. Violence is so American that we as a collective are largely numb to it.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is well underway in the United States with nearly 25 percent of the population being fully vaccinated. Yet the distribution of the vaccine has been far from equitable. Within the Princeton community, students face barriers to accessing the vaccine that are indicative of its uneven accessibility and reveal greater implications about healthcare throughout the country.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
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.
“Choose yourself” — the advice given by one professor after hosting a brief listening session with students before a weekly seminar class. After validating student critiques of certain University policies, this professor (who will remain nameless) acknowledged that it was up to students to assert the importance of their well-being when the University does not.