Tigers and tots team up for Kids Day

As the band belted a round of Louie Louie, and the players spilled onto the court at Friday's Harvard-Princeton men's basketball game, 5-year-old Philip Tsien gazed, wide-eyed, at the excitement before him.

Clutching a plastic souvenir cup, with a tiger tail peeking from behind him, he happily sipped his Coca-Cola and watched his favorite team, the Tigers, warm up.

Tsien, a kindergartner at Riverside Elementary, and about 30 other community children ages 5 to 13 received free admission to Friday's game and a pizza party catered by dining services as part of USG's Kids Day on Campus program.

"The three-part series, including a cartoon showing in Frist last December and an all-day story reading at Cotsen Library scheduled for April, is designed to foster the University's commitment to welcoming community members to campus," said Nina Langsam '03, USG's campus and community affairs chair.

"We want to make the community aware of the vibrant student life on campus, and we want the students to be more knowledgeable about the community . . . to feel like [Princeton] is their home and that they know the people in their neighborhood," said Langsam, who coordinates the program.

To encourage this one-on-one interaction, Princeton student volunteers from such varied groups as Manna Christian Fellowship, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and the Student Volunteers Council, paired with local children and ensured that their young buddies enjoyed rooting for the orange and black.

"I think its a fun way for us to interact, and it gives us a chance to spend some time with community kids," said Stacia Birdsall '02, who watched the game with 9-year-old Moriah Akrong.

Akrong, a fourth grader at Littlebrook Elementary, agreed.

"I like basketball and I like the food, pizza, chips and funnel cake, and I like my partner and being here with my friend," she said. "I feel lucky. Not a lot of people get to go to basketball games . . . I got to go for free."

The University athletics department donated the complimentary tickets and tiger tails for all the children, who proudly displayed their Princeton spirit from the stands.

"I feel good because I don't normally see Princeton games unless I have the opportunity," said 12-year-old Tuwmaa Parker, a seventh grader at John Witherspoon Middle School, who plays in the early morning basketball league held in Dillon Gym.

Parents also echoed their children's excitement for Kids Day on Campus.

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"I think its a great program and I hope there are more programs like this," said Tsiens mother, Shira Cao.

And as the Tigers shot basket after basket, both community children and University students cheered them on to victory.

"I think it was successful," Langsam said, "because the kids enjoyed themselves and they were surprised that we had gifts for them commemorative water bottles and tiger tails, and the student volunteers got to know the kids in the community."

"Its exciting to burst the Princeton bubble and to see that there are real people beyond the gates," Langsam added.