In response to the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, University administrators spent Tuesday organizing relief efforts for students, faculty and staff.
Though local universities such as the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University have canceled classes and closed offices, Princeton University remained open Tuesday.
"We made the decision that we would continue to operate the University on a normal schedule, for the very simple reason that the express purpose of terrorism is to disrupt people's lives. And we do not intend to let that happen," President Tilghman said.
The University has organized a 24-hour response center in the Frist Campus Center to assist the campus community.
The response center will provide counselors for students, faculty and staff, help contact relatives and arrange transportation for those who need to be with family.
In addition, the University's Public Safety has strengthened security in response to the events, Crime Prevention Specialist Barry Weiser said.
He added that the University is cooperating with local law enforcement groups in surveillance of the area.
About 200 people gathered Tuesday afternoon at a "town meeting" in Robertson Hall, where a faculty panel discussed the emotional, moral and political implications of the events.
Earlier in the day, administrators informed students of an all-campus gathering that would take place later that night. However, the meeting did not take place and may occur later this week.
The Office of Religious Life sponsored a "vigil for peace and understanding" in McCosh courtyard. And Tilghman addressed the freshman class in Richardson Auditorium about the day's events.
Instead of the scheduled topic of diversity, Wilson School professor Fred Hitz, a scholar on international terrorism, urged freshmen to think about what kind of frustration could have prompted these crimes.
After the meeting, counselors debriefed students in the residential colleges, and religious groups held services.
While Tilghman denounced the terrorist attack, she also used it as a starting point to reaffirm the University's mission of education for the upcoming academic year.
"Our foremost priority today has been to come together as a community and to understand how something like this could have happened in our midst and begin grieving and healing together," she said.
"The second priority is to defeat the intent of the terrorists," she added. "What has transpired today is antithetical to everything we stand for in the academy."
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