Rebuilding the face of Princeton

When a student thinking about applying to Princeton looks at a college guide, invariably the entry for Princeton University applauds our beautiful campus. The guide probably describes how imposing gothic spires, beautiful stone arches, and stained glass windows all combine to give students a sense of awe which is part of what makes this school so special. Unfortunately, that rosy picture is only true for half of the campus, and a complete farce for the other half. When one sees the "real" Princeton, much of it is quite ugly. There are no pictures of Princeton's beautiful architecture taken below Dillon Gymnasium, for there is no beautiful Princeton architecture to take pictures of.

Princeton has fallen victim to individual benefactors who insist that their buildings be made in a "unique" style. However, not only are the buildings ugly, but the individual contributions with which they are built often makes it hard to alter or replace them. By compromising the architectural consistency of this school, we are losing an integral part of what makes Princeton so special. Princeton has an enormous endowment at its disposal, which should make it unnecessary to kowtow to individuals who want special "distinctive" architecture for their namesake buildings. Administrators should take advantage of the construction of the new Whitman College to replace Butler and even Wilson Colleges, restoring Princeton's beauty for all to admire once again.

The major problems present in Princeton's architecture were obvious even before I got to campus. During Outdoor Action, our group leaders were very intent on finding out what buildings we were living in freshman year and assessing extent of the (possible) damage. I was fortunate enough to draw into Walker Hall, which is quite presentable. However, most of the students in Wilson and Butler Colleges were not nearly so lucky. Wilson is a collection of formless boxes (Gauss), and Butler is a waffle-ceilinged amalgamation of singles and doubles that should never have seen the light of day. It is an outrage for students here to have to put up with, "Oh, I'm so sorry you have to live in Butler," every time someone asks where they live on campus. Needless to say, Wilson and Butler are not the only bad residential buildings on campus. But they are undoubtedly the ugliest, inside and out. Please indulge my presumptuousness when I say I expected better at Princeton; unfortunately, it's largely true. I think we all expected better.

So what can be done? The building of a new residential college poses its own problems, yet presents a good opportunity to stem Princeton's increasing unsightliness. Since the construction of Whitman creates an unoccupied residential college, why not simply delay the admittance of new students, transfer Butler students into Whitman, and then rebuild (the newly vacant) Butler College entirely? The exact same procedure could then be repeated for Wilson College. It would take no more than ten years, and then Princeton would have six fully-functional beautiful colleges. There is no pressing need to rush the founding of Whitman, or to admit new students, as it is evident (at least from my friends) that Princeton students really don't want the new size increase in the first place. Extending the same gothic beauty to all Princeton students would be a worthy way to spend some of the endowment, as Princeton should care about the well-being of its students as well as the quality of the education it provides. Princeton has established a higher standard in almost everything it does; it would be appropriate to extend this standard to our dormitories. It would also prevent thousands of parents from asking the inevitable question: "Why don't you live in those nice dorms up-campus?"

As mentioned before, it might be difficult to convince the College's namesakes to permit reconstruction of their buildings. However, if the Butlers knew that their beloved college's nickname is a non-euphemized form of "back-side," they might quickly reconsider. But most importantly, it would benefit the students who have to live in these dorms. Even though the inconvenience of rebuilding Butler and Wilson would fall on students who would likely graduate before reaping any benefits, it would be a small price to pay in order to fix one of Princeton's most obvious flaws.

All of Princeton must be made beautiful again. With all the restoration and renovation that goes into preserving the campus's character, there should be some effort made to give all students a chance to enjoy Princeton's beauty as it was meant to be. Because of the building of Whitman College, the administration has a golden opportunity to use the vacant space to rebuild Butler and Wilson Colleges and make them places where students will want to live. If the trustees truly want to make a lasting impression on the University, they should not be content with making the student body larger. Instead, the Trustees should provide all students with dormitories that they are proud to call home. David Sillers is from Potomac, Md. He can be reached at dsillers@princeton.edu.