Despite a popular perception of Princeton as bastion of academic curiosity, many sudents say there is a widespread trend of anti-intellectualism on campus, according to a letter U-Council Chair Josh Anderson '04 presented to the Council of the Princeton University Community Monday afternoon.
"Intellectual life in the classroom . . . is not as great as it could be given the talents the students possess," Anderson said.
The letter, written by the U-Council, outlined a perceived lack of intellectual vigor at the University.
The U-Council — comprising administrators, professors, undergraduates, graduate students and alumni — interviewed students and professors to evaluate the intellectual culture on campus.
The letter summarized the concern of both professors and students that critical thought was not playing a large enough role in the lives of many undergraduates.
Among the chief concerns are a lack of outside intellectual activities, a tendancy for students to regurgitate information and the pervasive influence of the "work hard, play hard" mentality.
Many professors complained that students did not come to office hours. Students noted that their precepts lacked serious intellectual debate.
According to the U-Council letter, sociology professor Robert Wuthnow said that the biggest problem with Princeton students is that they are too "eager to please . . . and eager to conform."
The U-Council attempted not to jump to any conclusions about the causes of the problem. Rather, Anderson said the objective of the letter is to spark a dialogue, not to place blame.
According to Anderson, the idea for a formal letter to the CPUC began as an online conversation during the summer among members of the U-Council.
In his presentation to the CPUC, Anderson emphasized that the letter was not scientific, as intellectual vitality is difficult to measure and no formal statistical sample was taken. Anderson also said that the report only highlighted an "overarching trend."
The letter emphasized that the U-Council does "not have any reason to believe that this problem is unique to Princeton." The council sought rather to defend students from some of the criticism, suggesting that a lack of time was a more likely explanation for any lack of intellectual vitality, such as a possible exhaustion from extra-curricular activities.
"The curiosity is there, just not the time," the U-Council wrote.
The U-Council has come up with several ideas on how to better the intellectual climate at the University, Anderson said.
The council will recommend that President Tilghman create a task force to look into the University's intellectual climate.
The council will also recommend that the University appropriate more money to Paideia, a University group dedicated to the free exchange of ideas.
"We're really trying to make ourselves relevant to student concerns," Anderson said.
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