University to reform guide for minorities

Harvard University recently published a 322-page encyclopedic guide of useful and humorous information about black life on the Cambridge campus. The book, published by Harvard's Black Student Association, claims to have all the answers to the question, "What does every black student at Harvard College need to know?"

Although no new book is planned at the University, students of color here have access to a smaller publication with a similar purpose — "Thriving at Princeton." Written by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, the publication is distributed at the Carl A. Fields Center and online. University officials said they plan to revamp the publication for the Class of 2007.

The Harvard book, which contains "lots of practical advice and some caustic commentary," was written specifically with black students in mind. It lists black faculty at Harvard as well as a guide to beauty salons in the area.

Ayana Harry '05, vice president of the Princeton Black Student Union, thought that such information would be extremely helpful to minority students at the University.

Like the Harvard guide, "Thriving at Princeton" is written to provide guidance for students from minority backgrounds. It is more expansive than the Harvard book, however, and is meant for all students of color, not just black students. It provides a history of minority students at the University, from a Delaware Indian in 1762 to a free black in 1795 to Japanese and Chinese students in the early 1900's.

"Thriving at Princeton" includes a generic guide to resources on campus, like the Writing Center, Frist Campus Center, Firestone Library and the Art Museum. In addition, it lists all the ethnic student organizations as well as those dealing with race relations, such as Sustained Dialogue.

The University pamphlet has been published for a number of years and is distributed to all students who attend the "Thriving at Princeton" program during Freshman Orientation, said Kathleen Deignan, dean of undergraduate students.

"While we have regularly updated the information in the booklet (every other year), I think there is probably more that could be done, not only graphically, to make the publication more attractive, but also to increase its availability," Deignan said in an email.

A group of University students, including several leaders of the BSU, will be giving the dean of undergraduate students, Kathleen Deignan feedback so that the publication can be updated and improved, Dickerson said.

The publication also gives information on fellowships for minority students, such as the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship Program, which selects five students after their sophomore year to participate in research in field research.

"Thriving at Princeton" also provides a guide to places of worship that may be of interest to students of color. However, the publication itself is not as highly geared towards black students as is the Harvard encyclopedia.

"It's things that administrators think are pertinent to students, not necessarily what students think are important," Harry said.

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"I think that a lot of resources that would be helpful to African Americans are spread out on campus and it's hard for a lot of students to sort through all the material freshman year to figure it out," Harry said.

She also said including information that is overlooked in other publications would be useful.

"We would like to add more information on student organizations and how to get involved, cultural things like where to get haircuts or where to get good ethnic food, administrators who can help you," she added.