No changes are planned in the University schedule because of the war with Iraq.
University officials say, however, that they are strengthening security and disseminating emergency guidelines while health and religion officials stand ready to help members of the community in need.
Students return to class today from Spring Break during a military conflict that has claimed several dozen allied lives in its first four days and revealed some of the worst ground fighting in a generation. At least one member of the armed services from New Jersey has been captured by enemy forces.
Borough Police and Public Safety have been training officers to spot suspicious behavior since the government increased the national terrorist alert level last week. Public Safety has issued updates by email and through a preparedness link on the University homepage.
University and Borough officials say the threat to the University area is low and that there has not been any threat, but acknowledge that the University's national reputation could make it a target.
University students in Army ROTC will not be called to action, though University alumni are now waging the war. Among them are Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld '54 and Maj. Gen. David Patraeus GS '87, who commands the 101st Airborne at Camp New Jersey, Kuwait. In addition, groups supporting and opposing the war plan rallies in the upcoming days.
The Office of Religious Life is planning a prayer service at 12:30 p.m. today in the University Chapel, titled an "Interfaith Service of Prayer in Time of War."
A University emergency preparedness task force formed after Sept. 11, 2001, has decided not to set up an emergency center in Frist Campus Center, as after the terrorist attacks. The task force is especially concerned about students, faculty and staff who may have relatives involved in the war, said its chair, Vice President for Administration Charles Kalmbach '68. Two staff members from the reserves have been called up to serve, according to Human Resources.
Health Services says it has counselors available. It also sent out an email last week about an elusive respiratory epidemic in the Far East. Health Services Director Daniel Silverman said he doesn't expect problems here.
"We're operating on a regular schedule. We have issued alerts and asked everyone to take precautions in terms of visiting the website, making sure they are up to date and familiar with emergency procedures," said Lauren Robinson-Brown '85, University director of communications. "Our prime purpose is academic, and we still expect student to complete their assignments and attend class, and we can imagine that current events will make their way into class discussions, and that's normal."
Security
There have not been any security problems so far, said Donald Reichling, acting associate director of Public Safety. His officers have been training to look for unusual activity on campus and have been keeping campus traffic to a minimum.
Borough Police has bought crowd control equipment and some new weaponry. "The likelihood of terrorist activity in Princeton is very remote," said Borough Police Chief Charles Davall. "What we're doing with our officers is having them at the highest sense of awareness."
Borough Police is also working with Public Safety, setting up an agreement by which police can fill in for Public Safety officers, and officers for police, when demands are high.
Protest
The Princeton Peace Network held several antiwar rallies last week, including on Palmer Square and at the Wilson School. Zia Mian, a leading figure in PPN, said: "We've moved away from the first phrase, of what many of us see as an illegal war."
Now, he said, they would move to a second phase, focusing on the conduct of the war. Regular antiwar rallies are held on Saturdays by Palmer Square.
The Princeton Committee against Terrorism is planning a counter rally next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Context
Vice President for Public Affairs Robert Durkee '69 put the war in context. He was a student reporter for The Daily Princetonian during the Vietnam War and was at the University as an administrator during the first Gulf war in 1991.
Comparing Vietnam, the first Gulf war and the present war, he said, "Each of these three situations are very different . . .When I was at Princeton in the mid '60s, the war had a sense of evolution over time to the point there were was out and out combat . . . It had a much more direct impact on students because of the draft and because of the fact that as a student, you might be personally take part in the war. That's not true now."
During the first Gulf war, he said, students felt distant from the war and noted how it was quick and had the clearly defined objective of repelling the Iraqi advance into Kuwait.
"Whether there's any connection between the attacks of Sept. 11 and this war or not, this was is certainly happening in the post-Sept. 11 world," he said. "I don't recall much campus discussion about the [first] Gulf war on either side. Whereas this time, of course, you had people on campus who have spoken out on either side."
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