When Secretary of State Colin Powell comes to campus tomorrow morning to make a speech at the centennial celebration of George Kennan, he'll also receive the first Crystal Tiger Award. The undergraduate student body gives the award, its presenters claim, to "agents of progress" who have "shown us a richer humanity and inspired us to pursue it."
But Powell shouldn't be receiving the award tomorrow. It is not an award from the undergraduates. It's an award from a three-person selection committee composed of student coordinator Rishi Jaitly '04, Jacqui Perlman '05 and Harrison Frist '06.
Other students who might have been interested in such an award program were out of luck: The committee fielded no applications, instead relying on advice from student leaders and administrators to pick its members. There was no way for undergraduates to give input into what such an award should honor, who should receive it or even if an award should exist. The committee's message — intentional or not — to undergrads is clear: It's none of your business who your award goes to.
This might have been mere quibbling if the award's recipient weren't controversial. But Powell certainly has his share of detractors. His testimony before the United Nations paved the way for American military action and made him a villain in the eyes of many.
Of course, Powell's many other contributions to public life — his recent efforts to combat the global spread of AIDS, for example — may outweigh this. It isn't for us to decide on the behalf of Princeton's undergraduates. And it's not for these three students to decide either.
We recognize it's difficult to get someone of Powell's stature to come to campus to accept an award. And having a public rejection would have been very embarrassing to the committee members and damaging to the award's prospects. But it's no excuse for the charade employed to give the award legitimacy by getting Powell as its first recipient.
The committee can give an award to anyone it wants to. But to give one on behalf of unconsulted undergraduates is presumptuous.
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