Campus views on survey diverge

More than a week after the results of a University-wide race survey were released, campus attitudes toward the report and its implications range from skeptical to hopeful.

Student leaders and University officials have begun to address concerns raised by the survey, emphasizing the need for collaboration.

Vice President of Campus Life Janet Dickerson said in an email, "I was struck by the depth of students' satisfaction, or dissatisfaction with, the dining environment for upperclass students, and the correlations of satisfaction with the current system(s) to race/ethnicity and income."

The survey — presented Feb. 14 at a Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meeting — compiled 2,477 responses to an email questionnaire on topics including self-segregation, the Street and perceptions of racial integration on campus. The coordinators of the survey have said they intend to leave policy recommendations primarily to campus groups.

Several students said they were not surprised by the survey's findings. Danielle Hamilton '07, vice president of the Black Student Union (BSU), said much of the survey confirmed her current beliefs about campus life.

She added that she was surprised by the number of respondents who shared her discomfort with the eating clubs' role as the University's chief social scene.

"I thought I and three of my friends didn't like the Street," she said. "I was surprised by the bulk of people who responded that way."

Hamilton said her remedy to this problem would entail significant changes to the way eating clubs operate.

"I would like to have the eating clubs be randomly assigned like the residential colleges," she said. "That way, there wouldn't be as much exclusivity."

The Dining and Social Options Task Force will issue a report addressing student concerns at the end of the semester, Dickerson said.

"All students deserve to have great dining choices, not just alternatives or 'options,' " she added.

The administration is also exploring ways to make the Carl A. Fields Center into "more of a destination for late-night social activities," Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan said in an email.

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Fields Center Director Makeba Clay and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne will brainstorm additional ideas together with students later in the semester, Deignan said.

Student response

The race survey was on the agenda at a BSU executive meeting Tuesday night, said Candace Lee '06, the organization's president.

But she added that brainstorming solutions shouldn't solely be the domain of campus student groups.

"Because of the four-year rotation of students, it's hard to get things done when [addressing these issues] is left up to student groups — it's easier for Princeton to remain stagnant," she said. "It's kind of like reinventing the wheel."

Lee added in a follow-up email that she "[doesn't] want to shortchange the accomplishments of the students who do change the environment," but believes general institutional change can't be left up to students alone.

Juan Gonzalez '06, former president of the Chicano Caucus, said that attempts to remedy such problems should focus in part on the admissions process.

"It all starts with recruitment of high school students," he said. "When I was in high school, I felt like Harvard and Yale were really recruiting me, but Princeton didn't do that. I think the admissions office has a key role to play."

The fact that some minority students feel an inability to connect with faculty was also somewhat troubling, said Dylan Hogarty '06, president of the University's College Republicans.

"I was particularly concerned about the data regarding academics," he said.

Hogarty added that he hopes the survey will spark campus discussion of the issues highlighted in the report.

"There's no reason to be hasty [about implementing new policies], but I hope we can have a really thoughtful discussion of these issues," he said.

More information needed

Gonzalez and other students called for additional analysis of the data. "There was so much quantitative data, but hardly any of it had been analyzed thoroughly," Gonzalez said.

He said he would like to see the standard deviations for different racial groups' responses to questions in order to determine to what extent opinions differed within racial groups.

Much of the survey's current findings merely confirm what minority students already realized, he added.

"To minorities, not much of the survey presented things we didn't already know," Gonzalez said. "OK, African-Americans don't like it here as much as whites do. Hispanics don't like it as much as whites do. We already knew that."

Students will need to take initiative for change to occur, according to Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Rachel Baldwin, whose job includes addressing multicultural affairs on campus.

"I think that a multifaceted approach will be most appropriate," she said in an email. "While I think that administration should continue to provide resources, services and outlets for students, I equally believe that students must be fully vested in the process in order for positive change to occur."