Admission takes over Orange Key

Beginning July 1, the Princeton Orange Key Guide Service will operate under the Admission Office instead of University Services.

In a joint interview last Thursday, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye and Orange Key chair Alexie Rothman '07 insisted that the organization, which is responsible for campus tours, would remain independent. Some tour guides, however, worry that this is not the case.

"We really see the next three to four years as building years for the way we present this campus, because there will be many, many new things to talk about," Rapelye said.

Rothman agreed. "We only have a limited amount of time with our visitors," she said. "There's so much information about Princeton that we want to give out to our visitors, so if we can sort of cut down on the information that both parties don't need to give, we can enhance the overall campus visitor experience."

Rothman said that volunteer guides would continue to be chosen in a rigorous process by senior members of Orange Key, which currently accepts half of the students who apply to be guides.

But some members of the organization are not pleased with the change.

"I'm not a huge fan of the switch," said Diana Weiner '07, a current Orange Key guide who was an officer last year. She said she was primarily concerned by the potential "molding" of tours by the Admission Office.

"One of the things that I really like [about Orange Key] is that when I talk to a tour group, I emphasize the fact that I don't come from the Admission Office, that I'm a student who wants other students to come," she said.

Weiner said she would no longer include the remark in her tours. "It's not going to be true as of July 1," she said.

Weiner's fears were not allayed by assurances from the Admission Office that guides will still be at liberty to speak freely.

"That's a very major concern, that this is what they're saying now, but in the future, the Admission Office might be trying to slant [our] point of view," she said. "Rapelye will probably not admit it, but I'm not convinced."

Rothman argued that Orange Key guides would not lose their independence.

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"I think that the most important part of the student-run aspect of Orange Key is in the flexibility and freedom that Orange Key guides have to design their tours and really give a personal spin on what makes Princeton so special, and by no means is that going to change," she said.

Natalie Ram '04, an alumna who was an Orange Key guide, said that the proposal of switching from University Services to the Admission Office was "being tossed around" when she was a senior. "There are benefits to coordinating with admissions, simply because I think the vast majority of people who go on tours are prospective students," she said.

Ram said, though, that she did have some reservations.

"In the end of it, I don't know whether if I were still a tour guide I would be either indifferent or upset about the move to incorporate under admissions," she said. "My big concern would be knowing why there's an interest in moving Orange Key under admissions, and if the interest is in giving Admission a greater control over what goes on the tour, then there might be legitimate room for concerns."

Rapelye made it clear she was not interested in control. "I see this as communication," she said. "We will have more moments to communicate, and we would want that communication anyway."

She added that since she's been at Princeton, the Admission Office has always reviewed the "Guide for Guides," the manual for tour guides and would continue to do so.

Rothman, for her part, said that the historical component of the tour would remain. "Speaking with Dean Rapelye, she's stressed to me how important tour guides are, not only for admitted students, but also for the role of preserving history and speaking to that Princeton spirit," she said.

Ultimately, however, Orange Key's independence may be preserved because the Admission Office values the group's autonomy, Rothman said.

"Dean Rapelye has mentioned — and I agree with her on this — that the perception that tour guides are honest and giving their unbiased opinion of the University is really important for a tour visit," she said.