When Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879, attempted to bring Oxford and Cambridge's residential college system to Princeton a hundred years ago, he envisioned a cohesive community of students who would live and dine together for four years. While the opening of Whitman College should be viewed positively as an incremental step toward this goal, it poses as many new questions for the social life and composition of the University as it attempts to answer.
Will joint meal contracts with eating clubs undermine the social cohesiveness of the colleges, fragmenting a community that could serve as an alternative to Prospect Avenue? Will the socioeconomic and racial composition of the four-year colleges come to differ from that of the eating clubs, independent students and other groups, further stratifying the campus? Alternatively, will the University's effort to foster what Wilson called "unchosen contacts" among students stifle those independent students who feel most comfortable without any organized dining system? Much less lofty than the goals of social growth through interaction, there is potential concern that an increasing number of room parties in the four-year residential colleges, in contrast to the beer-serving taprooms on the Street, may lead to more incidents of alcohol poisoning from hard liquor. While it seems far-fetched to view Meg Whitman's '77's $30 million donation resulting in the reincarnation of campus prohibition, the University will need to come to terms with the drinking issue in a way that does not undermine its attempt to provide a more socially diverse, but also popular alternative to the Street.
The scale of Whitman College is undeniably awe-inspiring, but admiration for the beautiful masonry of the college must not overwhelm our memory of its mission. One of the motivations behind the expansion of the undergraduate student body, and thus the construction of Whitman College, was the reaction of some faculty members who questioned former Dean of Admission Fred Hargadon's seeming preference for under-qualified athletes and prep-school graduates over "academic ones" and graduates of public high schools. Hargadon's admission policies were viewed by some as being in defiance of the challenge laid out by former University President William Bowen '58 to prioritize academic merit. One would hope that the newly instated four-year colleges will fulfill this goal of housing students who will increase the intellectual character of this university, and that the completion of Hargadon Hall (donated anonymously) will not set Hargadon's admissions policies into stone.
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