Davis International Center relocates offices

“We have almost 600 undergraduate and 950 graduate international students at Princeton. In addition, we have about 800 international scholars,” Jacqueline Leighton, who took over as the new director of the Davis Center in August, said in an e-mail.

The restructuring came as Leighton’s predecessor, Paula Chow, retired earlier this year after nearly 36 years as director. The University decided to merge the cultural functions of the Davis Center, the legal services of the visa office and the academic and social functions of ODUS into a single entity.

“In the past, these three groups had to seek assistance from three different entities on campus, three different web resources and three different groups of professional and support staff with separate missions and goals and reporting structures,” Leighton explained.

With its expanded portfolio, it became apparent that the Davis Center had outgrown its old space in Frist Campus Center, Vice Provost for International Initiatives Diana Davies said in an e-mail. “The new location was critical to this reorganization project,” she explained.

“The space is light, airy and helps to create a welcoming impression for students and scholars who access services there,” Davies added.

Located at 120 Alexander St., across the street from Forbes College, the Davis Center’s new building has less student traffic than its old home.

Johanna Eriksson ’14, who is from Sweden, visited the new Davis Center for a scavenger hunt during international orientation.

“Catching up on stuff that all American kids have done in high school is the hardest part,” Eriksson said. While she has not been back to the Davis Center, she said that she has been adjusting to Princeton on her own, and “in these past few weeks, reading in English has gone so much faster.”

Similarly, Nick Ligthart ’14 of the Netherlands pointed to other linguistic and cultural struggles.

“The most difficult transition is learning to process information in your second language,” said Ligthart, who has not been to the Davis Center.

“Sometimes it’s tough because I don’t know what professors are asking of me,” he said.

Davies said that the Davis Center’s transition came with its own set of challenges.

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“A reorganization of this size and scope is never easy, especially when you have to bring offices from several parts of campus into one new location at the same time as you introduce new leadership and new responsibilities,” Davies said.

But the Davis Center has been able to deal with most of those challenges, Leighton said, explaining that “from my perspective, the restructuring is working pretty smoothly considering that the new Davis International Center opened just 10 weeks ago and I just began my position as director about eight weeks ago ... However, it is an understatement to say that change isn’t easy.”

Despite the difficulties with the move, Davies and Leighton both credited the Davis Center’s staff for a smooth transition.

“They’ve really gone above and beyond in their efforts to minimize disruption in services to international students, faculty, staff and visitors,” Davies said.

The new office provides space for Friends of the Davis International Center, a volunteer group that connects international students and scholars with host families and English conversational programs.

It also gives the Davis Center room to expand to meet future needs of a growing body of international students.

The official open house reception for the newly restructured center will be held on Nov. 18.