Today’s Briefing: 

PRINCETON COMMUNITY REACTS TO RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE: On Monday, Feb. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized troops stationed on the Russia-Ukraine border to invade two separatist, pro-Moscow regions in Ukraine and delivered a speech in which he declared his intent to formally recognize these regions’ independence. University students, faculty, and community members with personal connections to the country spoke to The Daily Princetonian about the newest development, sharing their concerns about the safety of family members and relating their fears about the possibility of war erupting in Ukraine.

Editor's Note: When this article was published at 9:16 p.m., the conflict between Russia and Ukraine had not been escalated to military invasion. At 10:23 p.m., several international news sources reported that Russian President Putin ordered a military invasion into the Donbas region of Ukraine.

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PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRESIDENT TO RETIRE: In a letter issued to the Seminary community on Feb. 2, M. Craig Barnes, current president of the Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS), announced his plans to retire after the 2022–2023 academic year. Barnes has served as the Seminary’s president since 2013 and graduated from the Seminary in 1981 with a Master of Divinity degree. In a written statement to the ‘Prince,’ PTS Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jacqueline Lapsley noted Barnes’ leadership and commitment to institutional progress, which includes the Seminary’s ongoing effort to reckon with the PTS’s fraught history of involvement with slavery.

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PRINCETON COMMITTEE ON PALESTINE HOLDS DEMONSTRATION: On Tuesday, Feb. 22, members of the Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP) held a demonstration outside of the Center for Jewish Life (CJL) that they said aimed to protest University-sponsored internships in Israel. The demonstration was organized by Eric Periman ’23, co-president of the PCP, and Harshini Abbaraju ’22. At around 7 p.m., approximately 20 participants gathered outside the CJL, many of holding signs with slogans including, “We Oppose Summer Programs in Israel” and “Don’t Make Occupation Your Occupation.” At around 8 p.m., a similarly sized group of counter-protestors affiliated with the CJL gathered, many of whom held up the Israeli flag.

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UNIVERSITY INVESTIGATES INCIDENT OF LEWDNESS AT FRIST CAMPUS CENTER: On Thursday, Feb. 3, a TigerAlert detailing “a report of an individual masturbating in a room on the second floor of Frist Campus Center” was sent out to students.

A University spokesperson told the ‘Prince’ that “the University is investigating the issue and taking action through appropriate channels." "We do not believe this will be an ongoing issue for the community," the spokesperson said. One student who said she witnessed the incident of lewdness spoke to the 'Prince' about the University's actions in the wake of the event.

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OPINION | Bureaucracies like Princeton trust the science until they don’t

Senior Columnist Braden Flax casts scrutiny on the truism “trust the science,” arguing that this well-meaning statement fails to consider the implications of accepting it at face value. Drawing on real-life examples at the University, Flax emphasizes that trust-the-science rhetoric often leads to the adoption of questionable measures informed by conclusions that do not concur with the overwhelming scientific evidence. In the context of the University’s COVID-19 response, Flax writes that current measures distort the science to accommodate the bureaucratic needs of organizing midterms week, endangering vulnerable members of the University community in the process.

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OPINION | Free speech rules cannot be written without marginalized voices at the table

Senior Columnist Mohan Setty-Charity argues that although curtailing the right to freedom of speech can impede the quality of meaningful debates on a variety of topics, the rules regarding protected speech nevertheless necessitate some revisiting in this day and age to address the fact that such rules were devised in antiquated contexts. As the makeup of the academic community and broader political environment changes, free speech rules must reflect these dynamic developments in order to protect marginalized groups from being stifled by harassment and hate speech, writes Setty-Charity.

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SPORTS | Volker ’19 shines at the Olympics, Meyers ’22 named semifinalist for prestigious basketball award

• PRINCETON GRADUATE COMPETES IN BOBSLEDDING AT WINTER OLYMPICS: Charlie Volker ’19, a former Princeton football and track star, picked up bobsledding in 2020 after NFL minicamps were canceled due to COVID-19. Recently, he finished 10th in the four-man bobsled event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the only Princeton graduate to represent Team USA at this year’s Olympics. Read more about his athletic journey here.

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYER RECOGNIZED AS SEMIFINALIST FOR PRESTIGIOUS AWARD: Senior guard Abby Meyers, a member of the Princeton women’s basketball team, has recently received acclaim on the national stage. On Wednesday, Feb. 23, Meyers was named a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year. Named after Becky Hammon, a star player in the Mountain West Conference at Colorado State, the award is given out annually to recognize a player who excels outside of the bigger conferences in Division I. Read more about Meyer’s triumph here.

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