Good morning, and happy first day of the Spring semester! In 2021, a Daily Princetonian investigation delved into the impact of the Honor Code on students. One of the facts brought to prominence in that investigation was the fact that students who are forced to repeat a semester due to a suspension are not eligible for financial aid in their repeated semester. Last semester, guest contributor Ben Gellman ’23 cited this fact in his call for students not to join the Honor Committee. Honor Committee Chair Dylan Shapiro ’23 responded by saying that “most students are found guilty of Honor Code violations at the end of the term — the Honor Committee deals most frequently with final exams — and are allowed to complete the term; thus, they would not have to repeat a semester.”

In an Opinion piece, contributing Columnist Emilly Santos cites that the Honor Committee's impact on First Generation Low Income (FLI) students go beyond the specific provision. Santos argues that FLI students may suffer from a lack of community understanding, differing from their peers “whose communities often include people who are college-educated and have been exposed to academic integrity systems similar to Princeton’s Honor Code, and may understand the process better.” Santos writes that “the University can, and should, take tangible steps towards making the Honor Code a more equitable aspect of Princeton,” through eliminating the financial aid loophole and allowing students to attach a letter of recommendation attesting to their growth post-violation to their transcript.

Today’s Briefing: 

Princeton graduate student found deceased at off-campus residence: First-year graduate student Maura Coursey was found dead on Jan. 26 at her off-campus residence. According to an email from University Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun, no foul play is suspected in her death.

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Princeton alumni in Congress share thoughts on House of Representatives speaker vote: As one of the universities with the highest number of undergrad alumni in Congress, Princeton alumni serve on both sides of the aisle. Princeton alumni shed light on the Speaker election which took 15 ballots to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi ’95 (D-Ill.) said that the “level of dysfunction that exists in the Republican Caucus ... serves as a concerning potential preview for what the next two years of Congress will look like.” Rep. Mike Gallagher ’06 (R-Wis.), however, saw this voting process as “quintessentially American,” saying, “The institution would be better served if more legislation involved the same energy we’ve seen over the past few days.”

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Emmy award winner actress Michaela Coel discusses career, taking risks at keynote Wintersession event: On Saturday, Jan. 28, Emmy and BAFTA award-winning actress Michaela Coel discussed her experience with imposter syndrome, fight for artist rights, and willingness to take risks in conversation for Wintersession’s third annual “Beyond the Resume” keynote event. 

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DATA | When’s The Best Time To Leave Princeton for NYC or Philly? We Broke It Down. 

Assistant Data Editor Ryan Konarska breaks down the total travel time to Philadelphia and New York at different times of the day on weekdays and weekends, seeing variation based on express trains and stopover times. Konarska concludes that on weekdays “the average commuting time to New York City is faster than that of Philadelphia” and “on the weekends, the average train time to Philadelphia is faster.” with a trip to New York averaging 1 hour and 25 minutes on weekdays and a trip to Philadelphia averaging 1 hour and 44 minutes. 

Sports

In a marquee matchup between two long-standing rivals, men’s basketball initially seemed poised to steal a win on Yale’s home court. However, a rough patch for the Tigers in the second half gave space for a grand comeback for Yale which sent Princeton packing with an 87–65 loss.

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At your leisure

• OPINION: The $1M Prize Every Student Should Know About 
• PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode of Daybreak, The Daily Princetonian’s daily news podcast.