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Princeton's 276th Commencement ceremony took place on May 30th. After speeches by the Baccalaureate speaker, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and the Class Day speaker Terri Sewell ’86 — both of which centered their addresses around services — University President Christopher Eisgruber's theme was “free expression and full inclusivity for people of all identities.” 

Eisgruber has discussed free speech for years, but has recently focused on casting free speech as a progressive value, as he did in his Commencement address. He recently spoke at an event hosted by the Princeton Progressive Law Society, where he said, "I want to, among other things, urge progressives to embrace free speech as an ideal and as a practice and to take pride in the progressive heritage of that concept." Reflecting on Eisgruber's speech, Columnist Matthew Wilson criticized the President's Commencement address, saying it was a "partisan sermon."

In addition to President Eisgruber, Dean Dolan recognized and acknowledged the impact of this year’s graduates in her address, valedictorian Aleksa Milojević reflected on the beauty of Princeton and looked to their futures, and salutatorian Annabelle Duval spoke (in Latin) about the challenges of the pandemic and commented on Princeton’s historic March Madness run this year.

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Analysis by Olivia Chen

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Familiar campus expansion and diversity themes, no affirmative action details in President Eisgruber’s annual address: In his annual address to University alumni, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 addressed a bevy of relevant topics, including ongoing efforts to ensure diversity within the student body, the benefits of campus expansion, and combating the effects of technological disruption on “getting lost in thought.” Despite the imminent Supreme Court decision that pundits anticipate will spell the end of affirmative action, Eisgruber offered no concrete steps as to the University’s plans for preserving racial diversity.

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Masheke elected as YAT, 22 percent participate in election: On May 26, 2023, Mutemwa Raphael Masheke ’23 was elected Young Alumni Trustee (YAT), a victory that was formally announced at the Annual Meeting of the Alumni Council. The election process was defined by various contentions regarding campaign restrictions and characteristically low voter turnout.

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• Packed Reunions features a service project and grand P-rade
• Legal experts minimize impact of affirmative action decision at alumni panel
• Congresswoman Terri Sewell ’86 stresses public service in Class Day address

OPINION | Minors have a purpose. Don't let administrative obstacles get in the way.

Contributing Columnist Aly Rashid argues that the minor program should be expansive and should not let current administrative difficulties get in the way of its core purpose: encouraging the study of a secondary field. Specifically, Rashid contends that the introduction of minors should provide students with the opportunity to “pursue in-depth departmental study” without feeling that their degree progress is being compromised in the process. Rashid considers that the University should consider removing the independent work requirement for those pursuing a minor to make minors serve more students.

“Princeton’s steps towards a formal minors program add to the rich opportunities for in-depth education in various departments present at Princeton. However, this process will only be efficient if the grievances and barriers that were present in the preexisting certificate system are removed. Let these new minors remove old major obstacles,” writes Rashid.

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MORE FROM OPINION: 

• On Eisgruber's commencement sermon
• Why aren’t we talking about the Committee on Discipline?
• To better serve Princeton students, Firestone Library should expand its hours

DATA | Which classes are more likely to have final exams? Here's what we found.

The Daily Princetonian Data team explored the final exam schedules for University courses, finding that 133 out of 1332 total courses had in-person final examinations during the 2023 spring semester. In other interesting findings, exams skew towards the natural sciences, language courses and intro-level courses, tend to be held in McCosh Hall, East Pyne Hall, and the Friend Center. Check out the results of the Data team’s deep dive into final exams here.

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• Seven SPIA majors honored at Class Day 2023

SPORTS | Year in Review: The best Tiger moments of 2022-23 

After being ranked the No. 14 athletic program in the country, Princeton not only boasts the best undergraduate education in the world, but the best athletic program in the Ivy League. Associate editor for Sports Brian Mhando highlights key moments of entire programs and key athletes from this past academic year.

Teams such as men’s and women’s basketball and water polo, women’s rowing, and Tiger fencing had historic seasons, along with many other sports.

Top individual performances are highlighted, from an NFL draft pick, to two podium finishes in men’s wrestling, to a national championship in track and field. Tigers dominated in and beyond the Ivy League.

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