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In August of 2022, Kate McKinley, a former University budget analyst, filed a lawsuit against Princeton on the grounds of religious discrimination, alleging that University officials harassed and fired her due to her faith-based objections to the University’s COVID-19 masking and testing policies. The lawsuit was dismissed for a second time last week, likely marking the end of McKinley's legal battle against the University.

A similar case was successfully combated by Rutgers University in 2021, in which a federal judge decided not to block Rutgers University’s vaccine mandate. In that case, the judge found that the plaintiffs “failed to demonstrate the action was likely to succeed or that the plaintiffs would face irreparable harm.” Similar cases in other states have been similarly unsuccessful for the plaintiffs.

The dismissal marks a symbolic end to the at-times all-consuming campus debates about COVID-19 policies that dominated discussion in 2021 and parts of 2022.  The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most disruptive events in the University’s history. Many of its effects, such as increasing digitization and some admissions policies, remain, while the immediate memory has faded significantly. In a March 2023 special issue, The Daily Princetonian looked back at the lingering impacts of the pandemic on the campus community.

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Analysis by Olivia Chen

OPINION | Prospective Class of 2028, take a look at Princeton beyond the ‘Prince’

Columnist Davis Hobley argues that prospective Princeton students shouldn’t be dissuaded by the largely negative articles published by the ‘Prince’ and notes that there are positive aspects of the University left out of the mainstream. He writes, “While the ‘Prince’ is a valuable asset that works for the benefit of the entire student body at Princeton, I urge prospective students to not take its published articles as their entire representation of the University.”

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FEATURES | A nature haven in Princeton’s backyard

At your leisure

• PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode of Daybreak, The Daily Princetonian’s daily news podcast. Today, we cover an opinion on the ‘Prince’s influence on prospective students, the sentencing of the Oxford High School shooter, and the recent influx of Rohingya refugees on Indonesian shores.
• THE PROSPECT: Nine new fall albums to listen to: Contributing Writer Ivy Chen presents a series of newly-released, diverse albums to accompany your commute in the crisp, cool air.