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In January of this year, postdocs gathered at Nassau Hall with a petition longer than the length of the Nassau Hall steps, calling for “a salary that covers the cost of housing, food, and childcare in Princeton.” This protest followed two days after the minimum salary was raised from $54,850 to $65,000 by the University. 

Princeton University postdocs and scholars asked for “the same 25 percent raise that graduate students received in 2022 (to $68,500), a yearly increase to track continued inflation, and an experience-based scale to acknowledge the value we bring to Princeton over time.” Harrison Ritz and Judy Kim, organizers of the January protest, told the ‘Prince’ that they “want to be a part of the process” and they “want fair compensation for [their] labor.”

On Tuesday, Dec. 5, Princeton University Postdoctoral Scholars union (PUPS) “officially announce[d] a card campaign for postdoc unionization.” The rally, organized by PUPS, consisted of “roughly 100 postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates.” 

Postdocs at a number of other universities have already unionized — among them are the Columbia, Rutgers, and the University of California.

This is not the first unionization effort in 2023 on Princeton’s campus — in February, Princeton Graduate Students United (PGSU) held a rally in support of unionization, calling for fair and effective grievance procedures, improved international student support, better healthcare and funded childcare, among other demands. The postdocs’ demands echo many of the demands of the graduate students.

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Analysis by Victoria Davies

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OPINION | Acknowledgement is not enough: Princeton must tangibly support the enslaved communities that built it

Contributing Columnist Ava Johnson argues that Princeton should follow other top universities, including the University of Virginia, in creating funds aimed towards positively impacting descendants of formerly enslaved communities from which it benefited. She writes, “Princeton has clearly expressed its goal to serve the nation, but in order to do so, it must attempt to correct its participating role in the history of American injustice. Creating a program that promotes the enrollment of students who belong to communities previously oppressed by the University is a tangible way to right these past wrongs.”

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Add a climate course to Princeton’s distribution requirements: Contributing Columnist Leo Yu proposes instituting an 11th distribution requirement that forces students to study the intersection of the climate crisis with various academic fields at Princeton. He writes, “An eleventh general education requirement – the Anthropocene and Planetary Future (APF) – should be implemented to require that a student take a class that deals in some meaningful way with the climate crisis.”

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SPORTS | From hobby joggers to regular racers, Princeton Running Club offers a home for all

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THE PROSPECT | Taiko: a community that performs and grows to the beat of their own drums

Contributing Prospect Writer Connor Romberg brings attention to Taiko, a student group on campus that performs an ancient Japanese drum tradition. He covers the innovative ways that Princeton Taiko brings traditional Japanese music to its students, the closeness of its community, and the rigorous preparation that goes into their performance.

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At your leisure

• PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode of Daybreak, The Daily Princetonian’s daily news podcast. Today, we cover an Opinion piece discussing a program to provide admissions assistance to the descendants of enslaved people at the University of Virginia, racoon attacks on members of the Princeton community, a home explosion in Virginia, and the death of 85 civilians in a Nigerian airstrike.