Princeton’s Department of Public Safety (PSafe) will increase patrols on campus in the wake of deadly shootings at Brown University and a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, University officials wrote in a Sunday evening email to campus.
“We are not aware of any specific threats to the campus at this time. However, out of an abundance of caution, the University’s Department of Public Safety has increased patrols,” read the email, addressed from Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun and PSafe head Kenneth Strother.
The email follows a mass shooting at Brown University that took the lives of two students and injured nine others, as well as a terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed at least 15 people.
Princeton’s move comes as other Ivy League institutions, including Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania, also issued campus communications on Sunday announcing increased security measures and heightened patrols.
The message also said that the University has communicated with Princeton’s Jewish community about additional security precautions at events marking Hanukkah, which began Sunday evening.
In a separate message on Sunday morning, Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91, the executive director of Princeton’s Center for Jewish Life (CJL), wrote that the weekend’s violence may leave people “anxious, angry, grief stricken, and unsettled” and urged students not to carry those feelings alone.
A Chanukah dinner and celebration at Chabad took place earlier Sunday at 6:30 p.m., which included a memorial for the victims of the Bondi Beach attack. Steinlauf also said the CJL will hold a Chanukah party on Tuesday at 4 p.m., with candle lighting at 4:57 p.m., and that the community will take time at these celebrations to grieve together.
“Hanukkah itself begins tonight with a single small flame, not because one flame is enough, but because one flame is how we refuse to surrender to despair. We add light, night after night, even when the world gives us reasons not to,” Steinlauf wrote.
Brown is the first Ivy League school in recent memory to have a mass shooting with multiple fatalities. The shooting took place on Saturday afternoon, killing two students and wounding nine others. As of earlier Sunday, one of the nine patients remains in critical condition.
Brown has canceled all remaining in-person final exams for Fall 2025 across the University, with the only exceptions being the Warren Alpert Medical School and the IE Brown Executive MBA program.
Remaining final exams, papers, and reports are no longer required, and students may either accept a course grade based on work completed through Dec. 13 or remotely complete remaining assignments by Jan. 7.
The attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach took place around 6:45 p.m. local time. Authorities have called it a targeted act of terrorism.
In the campus-wide email, both Calhoun and Strother highlighted the University’s support resources, encouraging students to contact Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS), Office of Religious Life chaplains, Graduate School Student Affairs staff, and residential college staff as needed.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected by these tragedies, as well as those in our community who feel their awful impact,” the email read.
Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor, senior Sports writer, and education director for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Read More
Dean of Graduate School hosts TigerSide Chat to celebrate 125th anniversary
Ambre Van de VeldePriestley highlighted Princeton’s continued leadership in graduate education, noting four new PhD programs just within the past three years: biophysics, bioengineering, quantum science, and material science engineering.
Priestley highlighted Princeton’s continued leadership in graduate education, noting four new PhD programs just within the past three years: biophysics, bioengineering, quantum science, and material science engineering.
By the Numbers: Winter sports fall into swing and history on ice
Harrison BlankThis week in By the Numbers, track & field and swim & dive set new program records and hockey had a historic weekend.
This week in By the Numbers, track & field and swim & dive set new program records and hockey had a historic weekend.
‘I thought someone was playing a prank on me’: Princeton releases early action decisions for the Class of 2030
Hayk Yengibaryan and Benedict HooperConsistent with past practice, the University did not release data on the number of students admitted through Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA).
Consistent with past practice, the University did not release data on the number of students admitted through Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA).