New banner rules, budget breakdown at last CPUC meeting of the year

The final Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meeting of the academic year included presentations on changes to rules surrounding posters and banners at University events, reviewed the 2027 fiscal year budget, and discussed possible modifications to rules surrounding recordings of CPUC meetings.

The updated banner and flag policy, which allows the University to restrict signs to less than six-by-three feet in size at certain ceremonial University events, comes weeks before Baccalaureate, Class Day, and Commencement — events that have seen protests in recent years. 

No questions were submitted for the question and answer period. Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun started the meeting with a report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Climate, Culture, and Conduct. 

She covered the committee’s efforts to develop a four year curriculum and expand training on sexual safety. “Each year, there is an opportunity for students to engage with understanding sexual misconduct and interpersonal violence and actually engaging in prevention,” she said.

Calhoun highlighted the group’s efforts to communicate through focus groups with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, a group that has reported higher rates of sexual violence on campus. The committee also worked with student leaders and University Services to address places on campus that have a “sense of greater vulnerability” due to a lack of lighting at night.

Calhoun also announced that the group would be reorganized as a subcommittee under the University Student Life Committee (USLC). Hazing and mental health groups will undergo similar restructuring efforts and become USLC subcommittees.

Next, Provost Jennifer Rexford ’91 detailed that the University’s budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which starts in July, will see slower rates of growth and cuts to many University programs. In his “State of the University” letter in February, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 outlined a budgetary shift “from growth to focus” due to lowered endowment return projections and uncertainty over federal government funding. 

“The longstanding compact with the government to fund research is declining,” the presentation read. “Despite multiple challenges, we anticipate that Princeton’s budget will continue to increase next year and in the years ahead.”

The endowment spending rate will be reduced from around 5.35 percent to 5 percent in coming years, and the overall budget will grow 2.1 percent for a total of $3.41 billion.

Professor Patrick Sharkey, chair of the CPUC Resources Committee, gave updates on the group’s review of a petition requesting divestment from PetroTiger, a fossil fuel investment owned by the University. The presentation read, “The committee continues to review Sunrise Princeton’s proposal and plans to issue a response in the coming weeks.”

To be approved, divestment issues must receive “considerable, thoughtful, and sustained interest on campus involving the actions of a company or companies,” Sharkey said. 

He praised Sunrise’s efforts in constructing a detailed argument: “It spoke to our guidelines explicitly. It was precise, it was careful, it was really well done.”

A recommendation on whether the University should divest is nonbinding and requires approval from the University’s Board of Trustees.

Dean of Undergraduate Students Regan Crotty ’00 shared updates on three policy changes that will go into effect on May 11. Crotty stated that the policy changes would not need approval from the CPUC because they are “not substantive policy changes” and are intended to simply clarify existing information. 

The first change aligned personal safety policy language in “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” to better match the University hazing policy. The second modified language to more explicitly state that everyone on campus must either present their TigerCard or government-issued ID when requested by a Department of Public Safety officer or another person authorized by the Executive Vice President.

The final update concerned banners and flags. “When carried or held by individuals at a University event, flags and banners may not obstruct the view of others participating in or viewing a University event,” the updated policy read.

The policy also stated that larger banners and signs could be banned at ceremonial University events, including Opening Exercises, Baccalaureate, Class Day, Hooding, and Commencement.  Crotty offered a visual comparison for the maximum limit of six feet by three feet, saying, “If you think about that, that’s quite large. It’s probably President Eisgruber’s height plus double your width.”

The comments elicited sustained laughter from much of the audience. Eisgruber opened the floor to CPUC members for questions “not about my height or width.”

The final agenda item was a preliminary discussion about possible changes to rules about recordings of CPUC meetings. The conversation follows the CPUC’s decision last year to prohibit recording of most meetings and conversations on campus without consent from all participants — a policy which went into effect at the beginning of this calendar year.

Rexford recapped the CPUC Executive Committee’s conversations about changes to policy regarding recordings of CPUC meetings in particular. The group converged on two potential positions for a policy.

The first position supported limiting recording to “only to credentialed recorders and only for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of their own reports,” according to Rexford, in line with current practices.

Rexford said a second possibility would be to “post an official audio recording for the campus community, available behind a login.” Undergraduate Student President Quentin Colón Roosevelt ’27 and Vice President Anuj Krishnan ’27 expressed their support for this position, and highlighted the importance of including the question periods and committee discussions in the public recording.

Further discussions will take place in the coming months and a formal vote will be conducted in the fall.

CPUC meetings take place in the Frist Campus Center Multipurpose Room and will continue in September. 

Gray Collins is the assistant News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading University administration coverage. He is from outside of Philadelphia and can be reached at graycollins[at]princeton.edu.

Toby Chang contributed reporting.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.