Four years after opening, NCW officially named Huo College

New College West has been named Huo College, according to a University announcement Thursday morning. The naming follows a gift from graduate alumnus Yan Huo GS ’94, which was previously anonymous. The residential college is one of seven at the University.  

The announcement comes four years after NCW opened and after the graduation of the first cohort of students — the Class of 2026 — who lived in the college. Both Huo College and its neighboring Yeh College were central parts of the University’s efforts to expand the undergraduate student body. 

“We are very excited to be the beneficiaries of such a wonderful gift from Dr. Yan Huo *94, who has been supporting the college since its opening in 2022,” Head of Huo College AnneMarie Luijendijk wrote in an email to Huo College students.  

The college’s website states that the gift was made early in the Venture Forward campaign, an alumni engagement and fundraising campaign which ran from 2021–25. Huo was not publicly named as the donor until Thursday, differing from the naming announcement of Yeh College, Huo College’s counterpart. The gift from James Yeh ’87 and Jaimie Yeh, who gave their names to the college previously called “New College East,” was made in 2022 as part of the same campaign.

In 2018, the University had announced that now-Huo College would be named Perelman College following a $65 million donation pledge from then-Revlon CEO Debra Perelman ’96 and her father, owner and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. Ronald Perelman. 

In 2021, the University announced that the residential college would no longer bear the Perelman family name after the Perelmans did not follow through with payments for their pledge. 

The University declined to comment further on the timeline of Huo’s donation and announcement of the naming. University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill did not immediately provide information about the size of Huo’s gift.

Huo earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton and is a co-founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of Capula Investment Management LLP. He is a University trustee and previously supported faculty and graduate student work at the University, as well as the Huo Pavilion in the Princeton University Art Museum. 

Huo could not be reached for comment in time for publication.

The renaming now makes Huo College the eighth of Princeton’s residential colleges, including Hobson College, which is scheduled to open in 2027, to be named after a current or former University trustee. 

“Princeton sparked many opportunities and lifelong friendships for me, and I am grateful every day for what it made possible in my life,” Huo said in the University announcement of the gift. “Now, I am truly excited to see Huo College offer new generations of Princetonians the same opportunities to build lasting friendships and gain new knowledge.” 

“Hopefully, like me, they will look back at their time at Princeton with the same fondness and gratitude for how it shaped their lives,” Huo said. 

“It’s cool that the college has a proper name now,” member of Huo College Peter Litwin ’29 wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. “I thought NCW was a bit bland compared to the other colleges that are named after alums.”

In the email, Luijendijk wrote that, in addition to the change to the college’s website, students will see different signs and merchandise in the fall, but that the college’s staff and shield will remain unchanged. Additionally, Morrill confirmed that the college’s mascot will remain a fox.

“As Huo College we can illuminate Yan Huo’s long-time support of our community alongside the traditions founded by the students in New College West,” Luijendijk wrote. 

However, students from the Class of 2029, who are required to live in Huo next year as part of the University’s residential housing guidelines for underclassmen, will still have merchandise with the NCW branding. 

“I think it’s a little funky how all of our merch from our freshman year has a filler name, since they changed it, but Huo makes for great puns, which is always a plus,” Rayyan Rami ’29 wrote  in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ 

“Although this name change does not impact the strong community, advising, and support network that has shared Choi Dining Hall with Yeh since 2022, I am extremely excited about the name change to Huo College,” Isaac Bernstein ’28, another member of Huo, wrote. “I look forward to channeling my Huo College spirit for my next two undergraduate years.”  

Bernstein is a former staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Huo College will welcome returning students and the Class of 2030 under its new name this fall. Morrill said it has yet to be determined whether there will be an official naming ceremony, although the residential college’s website now identifies it under its new name.

Razvan Verde is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Newport News, Va., and can be reached at razvan.verde[at]princeton.edu. 

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