Reckoning with our ranking
(09/23/21 1:47am)
Number one, once again! Aren’t we?
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Number one, once again! Aren’t we?
The prospect of reparations for Black communities and individuals across the United States for the harms of slavery and persistently entrenched racial discrimination has been a part of public policy conversations since the post-Civil War era. In the last year, the issue has gained more traction as the nation, states, municipalities, and institutions reckon with racism in their own histories, and consider how to address those issues both now and into the future.
“Now more than ever, we must all share the responsibility for keeping our community safe.” This is the beginning of the Princeton University Social Contract for Spring of 2021, which all undergraduate students residing on or near campus had to sign prior to the start of the semester. Aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 on campus and in the Princeton community, it seems to be successful: as of the time of writing, spread on campus has been kept in single-digit figures every week, and we have not had to go into any larger scale quarantines since the initial arrival protocol for residential students.
I am grateful to be on campus this semester, and grateful for all of the work the dining hall staff has done. They are working really hard to make on-campus dining possible and safe for us this semester, and I have always found them to be incredibly pleasant. That being said, I love to eat, and this semester, the dining options haven’t been particularly good. I am not a particularly picky eater, but I have been vegetarian for my whole life and plan to keep being vegetarian while at Princeton. Many others are in the same situation. For vegetarians, the current offerings in dining service leave three grim choices: eat similar bland food every day while meat-eating friends have significantly more variety, go hungry, or spend extra money for off-campus dining. Campus Dining needs to do better.
The University proclaims “a longstanding commitment to service, reflected in Princeton’s informal motto — Princeton in the nation’s service and the service of humanity — and exemplified by the extraordinary contributions that Princetonians make to society.” Yet, for most students, classes and meetings will run on the normal schedule during Election Day, rendering democratic participation difficult, if not impossible.
Princeton is rightfully proud of the diversity of its student body, with 51 percent of its undergraduates identifying as people of color. Among these students are those who identify as Asian or Asian American, Black or African American, Native American, Latin American, or of multiple backgrounds. This last category is perhaps the most ambiguous — to the extent that racial identification matters, the concept of “multiple backgrounds” allows students to choose a label that encompasses at least a few different aspects of who they are.
As a member of the Class of 2024, I remember spending a great deal of time last year looking at all of the advertised benefits of being a Princeton student. I considered statistics about achievements of the student body and the focus on student life. But as someone who cared a lot about undergraduate focus, one of the main reasons I decided to come here was because of the distinguished faculty who would be teaching me and my peers. The opportunity to learn from leaders of their fields was alluring and, ultimately, convincing.