Columns

Class of ’27: choose scholarship, not dogmatism

“After all, ‘social justice activism’ can only be righteous if the causes championed and policies advanced are founded in moral and empirical truths about the human good. Faithfulness to truth and obedience to the habits of mind necessary for its discovery are the only things separating ideologues from people with a genuine yearning for human progress and development.”

“After all, “social justice activism” can only be righteous if the causes championed and policies advanced are founded in moral and empirical truths about the human good. Faithfulness to truth and obedience to the habits of mind necessary for its discovery are the only things separating ideologues from people with a genuine yearning for human progress and development.”

To alleviate student stress, Princeton must expand the pass/D/fail option

“To make students less stressed about their grades and GPAs, and to improve their standing in the post-graduate market, we can make the PDF option more useful by allowing students to PDF a course at any time throughout the semester.”

“To make students less stressed about their grades and GPAs, and to improve their standing in the post-graduate market, we can make the PDF option more useful by allowing students to PDF a course at any time throughout the semester.”

Class of ’27, it’s time to cause trouble

“Coming to Princeton, you’re stepping onto a moving train: There are urgent issues that demand student engagement on campus and there’s a responsibility for Princetonians to follow our informal motto and act ‘in the service of humanity’ in the broader world. Now is the perfect time to step off the hamster wheel and become an effective activist.”

“Coming to Princeton, you’re stepping onto a moving train: There are urgent issues that demand student engagement on campus and there’s a responsibility for Princetonians to follow our informal motto and act ‘in the service of humanity’ in the broader world. Now is the perfect time to step off the hamster wheel and become an effective activist.”

Princeton needs to up our composting effort

“Whereas Princeton’s processing facility emphasizes creating compost, the Trenton Biogas facility focuses on the production of methane from compost and then selling the compost as a side business. The University is therefore using compost operations to counterintuitively harm the planet by potentially contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Whereas Princeton’s processing facility emphasizes creating compost, the Trenton Biogas facility focuses on the production of methane from compost and then selling the compost as a side business. The University is therefore using compost operations to counterintuitively harm the planet by potentially contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.”

For climate, we need construction everywhere, all at once

The mindset we take on towards renewable infrastructure construction at Princeton will define the extent to which we are prepared for the wave of critical construction in the decades ahead.

Add/drop should be a time for exploration, not stress

“With the current nature of add/drop, it can feel like the semester starts on the wrong foot before it even begins.”

“With the current nature of add/drop, it can feel like the semester starts on the wrong foot before it even begins.”

What does it mean to be present three years after COVID-19 sent us home?

“The differences between before and “after” the pandemic appear to me in the interstices, or around the edges of an otherwise happy picture. We’re back, but we seem more tentative.”

“The differences between before and “after” the pandemic appear to me in the interstices, or around the edges of an otherwise happy picture. We’re back, but we seem more tentative.”

If Princeton wants us to isolate, it has to make it practical

“Now, as both a university and a country, we stand at a crossroads. COVID-19 restrictions continue to fall away as we ‘open up’ and ‘return to normal.’ Yet the events of the last three years are not erased by this return to normalcy.”

“Now, as both a university and a country, we stand at a crossroads. COVID-19 restrictions continue to fall away as we ‘open up’ and ‘return to normal.’ Yet the events of the last three years are not erased by this return to normalcy. Many of us, including myself, continue to feel the moral burden associated with getting COVID-19. This makes Princeton’s current COVID-19 policies difficult to navigate.”

Princeton must remain test optional

“Requiring the submission of standardized test results is not only harmful to FGLI applicants because it is more difficult for them to perform well on these exams, but also because the requirements deter them from applying in the first place.”

“Requiring the submission of standardized test results is not only harmful to FGLI applicants because it is more difficult for them to perform well on these exams, but also because the requirements deter them from applying in the first place.”

College admissions was fairer before COVID-19. Princeton should bring back the SAT.

“Yes, the SAT is skewed towards the privileged, but in deciding whether we should get rid of it, the question isn’t whether the test is skewed, but rather whether it is excessively skewed compared to other components of holistic admissions.”

“Yes, the SAT is skewed towards the privileged, but in deciding whether we should get rid of it, the question isn’t whether the test is skewed, but rather whether it is excessively skewed compared to other components of holistic admissions.”

We should avoid Zoom whenever we can

“But to suggest that most of our interactions, professional or personal, should shift to an asynchronous online format is misguided: it completely ignores the importance of structure and personal contact. Zoom is not the solution — it is a crutch — and one that ought to be avoided when possible.”

“But to suggest that most of our interactions, professional or personal, should shift to an asynchronous online format is misguided: it completely ignores the importance of structure and personal contact. Zoom is not the solution — it is a crutch — and one that ought to be avoided when possible.”

Zoom may be the future of flexible work

“Virtual platforms, in their ability to be used universally, liberate us from sitting in an office for eight hours a day and direct us toward a more holistic approach to life.”

“Virtual platforms, in their ability to be used universally, liberate us from sitting in an office for eight hours a day and direct us toward a more holistic approach to life.”

Try argument, not extortion

If Hoffman really wants to change the University, he’s likely to have much more success with argument rather than manipulation.

If Hoffman really wants to change the University, he’s likely to have much more success with argument rather than manipulation.

Feedback is crucial to student success. Let’s start treating it that way.

“It is not the individual professors' fault that their students are not getting adequate feedback on their independent work, but rather the fault of a system that does not set an adequate standard for the transmission of feedback. Given that independent work is such an integral part of academic life at Princeton, why are the structures for providing feedback on independent work so lacking?”

“It is not the individual professors' fault that their students are not getting adequate feedback on their independent work, but rather the fault of a system that does not set an adequate standard for the transmission of feedback. Given that independent work is such an integral part of academic life at Princeton, why are the structures for providing feedback on independent work so lacking?”

Norfolk Southern’s next toxic derailment could be in Princeton. New Jersey needs to act.

“Trenton must do what it can to keep Garden State residents and students safe. Norfolk Southern tracks are a ten-minute drive from campus, and the proximity of the tracks to the Delaware and Raritan Canal endangers the campus's natural escape...It's time for New Jersey state legislators to step up and break away from the grips of these railroad companies...”

“Trenton must do what it can to keep Garden State residents and students safe. Norfolk Southern tracks are a ten-minute drive from campus, and the proximity of the tracks to the Delaware and Raritan Canal endangers the campus's natural escape...It's time for New Jersey state legislators to step up and break away from the grips of these railroad companies...”

Create history, stop destroying it

“I wouldn’t mind returning to campus as an alum to see new buildings. New projects are a reflection of the times and needs of the growing student body. What I do mind is the prospect of returning to campus and no longer recognizing the dorm buildings where I played cards, the halls where I partied, and the libraries in which I spent hours writing.”

“I wouldn’t mind returning to campus as an alum to see new buildings. New projects are a reflection of the times and needs of the growing student body. What I do mind is the prospect of returning to campus and no longer recognizing the dorm buildings where I played cards, the halls where I partied, and the libraries in which I spent hours writing.”

To prioritize service, Princeton must give it course credit

“In establishing course credit, the University would finally practice what it preaches: recognizing service learning as just as valuable as what you learn in Introduction to Macroeconomics. It’s clear that currently, breaking out of the Orange Bubble remains low-priority for Princeton, despite the University claiming that service is at the core of its undergraduate experience. The University isn’t close to being truly in ‘the service of humanity.’ It should step up to that challenge, or stop using the motto.”

“In establishing course credit, the University would finally practice what it preaches: recognizing service learning as just as valuable as what you learn in Introduction to Macroeconomics. It’s clear that currently, breaking out of the Orange Bubble remains low-priority for Princeton, despite the University claiming that service is at the core of its undergraduate experience. The University isn’t close to being truly in ‘the service of humanity.’ It should step up to that challenge, or stop using the motto.”

Affirmative action doesn’t do enough to diversify elite education

“Although affirmative action has been an important tool for nationally increasing diversity in higher education, it is simply an unsustainable bandage on a defective admissions ethos.”

“Although affirmative action has been an important tool for nationally increasing diversity in higher education, it is simply an unsustainable bandage on a defective admissions ethos.”

Consistency matters in campus free speech debates

“Instead of clamoring for institution-wide censures and official condemnations, we as students are called to vigorously debate and critically engage with those whose opinions we find abhorrent or objectionable.”

“Instead of clamoring for institution-wide censures and official condemnations, we as students are called to vigorously debate and critically engage with those whose opinions we find abhorrent or objectionable.”

This Black History Month, let's push for symbolic and structural change

“For me, the University still has several steps to take before I can believe that their commitment to Black students is genuine, and not simply lip service.”

“For me, the University still has several steps to take before I can believe that their commitment to Black students is genuine, and not simply lip service.”