News

Princeton loses number one spot in U.S. News ranking

After eight consecutive years as the champion of U.S. World and News Report's famed "America's Top Colleges" ranking, Princeton dropped to second place in the 2009 lineup as Harvard rose to take sole possession of the top spot.This is the first time in 12 years that Harvard was ranked as the sole number-one college by U.S.

Fifteen-year-old remains in hospital after Frick lab accident

A summer program participant was seriously injured after ingesting liquid nitrogen in a University chemistry lab last Friday. The young man remains hospitalized.

Gap year program gets go-ahead

Incoming freshmen who seek a challenge at the start of their college careers will have a new, international opportunity available to them beginning in fall 2009. The University's "bridge year" program, originally proposed in February, has been given the green light by the working group appointed to study its feasibility. The new offering will enable students to defer matriculation for a year to participate in community service abroad either through University-affiliated programs such as Princeton-in-Asia or through other established service organizations that meet the University's criteria. The committee ? a 14-person body made up of students, faculty and staff convened by President Tilghman ? identified several wide-reaching goals for the program, including preparing students for life in an increasingly globalized world, working group and comparative literature department chair Sandra Bermann said. "[The program] should challenge the students to begin to understand cultures other than their own, to think in new ways, gain maturity and begin a life in which service to others is an important ingredient," Bermann said.

Updated Aug. 7 Anthrax suspect's lawyer: Kappa obsession is not proof

Though investigators have named Bruce Ivins the sole actor in the 2001 anthrax attacks and declared the case solved, Ivins' lawyer emphasized Thursday that there is no evidence proving Ivins' alleged obsession with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority led him to Princeton, where anthrax-laced letters were mailed from a Nassau Street mailbox. In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, attorney Paul Kemp confirmed that Ivins had a fixation with the sorority but said that Ivins did not have anything to do with the deadly letters mailed from the Princeton mailbox just 300 feet from where the University's Kappa chapter keeps its rush paraphernalia, initiation robes and other materials. "The only thing that exists at 20 Nassau Street is a business office," said Kemp, an attorney at Venable LLP.

China revokes visa for Olympic gold medalist Cheek '11

Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek '11 said his visa to attend the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has been revoked by the Chinese government over his efforts urging China to help make peace in the war-torn region of Darfur.The 2006 speed skating champion co-founded Team Darfur, an organization of Olympic athletes who seek to draw attention to violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.

University appoints Hindu and Muslim chaplains

The Office of Religious Life has hired the University?s first Hindu chaplain and its first full-time Muslim chaplain.

No hazardous material found after Borough Hall evacuation

An incident involving a suspicious package that sickened two employees at Borough Hall is over after investigators found no hazardous substances at the scene, Public Safety Deputy Director Charles Davall wrote in a Campus Safety Alert to the University community Wednesday afternoon. A package addressed to the mayor?s office led to the evacuation of Borough Hall and the closing of Stockton Street after two employees in the clerk?s office suffered allergic reactions, local news outlets reported.

Historian of science and longtime professor Mahoney GS '67 dies

Michael Mahoney GS ?67, a dedicated professor of the history of science who spent 40 years at the University, died Wednesday, July 23, at the University Medical Center at Princeton.

Prager named director of Plasma Physics Lab

The University has chosen University of Wisconsin physicist Stewart Prager to replace Robert Goldston GS ?77 as director of the U.S.

Five Lewis Library contractors plead guilty in bribery investigation

Five contractors who worked on the soon-to-be-opened Lewis Library have pleaded guilty to paying

Despite slump in economy, Annual Giving soars

The University received $54.1 million in the 2007-08 Annual Giving campaign,

OSHA rules against Public Safety union over guns

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ruled in favor of the University after reviewing a complaint filed on June 6 by Public Safety's Fraternal Orders of Police (FOP) union.

Four donors give more than $105 million to expand environmental focus at U.

The University announced four alumni donations for expanding environmental research this week, the largest of which is a $100 million gift from investment manager Gerhard Andlinger ?52.

Robertson trial date pushed back

The six-year-old dispute over the Robertson Foundation?s $900 million endowment will face yet another delay.

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' crash lands on campus

A silver sports car sped down Washington Road, swerved and hit a student crossing the street, sending him flying onto the sidewalk. The student then sprang to his feet, the car backed up, and, several minutes later, the whole scene played out again as cameras rolled throughout. Paramount Pictures arrived in Princeton on Sunday afternoon with

University to recoup $9.6 million for Robertson case defense

The University is entitled to nearly $10 million in insurance money to cover some of its legal fees in the Robertson case, a New York appeals court ruled on June 5.The decision requires the National Union Fire Insurance Company to honor the full amount of the policy, which was purchased the same year in which two University-appointed Robertson Foundation trustees suggested the changes in the management of the Foundation's endowment that eventually led the Robertson family to sue the University.The company had previously only been willing to pay up to a $5 million sublimit on the $15 million policy.The Appellate Division, First Department of New York's Supreme Court unanimously denied an appeal by the company and upheld a September 2007 decision by Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman that awarded Princeton just over $9.6 million.The company argued that the University wanted the funds to fight claims not covered under the insurance policy, but Freedman ruled that National Union had to advance costs for both covered and non-covered claims.

Investigation into alleged admissions bias expands

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has broadened its investigation into a federal complaint filed in August 2006 by an applicant to the University who was denied admission.

Yale will expand undergraduate student body by 15 percent

University confers degrees at 261st commencement

President Tilghman conferred 1,125 bachelor's degrees and 743 graduate degrees at the University's 261st commencement, the final ceremony in a three-day series of graduation events.

Petersack '08 elected Young Alumni Trustee

Meaghan Petersack '08 has been elected the newest young alumni trustee, University officials have announced.