Opinion

The protection of affirmative action isn’t enough

In many ways, it was a victory. A great moment of relief. At least for the time being, it seems that the accessibility of minority students to elite colleges has been protected. However, even as the case might possibly move up in the legal system, the discussion about admissions should not end at affirmative action.

Why affirmative action still matters

Ivy League athletics are the new "Moneyball"

Geography is destiny at Princeton

Princeton is disproportionately pulling in students from the richest — mostly eastern — places in the country. Many small moneyed suburbs send more students to Princeton than entire regions with millions of people.

A climate change refugee crisis is looming, and we need to start preparing for it

But as climate change becomes more and more of a reality, and the consequences ever more severe, people need to start thinking more as global citizens than members of individual nations. Climate change affects the whole world, regardless of borders, and it is time we combat it comprehensively. 

Harvard admissions, and the hard truth of acceptance

For now, we must recognize that the system is the fairest unfair system currently possible. There will always be winners, and there will always be way more losers. Sometimes, luck works in our favor, while other times it does not. Rather than solely praise a system for its success, or condemn a system for its failures, we should work to try and improve the process no matter what side of the line we fall on.

Free speech, not free pulpits

The decision to invite Wax is as myopic as it is dangerous — and we will not stand for it. We urge the leaders of Whig-Clio to reconsider their invitation.

A tribute to the ‘passionless’

It all starts with “What do you want to be when you grow up?” A whole lifetime of ups and downs, twists and turns squeezed tightly into one narrow, simplified box.

A concrete step backwards

If we do not denounce both white supremacy and white supremacists with clarity and conviction, the University can never hope to uproot and dismantle the racism nestling in its crevices. 

Stop and think before you celebrate the new Woodrow Wilson marker

Tomorrow the University will unveil a new marker on campus about Woodrow Wilson called “Double Sights.” In the meantime, inside the school that bears Wilson’s name, students are waiting for the administration to fulfill its commitment to diversity and inclusion. This is not a time to celebrate; when viewed in the proper context, the marker emerges as a monument to the University’s moral failure in dealing with Wilson’s legacy and should be seen accordingly.  

Bicker, Greek life, and the lonelier side of Princeton

At the very least, though, we should acknowledge that the continued practice Bicker and Greek life is a conscious choice we, as a student body, make. There’s nothing from stopping us from imagining, and eventually creating, a social scene without these exclusionary traditions — nothing except our own unwillingness to confront our collective complicity in an inequitable system. 

Remembering what centers you

It’s important, as you embark on your semester here, whether it be your first or last, to do those things that give you great joy, or rather, great tranquility.

Compelling conformity

Ironically, children are sometimes better-equipped to exemplify the advocacy and assertiveness that the rest of us might do well to more frequently adopt.

Number One in what?

In the 21st century, however, with the increasing emphasis on both equitable representation among the undergraduate student body and ethical institutional behavior, there is more to a university than just test scores and salaries post-graduation. 

Regrets from freshman year

Becoming aware of these small Princeton quirks wasn’t the only thing I learned as a first-year. Rather, it was a year of learning through mistakes and adjusting expectations of my abilities.

A call for the drastic refurbishment of student housing

It is problematic that many students feel like their dorms are so uncomfortable that they are forced to spend most of their day away from their room, which is supposed to serve as a private space for students to unwind. The fact that a large chunk of upperclassman housing is called the “slums” is indicative of the dissatisfaction and discomfort that exists among students regarding their housing.

Friendships: the good, the bad, and the ugly

As we enter the school year, it might be a good idea to reexamine our friendships and evaluate the purpose of each one. Are we friends with a particular person because of the joy they bring us or because they help our grades stay up? If it’s the latter, ask yourself how you would feel if that’s why someone maintained a friendship with you. Then imagine how your friend would feel if they knew that’s why you maintain a friendship with them. 

Gender-neutral bathrooms should be the norm, not the exception

Often, the push for gender-neutral bathrooms remains labeled as an issue solely for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies — particularly those who are genderqueer, non-binary, trans, or otherwise gender-nonconforming — which places the entire burden of their struggle to safely enter bathrooms that match their identities on actors who have already been systematically, societally disempowered and pushed aside. In reality, however, though gender binary bathrooms directly and aggressively harm members of the LGBTQ+ community, gender binary bathrooms often present a serious nuisance to cis-gendered people as well. 

Where are all the women: A series

If the University truly valued increasing the number of female professors on its payroll, it would do well to start addressing the actual causes for the dearth of women at the highest ranks. This unequivocally includes sexual harassment.

America shrugged

On Monday, Sept. 23, a day before the official commencement of the 74th U.N. General Assembly in New York, the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres publicly announced the formation of a Syrian constitutional committee to bring together the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Syrian Negotiations Commission.