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Friday March 12, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 17
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U. AFFAIRS
Designed by: Juliana Wojtenko ’23
Princeton memo outlines general plans for in-person fall semester By Caitlin Limestahl Head News Editor
JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
All undergraduate and graduate students should plan for in-person instruction in the fall semester, according to a memo sent to faculty and staff today from Provost Deborah Prentice and Executive Vice President Treby Williams ’84. The memo also notes that staff members who are currently remote “will return to campus on a rolling basis as determined by operational progress and need,” but all staff members should plan for a return to campus before the start of the 2021-22 academic year. It was also announced that the “vast majority” of University-sponsored summer programs will remain virtual and remote, including undergraduate classes, the Freshman Scholars Institute, the Scholars Institute Fellows Program, and the Princeton University Prepa-
ratory Program. Additionally, Prentice and Williams wrote that, “because University-sponsored travel remains prohibited, activities such as international language courses and Global Seminars must also remain virtual.” These plans stem from the University’s “guiding goal” of returning to fully in-person, on-campus instruction for the 2021-22 academic year. “We want students, faculty, researchers and staff back on campus so that teaching and learning can return to our classrooms, studios, and labs,” Prentice and Williams wrote. “We also want students engaging in as full a residential life program as possible, taking part in extra-curricular and cocurricular activities that allow them to learn and build community,” they added. While the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is underway, Prentice See NEWS for more
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Joshua Katz sues academic society, alleges ‘viewpoint discrimination’ By Marie-Rose Sheinerman Head News Editor
Classics professor Joshua Katz has filed a lawsuit alleging that the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), a federation of 75 scholarly organizations, retracted his invitation to serve as one of the society’s delegates to a prominent international conference after he wrote a controversial op-ed last July. In the complaint, Katz claims that the ACLS invited him to serve as a volunteer delegate to the Union Académique Internationale (UAI), an academic conference based in Paris, and then revoked that invitation “solely because he expressed views that, although fully reasonable and protected by ordinary principles of academic freedom, offend the ideological sensibilities of some
in academia.” Katz is seeking unspecified monetary compensation on the basis that the organization’s actions caused him “substantial damage, lessened his reputation, and reduced his potential for future advancement.” Although the ACLS delegate position is unpaid, the complaint alleges that “honorary positions such as the UAI delegate position play a significant role in the career trajectory of an academic,” and lead to greater “recognition and prestige.” Katz claims that the society’s president, Joy Connolly, personally invited him in February 2020 to serve as a delegate to UAI. Katz says he accepted the appointment, which he understood would last many years, the following month. According to the suit,
Connolly revoked that invitation in September as a result of Katz’s outspokenness over the summer. The complaint alleges that Connolly told Katz that his “article in Quillette this summer and follow-up statement took a strong personal stance on racism at Princeton, and it drew a great deal of attention on social media and elsewhere.” Accordingly, the complaint adds, Connolly told Katz that she had “decided to ask another scholar to serve as ACLS’s UAI representative.” Last July, Katz drew controversy when he published an op-ed in Quillette denouncing a letter signed by more than 350 Princeton faculty members calling on President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 and senior administrators to enact 48 anti-racist demands. See NEWS for more
“BLIND JUSTICE AND PLAZA, FEDERAL COURTHOUSE, NEWARK” BY RON COLEMAN / CC BY 2.0
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
NJ expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for vulnerable communities By Isabella Shutt and Faisal Fakhro New Contributors
KATJA FUHLERT / PIXABAY
In Opinion
Over 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the state of New Jersey. That number will continue to rise this March as the state expands eligibility to more essential workers, members of atrisk communities, and adults with specific health conditions. An additional group of adults with increased risk for severe illness from the virus will become eligible for vaccination on March 15. This includes those ages 16 to 64 with moderate to severe asthma, type I diabetes, a body mass index over 25, and other health conditions.
Contributing Columnist Rohit Narayanan argues that Princeton must take into considration the challenges high-schoolers have faced during the pandemic and adjust the admissions system accordingly.
The March 15 expansion will also include transportation workers, members of tribal communities, homeless individuals, and public safety workers. New Jersey will further expand vaccine eligibility beginning March 29 to include frontline essential workers in food production and distribution, eldercare, hospitality, shipping services, and several other categories. Educators and staff in preK through 12th grade schools and childcare facility employees are currently eligible for vaccination, a shift from the state’s previous plan to include teachers in the March 15 phase. This change comes as President Joe Biden encourages states to
In Prospect
prioritize teachers for vaccination in hopes of expediting the reopening of schools. Residents can visit the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub for more detailed information about each phase. All enrolled students currently living in New Jersey, including international students, “are considered New Jersey residents for the purpose of the vaccine” according to the University website. Anyone living in New Jersey can register for the vaccine using the NJ Vaccine Scheduling System or schedule an appointment directly with vaccine providers. In Princeton, the CVS and Wegman’s pharmacies ofSee NEWS for more
The creator, head writer, and executive producer behind Marvel’s “WandaVision,” Jac Schaeffer ’00, sits down with the ‘Prince’ to describe her journey from Princeton to now working on the most popular TV series in the world.