The Daily Princetonian: Power of a United People - Mar. 8, 2019

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Friday March 8, 2019 vol. cxliii no. 25

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The Daily Princetonian

Friday March 8, 2019

STUDENT LIFE

THE LARRY DUPRAZ DIGITAL ARCHIVES / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Students stand outside of New South during the seizure of New South in 1969.

Liberating New South: How black student activists inspired change through protest By Benjamin Ball and Ivy Truong Head News Editors

At 7 a.m. on March 11, 1969, four students lurked in the weeds in front of the New South Building. They were waiting for the janitor of the building to open the door before approaching him and telling him that he had the day off, according to Rod Hamilton ’69, a spokesperson for the protest and one of the students who had hid in the weeds that day. Shortly afterwards, over 40 black students from the Association of Black Collegians (ABC) rushed the building, according to a log from the Department

of Public Information. The students then chained the north doors of the building shut and secured the east doors with a mop. In other words, The Daily Princetonian said at the time, the takeover of New South was “hitchless.” These black student activists were protesting the University’s investment in companies that, in the eyes of Hamilton and his fellow students, were complicit in bolstering the apartheid regime in South Africa. Merely a week earlier, on March 4, then-University president Robert Goheen ’40 had written in a statement that the University acknowledges the moral issue that such investments impose but also that broad and absolute restrictions cannot be accommodated. At the time, such investments totaled $127 million. “Demands have been stated and restated and we feel that we have made ourselves clear on the issues,” the Committee on Black Awareness, Pan African Association, and ABC wrote in a response to Goheen’s decision. “We demand that you deal with us on the subject of South Africa NOW.” A week later, they would occupy New South. This protest at New South was a bookend to a decade full of change at the University. Just six years before, in 1963, Goheen

announced a new admissions policy to accept as many qualified African-American students as possible. One year later, in 1964, the University became the first predominantly white University to appoint a black administrator, Carl Fields. Paul Carryon ’68 and Alan Deane Buchanan ’68 co-founded the ABC, and they would hold their first conference in 1967. The ABC would also hold a number of protests prior to that day. Hamilton described gathering a number of students into the pulpit of the Chapel for one protest, gathering students in Chancellor Green until sundown for another. But, for this protest, student activists from the inside of New South would paste signs that said “Black is beautiful” and “This building has been liberated” on the windows, and they would shut out the 200 University employees that usually work at the building from entering. Hamilton said he and other students chose the New South Building because it was very “defensible,” with only two entrances to cover. Outside the building, Students for a Democratic Society — a multiracial student activist organization — “milled about the concourse,” leading their own demonstrations. The ABC allowed some female demonstrators from SDS to come into New South because of the high wind chill and freezing cold temperatures. But, at noon, the white students present at the protest were asked to leave. Hamilton said that he and other black students wanted the protest to be “an ABC action.” “We appreciated the support of other folks,” Hamilton said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “We wanted to have the people in the building be all from ABC.” Within the same hour, Goheen released a statement on the occupation, warning that protestors were being disruptive to important University activities. “This has occasioned stoppage on various critical activities including preparation of the bi-weekly pay-roll and work on the folders of applicants to the freshman class,” Goheen said. “Seizure of the New South

Building places the students involved in it in clear violation of the University policy.” Throughout the day, Dean Neil Rudenstine and Hamilton were in consistent communication through the phone in the New South elevator — the only phone in the building. Rudenstine said the severity of the discipline would depend on how long students stayed in the building. According to Rudenstine, the Discipline Committee was called for 5 p.m. that day and would summon individual hearings. If the administration received no response from the protestors, Rudenstine said, then they would take more serious action, like a court order or an injunction. Despite the threats of disciplinary or legal action, the ABC students would continue to occupy the building until late in the evening. According to the ‘Prince’ at the time, five students were put on disciplinary probation for their involvement. According to the ABC, they would eventually leave at 6:20 p.m. of their own accord, because they had accomplished the goals of “registration of disgust, dramatization of commitment, sensitization of the community to the issue.”

That day, other protests were also taking place on other parts of campus in response to the New South takeover. Members of the Third World Liberation Front, a new organization of African, Asian, Latin American and American students, also participated and published a statement condemning University investment. “We dissent from University activities and policies which in fact support the racist South African regime,” the statement said. “We reject the Goheen policy statement as apologetic and evasive. We trust the occupation of the building will accentuate the problem of U.S. support of South Africa’s apartheid system to a broader audience more forcefully than previously possible.”

Later in the evening, the SDS held a meeting of 250 people in McCosh 10. Undergraduate Government Assembly President Peter Kaminsky ’69, who spoke at the meeting, defended the actions of the protestors, describing their cause as “moral, rational, correct and logical.” In their positions as students, Kaminsky said the effective measure was “the power of a united people.” A letter released by the ABC that day further condemned the University’s investment and defended the occupation. “We have demonstrated our willingness to work through those so called proper channels in the past, and have reached the conclusion that on this issue the University has decided to adhere to what is a purely immoral, illegitimate, and racist viewpoint,” the letter read. “Our continued position as black people is that 127 million dollars is not worth one black life, one life,” the letter added.

Student reaction to the protest was mixed. A survey done later found that undergraduates backed Goheen’s stance on investment in a 2–1 margin, with 1604 of 3200 undergrads filling out the poll. 64 percent rejected occupation of administration or classroom buildings as a protest, and 76 percent rejected occupation for dissatisfaction with apartheid. In an interview with the ‘Prince,’ Hamilton said that although the majority of the student body may not have supported the protest, the number that did were felt and appreciated. Looking to the protest’s larger impact, Hamilton said that the New South occupation in particular “really took root.” “I think it did change the University,” Hamilton said. “Generations of students took that issue close to their hearts and as one that should be pursued.”

THE LARRY DUPRAZ DIGITAL ARCHIVES / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

A sign on the doors to New South reads “This bldg has been liberated by ABC.”

THE LARRY DUPRAZ DIGITAL ARCHIVES / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

A guard for the New South demonstration opens the door for a protestor.


Friday March 8, 2019

The Daily Princetonian

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BEYOND THE BUBBLE

A walk past Nassau: the historically black Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood By Linh Nguyen Associate News Editor

Beyond FitzRandolph Gate, the hustle and bustle of Nassau Street — full of trendy restaurants, University apparel shops, and retail chains — serve as the facade of the town, the first image that tourists, visitors, and University students encounter upon leaving campus grounds. But unbeknownst to many non-residents, past Nassau lies a history of segregation and an ongoing struggle to preserve the culture of the town’s historically African-American WitherspoonJackson neighborhood, whose first inhabitants settled in the 1680s. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median Princeton property value in 2017 was $809,200, representing an increase of over 25 percent since 2010 and standing in stark contrast to the overall 11 percent decrease in median property values in the state of New Jersey. But this increasing prosperity of the town has come at an unsustainable cost to many lower-income residents, some whose families have lived in Witherspoon-Jackson — the houses and apartments spanning from Paul Robeson Place to Birch Avenue — for generations. “We’ve had a lot of challenges recently dealing with affordability,” said councilman Dwaine Williamson, who has lived in Princeton for over two decades. “In a sense, it’s almost like we’re victims of our own success.” Williamson pointed out that many Witherspoon-Jackson residents who are “multi-generational families, mainly African-American,” are suffering from the “everincreasing demand to move in.” Documented reports of black displacement from WitherspoonJackson go back almost half a century ago. In 1981, a New York Times article voiced concerns made by then-Princeton residents that the deaths of elderly black homeowners, increasing University influence, and high bids on properties made by wealthy — and primarily white — outsiders were, in large part, to blame for the “decline of [black residents by] 32 percent in Witherspoon-Jackson.” In an effort to preserve the historic aspect of the neighborhood, Witherspoon-Jackson was named the 20th historic district in Princeton in 2016. This decision came after nearly a year of debate among town residents and community leaders, including Williamson, who is a former municipal Planning Board member. “It deserved to become a historic district to preserve the status quo, the neighborhood’s character,” Williamson said. “It also had the ancillary benefit of limiting what outsiders may want to do in order

to change the neighborhood, especially because we are simultaneously having the scourge of teardowns in Princeton.” Councilwoman Leticia Fraga, councilman Tim Quinn, and former councilman Lance Liverman did not respond to request for comment by the time of publication. Preserving the neighborhood’s architecture, history But simply naming Witherspoon-Jackson a historic district did not end the neighborhood’s problems. As the town’s population continues to increase, questions have been raised about how to both sustain Witherspoon-Jackson’s history and culture and simultaneously provide enough housing for all of the town’s inhabitants. In 2016, Studio Hillier, an architectural design firm located in the heart of Witherspoon-Jackson, released a report on the neighborhood and the firm’s future plans for it, noting the necessity of creating more housing units as well as designating more of them as affordable housing. “As the price of the Princeton housing stock continues to increase, it is becoming harder and harder for the middle and working class populations to live within the community,” the report reads. “New innovative solutions for the provision of housing are necessary … like converting old buildings to housing developments, repurpos-

ing unused backyards, [and] allowing for micro-apartments.” Studio Hillier co-principal and lifelong Princeton resident Bob Hillier ’59 GS ’61 explained the firm’s goal of renovating and restoring buildings in the neighborhood without excessively modifying their original appearances. “Our intention is to restore these houses so that the historic aspect is a prettier picture than it is today,” Hillier said, emphasizing the need for stronger foundations, fixed plumbing, and increased energy efficiency in the houses. In 2004, Hillier also took on the ambitious project of restoring the Witherspoon Street School for Colored Children, which had been one of the only schools in Princeton made available for African-American children from its creation in

1858 to its desegregation in 1948. Upon restoration, Hillier converted the building into the Waxwood, an apartment complex named in honor of Howard B. Waxwood, Jr., the school’s African-American principal during desegregation. According to Hillier, of the Waxwood’s 34 total apartments, eight are reserved as affordable housing units specifically for WitherspoonJackson residents of more than 10 years, or their direct descendants. “People who have lived in the neighborhood and work here should be able to live here,” Hillier said. Shirley Satterfield, who lives on Quarry Street and whose family has lived in the town for six generations, worked with Hillier to commemorate the racial history of the town, launching the Heritage Tour early in 2018. The Heritage Tour focuses on 26 sites in Princeton that have been significant in its African-American history. Each site will eventually feature a plaque donated by community members to provide an explanation for the location’s importance in the town. “The reason why I’m doing all this is to preserve and share and respect the heritage and history of the African-American community in Princeton,” Satterfield said. “Eventually, some of these places are not going to be here, but the plaques will be, so people will remember.” Satterfield experienced the desegregation of schools in Princeton while growing up, but noted that the process to racial equality in the town has been long and everongoing. “Our community was basically neglected by people in Princeton, but our people took care of it,” Satterfield said. “I want people to know that this is where African Americans lived, and this is what African Americans did, and this is how they sustained the community, and not only the community, but the town of Princeton.” From “Colored YMCA” to Paul Robeson Center for the Arts While conversations about Witherspoon-Jackson often concern housing, the Arts Council of Princeton, housed in the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, has stood by its mission of “building community through the arts” to “contribute significantly to economic development [and] promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation” since its founding in 1967. The arts center stands at the neighborhood’s southeast corner of Paul Robeson Place and Witherspoon Street. It occupies the building that was formerly the neighborhood’s “Colored YMCA,” described

on the town’s website as the former “focal point of the Black community.” In the last five years that she has worked at the arts center, Outreach Program Manager Barbara DiLorenzo has observed the steady replacement of older buildings in Princeton with significantly larger, more modern ones. “Some of the old, run-down houses are getting knocked down, and the structures that go up look like they cost millions,” DiLorenzo said. “They look like whoever afforded the house that got knocked down in the first place could not have afforded [the new one].” In spite of the landscape rapidly changing around the center, DiLorenzo noted that the continued diversity of Witherspoon-Jackson allows children “from all different backgrounds” and “families from all around the world” to take part in the center’s goals. “I get to see kids grow up and embrace art in a way that, if you go to other places, other schools, other pockets of different cultures, art may not be as welcomed, or people may not have the idea that art is open to everyone,” DiLorenzo said. “One of my missions is to spread that word that we are all entitled to a creative life.” Artistic Director Maria Evans, who has worked at the arts center for 20 years and lived on Leigh Avenue for the past 25, has witnessed drastic, long-term changes in the neighborhood over the decades. “When I first moved there, probably all of my surrounding neighbors were African-American,” Evans said. “Now, I think there’s only two or three families on my block left.” But despite this drastic change in the neighborhood’s demographics, Evans noted that the children who come to the arts center are still quite diverse. “We still get kids from the neighborhood,” Evans said. “We get kids from all over.” Evans also pointed out that the arts center has evolved with the times, just as the neighborhood has, but still attempts to preserve some of the original building’s integrity. “While we were renovating, the very first design had a much bigger facade, but the architects went back to the drawing board and incorporated many elements of the old building to keep some of the original elements,” Evans said. “It’s a merging of new and old in this neighborhood.” Growing up in Princeton While all Princeton residents grapple with the lingering effects of segregation and the new consequences of gentrification, the town’s complex racial history has

a very different effect on those who have spent their entire lives here. Christine Jordan, who moved to Princeton in 1970 with her husband, University history professor William Jordan, noted the “varied experiences” that her four children had while attending Princeton schools. “My husband is black, so my children are mixed,” Jordan said. “I think it was difficult for them in some ways growing up, and figuring out their identities was part of it.” Jordan also noted that the racial demographics of the town, which is 73.2 percent white, played a role in her children’s relationships growing up. “They did run into prejudice from time to time,” Jordan recalled. “In some cases, it kind of set them in a direction that has held for their lives, depending on how they handled it.” Justin Hinson ’21 recalled his family moving to WitherspoonJackson seven years ago for “a more stable, financially comfortable situation,” forcing him to confront his “preconceptions and understandings that [he] had about the neighborhood.” “It was understood by people in the general Princeton community to be a neighborhood of lower income, relative to the higher property prices in the rest of Princeton,” Hinson said. “It was certainly a diverse neighborhood, and it did carry a higher percentage of minorities, specifically African-American and Latinx people.” Although the racial questions that Hinson encountered throughout his life in Princeton motivated him to become deeply involved with conversations about race at the University — such as through being a board member for the Order of Black Male Excellence and “connecting with [and] learning more about people with different backgrounds” — Hinson said that he continues to grapple with his own personal relationship with the town itself. “Growing up here, being born here, I know that there are certain qualities about the town that have been shaped into my own personal identity,” Hinson noted. “I don’t want to deny those things or reject them just because of how I feel about the racial demographics in this town.” Hinson hopes that, after graduation, he can continue to play a role in fostering conversation and dialogue in the town about its cultural diversity and rich history. “It’ll always be a part of me, in a way, no matter how my future goes,” Hinson said.


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The Daily Princetonian

Friday March 8, 2019

STUDENT LIFE

Members discuss BSU, hopes for the organization’s future By Marie-Rose Sheinerman Assistant News Editor

When she first came to the University as a freshman, the Black Student Union (BSU) was not very well-known, said former BSU president Tylor-Maria Johnson ’19. Now, she believes, the organization holds greater weight and “makes students feel welcomed, supported, and encouraged” on campus. As an umbrella organization for black student groups, BSU aspires “to foster and maintain a community that supports the educational, professional, and social experiences of Princeton’s Black students,” according to the website of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. In light of that mission, current leaders feel that the BSU’s future holds much potential. One of BSU’s major annual events is Black Together, a dinner in which members welcome firstyears to the University and connect them with black students, faculty, and alumni. Current BSU president Kalyn Nix ’21 said that more than 200 people attended this year’s event, which was held in the Carl A. Fields Center (CAF) multipurpose room. Recently, BSU has begun to of-

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BSU’s major event, Black Together, was held in the Carl A. Fields Center. fer events aimed primarily toward upperclass students. This past December, for the first time, the group hosted the “ICED OUT Winter Gala,” a semi-formal event that took place in Whig Hall. Nix stated that the gala served in part as an alternative to formals for upperclass students who may not be in eating clubs, in some cases due to the financial burden that club membership imposes. Johnson recalls the gala as the highlight of her tenure as BSU president. Since her sophomore year, she had held the goal of hosting an end-of-semester celebration for black students to recognize “the amazing things people have been doing in the community.” “Though this event took a lot of effort and people to plan, it was so rewarding to see it all come together after literally dreaming about

it for a while,” Johnson wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ The organization succeeds through both hosting large events and fostering personal connections, with the word “community” emerging as a central theme when hearing from one student after another about their experiences with the BSU. When BSU outreach director Frelicia Tucker ’22 was going through a stressful time earlier this week due to approaching midterms, a BSU-affiliated upperclass student whom she barely knew saw her at breakfast and asked if she was okay. “When people stop in and check on you — that’s what community is all about,” Tucker said, noting the “big-hearted people” she’s met through the group. Silma Berrada ’22 described

finding her niche at a BSU Popeyes study break. “A lot of times in class, I’m the only black person,” said Berrada, who now serves as BSU’s director of marketing. “Seeing all these people coming together … it was reaffirming of my self-worth and acceptance on this campus.” According to Berrada and Kalyn Nix, the community is particularly meaningful, as both of them grew up in predominantly white neighborhoods and felt a lack of black community throughout high school. Berrada is a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. Despite these successes, board members feel there are ways in which BSU can and should grow. For one, Nix pointed out, there is no “black space” on campus, as there are black houses at many peer insti-

tutions, including Yale University. The current board has several initiatives on the docket. The main obstacle is funding them. Although Nix commended the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and CAF for their financial support, she said it isn’t enough to fund some of the programs she would like to see implemented. BSU is now in the process of speaking with alumni about the possibility of moving away from a University-funding-dependent model and becoming an endowed group. With increased funds, Nix would like to give back to black communities near Princeton, as well as bring in speakers and alumni independent of the African American Studies department. “If students could hear from successful black alums, it would empower them academically,” Berrada said. In the same vein, Nix would like to use her tenure to work on building a BSU alumni network for members. The board is also considering a new pre-Orientation program. Nix said that incoming black students would benefit from a more extensive acclimation event, timed earlier in September than the annual dinner, to help them form connections with other black students before class starts. Tucker felt particularly passionate about the pre-retreat project, since it would mirror a black “meet-and-greet” she enjoyed as a first-year at Rice University before transferring to the University this past fall. “Having reassurance early on that you belong, even before orientation, was nice,” she said. “At the moment, it didn’t mean much, but later it was very important.”

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Third World Liberation Front leader Gordon Chang ’70 while Students for a Democratic Society’s Douglas Seaton ’69 await his turn to speak.

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Sentinel stands inside New South.

THE LARRY DUPRAZ DIGITAL ARCHIVES / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) spokesperson Ron Butler speaks at the SDS rally on Mar. 11, 1969.


Friday March 8, 2019

The Daily Princetonian

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STUDENT LIFE

AAS department grows rapidly, adding more interdisciplinary courses By Katie Tam Staff Writer

With its first cohort of concentrators freshly graduated in June 2018, the Department of African American Studies (AAS) is looking to continue its work in education and research that engages the political, economic, and cultural aspects of the African-American tradition today. “Last year, graduating ten students was a phenomenal experience. It was a historic moment for Princeton,” said professor and department chair Eddie S. Glaude Jr. “What we have to do is consolidate our gains and clearly map a future. How we can continue to grow our major, continue to expand our footprint on Princeton’s campus as a department. That’s where a lot of our energy is directed now.” The AAS program and certificate were first founded in 1969 in response to calls for greater representation of people of African descent and their intellectual traditions at the University, according to the AAS website. It began with a teaching staff of only seven, most of whom were visiting lecturers or non-tenure-track faculty brought in from other departments. The program grew and developed into the Center for African American Studies, which was established in 2006 with professor Valerie Smith as its first director. Glaude became chair in 2009. In fall 2015, African American Studies was approved as an academic department, allowing students the option to pursue an AAS concentration or certificate. For Glaude and others, it was essential to make the AAS concentration an option and allow a new generation of students could pursue this path. Before, the University lagged behind rival institutions in its lack of an AAS concentration. “I can say with a smile that we have built a department that they can choose to join. That it can be here for them,” Glaude said. In the past seven years, the department has hired a large number of faculty, growing rapidly to its current six fully-appointed and eight jointly-appointed faculty members. The new hires shaped the team, adding their own unique insights, backgrounds, and visions. “We have grown so quickly from the time we moved from a program to a center, center to a department,” Glaude said. “We’re a dynamic faculty, excited about ideas and excited about being in the classroom.” Currently, the AAS department is focused on expanding its academic offerings, developing its curricula and opening courses to a broader swath of the University community. Upcoming classes will continue to cut across traditional disciplines, attracting students in many departments, according to Glaude. AAS 201, formerly Introduction to the Study of African American Cultural Practices, will be “retooled” next semester as African American Studies and the Philosophy of Race, offered as an Epistemology and Cognition distribution requirement. Department faculty are also working on the “granular” deliverables of making sure students are prepared for independent work and senior theses. Joshua Guild, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, hopes that courses like AAS 235: Race is Socially Constructed: Now What?, taught by associate professor Ruha Benjamin, and his own AAS 367: African American History Since Emancipation, can draw in students who might not otherwise take classes in the department. “We’re hoping that courses like [these] are places where students from a variety of different fields and different interests can come and get

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Sixteen students either majored in or pursued a certificate in African American studies in the Class of 2018. Currently, the AAS department is focused on expanding its academic offerings.

a sense of what the field of African American studies is and how it’s connected to both their own intellectual interests and also what is going on in the world right now,” Guild said. Events and other programming are also essential to the department’s mission to make AAS accessible across campus. Lectures, panels, and conversations, such as the upcoming “Race & the NFL: A Conversation with Michael Bennett” connect course content with current events. Since the department is new and has few alumni, Glaude says, another effort is compelling last year’s graduates to share their stories and successes. Many of them have gone on to prominent graduate schools and fulfilling careers. “We continue to watch what

they do in the world. They become billboards for the department,” Glaude said. The idea is to showcase AAS as a concentration with practical value for future students. There are three concentrators set to graduate in the Class of 2019 and 11 currently declared in the Class of 2020. AAS concentrators can choose to focus on one of three subfields: African American Culture and Life, Global Race and Ethnicity, and Race and Public Policy. The interdisciplinary nature of AAS allows concentrators to combine their interests in AfricanAmerican history and culture with interests in technology policy, diasporic literature, mass incarceration, and more. Many concentrators switched to AAS after initially planning to major in other departments. For example, Katherine Powell ’20 initially planned to study Comparative Literature. However, she felt that the representation of nonwhite authors was lacking. “I was interested in Black women’s literature in other languages. I discovered, though, that I wanted to study marginalized people and their

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voices, and they were vastly underrepresented,” Powell wrote in an email to the ‘Prince.’ In the AAS department, though, she felt that gap was filled. Powell wrote about a class on Afro-Diasporic Dialogues: “it really opened my eyes to how Blackness is similar and different in other historical or geographical contexts.” Micah Herskind ’19, whose senior thesis examines criminal justice reform in New Jersey, believes that one of the strengths of the department is its ability to reach outside the Orange Bubble and engage with current issues. “It’s not just scholarship for scholarship’s sake,” Herskind said. “It’s what we can learn about the world and how we can understand the world based on what we learn. The focus on not just learning but

doing.” Herskind also appreciates the department for its commitment to students. One of Herskind’s favorite experiences has been getting to know his professors, who he says devote their time to truly teaching and communicating with him and his classmates. “They really invest in the students,” Herskind said. Cierra Robson ’19, who serves as a member of the Undergraduate Board of Advisors for the department, hopes to foster these connections with faculty dinners held every semester at Prospect House. Robson, whose senior thesis on race and technology looks at the use of surveillance cameras in Oakland, praises the department for its accessibility, responsiveness, and warmth. “It really feels like a family and home,” Robson said. “Every single day I feel sup-

ported.” Powell agrees that the department, which is centered in Stanhope Hall, is more than just a place for academics. “I feel that my Blackness is celebrated (not just tolerated),” Powell wrote. AAS students and faculty are looking forward to next semester and the years ahead. “Each year brings new challenges, new excitement,” Guild said. “AAS at Princeton is incredibly strong, incredibly vibrant, and it’s a pleasure to work with colleagues and teach students, because I learn from them every week.” Joined by his colleagues, staff, and students, Glaude is eager to see what the future holds. “I’m excited about continuing to build African American Studies at Princeton,” Glaude said. “I am thrilled to be on this next leg of the journey.”


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The Daily Princetonian

Friday March 8, 2019

CHARLOTTE ADAMO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN


The Daily Princetonian

Friday March 8, 2019

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STUDENT LIFE

Alumni speak on the Black Justice League’s fight against the University’s racist legacies By Rebecca Han Staff Writer

At the forefront of calls for a name change to the Wilson School was the Black Justice League (BJL), a student activist organization that coordinated one of the biggest protests in Princeton history — a demonstration on the steps of Nassau Hall in 2015 followed by a 33-hour sit-in. The protests were a major moment in the conversation that has challenged the legacy of 28th U.S. president, former University president, and avowed racist Woodrow Wilson, whose name still adorns both an academic department and a residential college on campus. The BJL advocated for renaming these buildings. Today, the group no longer exists on campus, something cofounder Joanna Anyanwu GS ’15 attributes to the graduation of the core organizers. She added that the University’s incentive to act was softened by the knowledge that students eventually graduate. The BJL’s other demands included the designation of affinity spaces in the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding, the implementation of “cultural competency training for all staff and faculty,” and that “classes on the history of marginalized peoples … be added to the list of distribution requirements.” The organization also advocated for the establishment of an African American Studies concentration and the increased diversifying of hiring and admis-

sions practices. Anyanwu, herself a graduate of the Wilson School and a current MPA candidate in Public Affairs at the University and J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School, said that the group was started by students “radicalized by state violence that was occurring in the nation” during the summer of 2014, namely the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and the non-indictment of Officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo. “We wanted to respond in our own way to what was happening in the world,” she said. “We sort of made the connection between what was happening nationally and the experiences that we had had on campus.” The BJL organized a protest on Prospect Avenue around Halloween in 2015. During Thanksgiving break, she said, the BJL put together a walk-out and a die-in in response to calls for walkouts across college campuses for a turnout of around 500 people outside of Frist. According to Anyanwu, the group then shifted to focusing more on campus happenings, bringing their concerns to the administration. They protested a talk given by Charles Murray, political scientist and author of the book “The Bell Curve,” in which he controversially argued for race-based intelligence. Another BJL-organized event was the Black Brunch, an effort to “disrupt business as usual in terms of calling attention to the fact that black people’s lives were being taken by the state,” accord-

ing to Anyanwu. Leading up to the 2015 Woodrow Wilson protests, Anyanwu said that the BJL had already been frustrated by what they perceived as a lack of substantive response from the administration to many of their demands, including “diversity in hiring faculty and student body population.” At the same time, they saw many challenges against oncevenerated Confederate figures in college campuses across the country. “We felt a moment where the country at large was wrestling with how to dismantle the vestiges of white supremacy, and Woodrow Wilson was central to that legacy,” Anyanwu said, citing examples such as Wilson’s resegregation of the federal government and the invasion of Haiti. The protest received its fair share of both supporters and detractors. Many of the latter made their opinions known through the social media platform YikYak, where users could create and edit discussion threads based on their locations. “On that platform, quite a few of us, myself included, were specifically named and targeted,” Anyanwu said. “Things were said about me, that I should leave campus, and things were said to the effect that we were not grateful, spoiled, bratty ... that we were privileged kids, and what did we have to complain about?” At the same time, though, she recounted a large number of people who were very supportive of the protest, who also sat in at

COURTESY OF JOANNA ANYANWU ‘15 GS

President Christopher Eisgruber ‘83 and students during the sit-in in the president’s office.

Nassau and stayed for most of the time. R.J. Paige ’17 participated in the Woodrow Wilson protests, but was not a part of the BJL due to restraints in his schedule. Still, he said he felt a need to be part of the movement due to his own experiences as a black student on campus, especially after talking to BJL members. “[I] felt a lot of the same kind of struggles that a lot of black students feel on campus, where there’s a lack of understanding and a lack of understanding of Princeton’s history,” Paige said. “If someone’s stepping up to try and do something about it, that’s better than nothing, in my opinion.” Tal Fortgang ’17 said while that he fundamentally agreed with the BJL’s objective to change the name of the Wilson School, he disagreed with its reasoning. “Princeton should not honor someone like him, who was repressive even for his time … it’s embarrassing for Princeton,” Fortgang said. “But the stated logic was the Wilson building made people feel unsafe, which I personally did not feel, and I also don’t think that is a very compelling reason for a name change … I think people are capable of separating in their minds between the name of a building and the safety associated with attending a particular organization.” After the protest, the protestors and the administration reached an agreement in which, among other things, administrators agreed to discuss renaming the Wilson School and to establish

four affinity spaces at the Fields Center. Anyanwu said that the BJL was in frequent contact with the administration. “We knew we were likely not going to reap the fruits of our labor at that time,” she said. Anyanwu added that she saw racism as subtle but embedded in institutions like the Ivy League, especially in financial allocations and hiring and admissions practices. She referred to the experience of former first lady Michelle Obama ’85 at the University, recounted most recently in her best-selling memoir, “Becoming.” Obama detailed her difficulties attending the University as a woman of color, recounting the predominance of white and male students, and how she often felt as though she were representing her entire race as she pursued and achieved academic success. “I would venture to say that a lot of the concerns she had are probably still present, and these are some of the things BJL was trying to respond to,” Anyanwu said. For Anyanwu and her peers, these problems on campus, in addition to broader societal concerns surrounding race, demanded address. “A lot of us, we were not able to separate our academics and our other lives, and so it was important for us to be able to organize around issues that were occurring to us as black people,” Anyanwu said.

COURTESY OF JOANNA ANYANWU ‘15 GS

Protesters after the sit-in in the President’s office.

COURTESY OF JOANNA ANYANWU

Protesters at the 2014 walk out/die in, in response to the non-indictments of Darren Wilson and Pantaleo for the killings of Mike Brown and Eric Garner.


Opinion

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EDITORIAL

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A

Toward inclusive, international scholarship

liberal arts education obligates students to examine a wide range of geographic areas and appraise a broad expanse of ideas. As A.B. departments’ course offerings reveal, however, students can easily skirt around studying areas other than Europe and the United States. History, Politics, the Wilson School, and Philosophy, to name but a few departments, privilege scholarship on Europe and the United States. The history department’s Eurocentric bent is not difficult to discern. Concentrators must take a course in four distribution areas: United States, European, Non-Western, and Pre-Modern. Only one of the four requires concentrators

to investigate somewhere beyond “the West,” which is itself a reductive construct. Why are there no African, Latin American, or Asian history requirements? Similarly, the politics department privileges the study of American politics. Of the three departmental tracks, the Program in American Ideas and Institutions, the Program in Political Economy, and the Program in Quantitative and Analytical Political Science, only one focuses on a particular region. Of course, that region is the United States. The Wilson School requires concentrators to take prerequisite courses in History and Politics. Given the prejudices reflected in those departments’ offerings, students

who study and hope to practice public policy can similarly avoid studying anywhere beyond Europe and the United States. Academic departments cannot both claim to be universal and propagate systemic inequities. As Professor Dan-el Padilla Peralta suggested in a recent edition of the Princeton Alumni Weekly, the names of our departments ought to reflect their offerings. Classics, for example, could be more accurately described as the department of Greek and Roman studies. Others have argued that Western-focused philosophy departments be renamed “Department of European and American Philosophy.” What about other departments that privilege European and U.S.

scholarship, such as history, politics, and public policy? The pursuit of free and open knowledge allows students to study whatever they wish; all regions merit intellectual attention. Nonetheless, students of the humanities and social sciences, fields that aspire to represent and contextualize the human experience, should explore the full breadth of their disciplines. Requiring students to enroll in a healthy balance of non-normative and customary courses would tremendously benefit Princetonians’ intellectual development and sociocultural awareness. Fifty years ago, the Association of Black Collegians occupied New South to protest the University’s investments in apartheid South Africa. Those

students examined South African history and contemporary affairs beyond the constraints of traditional Western scholarship. They pursued an expansive, provocative understanding of the human experience, one that transcended geographic and racial boundaries. We should heed their example. Board Chairs Chris Murphy ’20 Cy Watsky ’21 Board Members Samuel Aftel ’20 Arman Badrei ’22 Ariel Chen ’20 Rachel Kennedy ’21 Ethan Li ’22 Madeleine Marr ’21 Jonathan Ort ’21

JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN


Opinion

Friday March 8, 2019

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CHARLOTTE ADAMO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The Death of Neutrality: Princeton’s Investments in a Politicized Era

Claire Wayner

Contributing Columnist

S

ince the anti-apartheid movement began in the 1960s, dozens of divestment campaigns have swept through Princeton’s campus. Yet more often than not, the University has chosen to deny student demands, including the push to divest from fossil fuels in 2015. It’s not like choosing to divest is an uncommon decision, either, especially with regard to climate change. Across the country, 48 U.S. universities have either partially or fully divested from fossil fuels. So why does Princeton consistently avoid shifting its investments? After the 2015 fossil fuel divestment campaign was shot down, President Eisgruber voiced an opinion which he repeated again following the unsuccessful private prisons divestment campaign in 2017: that divestment is a political statement and that Princeton, in its efforts to maintain a neutral space open to diverse dialogue, should avoid “institutional position-taking.” While I agree that Princeton should allow differing opinions to be heard on campus, avoiding divestment because of its “political” nature is unreasonable and even hypocritical. For starters, Princeton already makes several “political” statements on a regular basis. In 2017,

for instance, Princeton filed a lawsuit against the federal government criticizing proposed DACA rollbacks, which would have directly affected one of Princeton’s students, María Perales Sánchez ’18. This past year, President Eisgruber signed on a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos condemning the proposed removal of protections for transgender people under Title IX because of the impact it would have on Princeton community members. While these moves may seem to be more directly related to student well-being, the issues at the heart of divestment, like climate change, are also going to impact all of the Princeton community, some parts more disproportionately than others. Princeton’s history reflects the importance of these global divestment issues to campus life, too — the University has chosen to divest on two occasions, the first time in 1987 in relation to South Africa and apartheid and the second in 2006 with regard to the Darfur conflict. Thus, there is plenty of precedent when it comes to Princeton’s making political statements, and as long as the government continues to make decisions which affect student life, Princeton will need to perform the “institutional position-taking” which Eisgruber denounced in 2015. In actuality, choosing not to

divest in today’s politicized climate is just as much of a political statement as choosing to divest. By keeping our investments in fossil fuel companies, for instance, we’re sending a message to the world that we support the exploitative extraction of natural resources that not only are resulting in dangerous increases in global temperature but are also destroying local communities. From the Dakota Access pipeline project, which would cut through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, to the devastation of the Niger River Delta, where 70 percent of residents live below the poverty line, by Royal Dutch Shell oil spills, marginalized communities around the world are being damaged by fossil fuel infrastructure. Choosing a “business-as-normal” path a couple of decades ago may have been seen as neutral, but staying silent is no longer acceptable — instead, it’s a way of postponing the issue and letting others, those who have been shouldering the burden for years, deal with it. Consider the results from the private prison divestment campaign that swept through campus this past year. The Resources Committee, a subset of the Council of the Princeton University Community, issued a statement that did not recommend divestment from private pris-

ons because of a split vote. But isn’t issuing a statement against divestment just as political as issuing a statement for divestment? Yes, divestment is deeply rooted in public advocacy, but so is investment. Just as Princeton chooses to invest in fossil fuel companies, so too can it choose to invest in the renewable energy or green building industries. Perhaps, then, student groups that want Princeton to change its investments would be more successful in the future if they promoted positive investment instead of, or in combination with, divestment. When used for good, investment can promote valuable growth and can also benefit us as an institution. Princeton has a commitment for the campus to be carbon-neutral by 2046, but in order to reach this goal, we’ll need to source our electric power from renewable sources — what better way to do so than to directly invest in the growth of local, clean energy, such as offshore wind in New Jersey? New Jersey has also set a goal for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 from 2006 levels, contributing to the promotion of carbon-neutral power sources statewide, thus increasing the possibility for regional investment. As more divestment campaigns emerge in the coming years, Princeton may choose to

maintain an appearance of neutrality by choosing not to divest. Realistically, however, there is no such thing as neutrality in today’s society — whether Princeton divests or maintains its investments, they are always sending a political message. Moreover, by dismissing student divestment campaigns in favor of a “business-as-normal” approach, the administration is ultimately shutting down the diverse dialogue on campus which they originally intended to preserve through not divesting. Instead of treating divestment with blanket contempt, I argue that the University should carefully examine how a “political statement” should be defined and whether pretending to “stay neutral” through not divesting is ultimately more harmful than expressing our institutional values through divesting our assets. Should the University acquiesce to every student call for divestment? Not necessarily. But if students bring forth wellresearched arguments, the University should at least be more responsive to their concerns and critically evaluate how the decision it makes will be perceived and contextualized in the greater politicized environment in which we exist today. Claire Wayner is a first-year from Baltimore, Md. She can be reached at cwayner@princeton.edu.

she fits the bill Nathan phan ’19

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Friday March 8, 2019

Opinion

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editor-in-chief

Chris Murphy ’20 business manager

Taylor Jean-Jacques’20 BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 trustees Francesca Barber David Baumgarten ’06 Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Kavita Saini ’09 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Abigail Williams ’14 trustees emeriti Gregory L. Diskant ’70 William R. Elfers ’71 Kathleen Kiely ’77 Jerry Raymond ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Annalyn Swan ’73 trustees ex officio Chris Murphy ’20 Taylor Jean-Jacques’20

143RD MANAGING BOARD managing editors Samuel Aftel ’20 Ariel Chen ’20 Jon Ort ’21

CHARLOTTE ADAMO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

What it means to live in Wilson Julia Chaffers

Contributing Columnist

A

few years ago, I was sitting in my high school journalism class, writing about the protests at the University and other schools challenging the legacies of historical figures on their campuses. At the time, I thought that if I ever had the privilege to attend the University, Harvard, or Yale, I too would be among the students fighting to establish a community welcoming to all of its students. Last summer, I received an email saying that I would be living in Wilson College. When I saw the name, I felt a mix of excitement for the coming adventures but also a discomfort with the name I would now be adopting as my home. This duality of feeling has continued to weigh on me throughout my first semester, but I had not fully confronted it until a couple weeks ago, when the renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke on campus. In response to a question from an audience member, Coates unapologetically criticized the University for its veneration of Woodrow Wilson. He recounted Wilson’s rac-

ist acts, noting that Wilson was racist even in the context of his time. He resegregated the federal government and screened “Birth of a Nation” in the White House, among other things. Considering this, Coates called the University’s choice to honor Wilson an “embarrassment” and a “shame.” He went so far as to say he did not know if he himself could attend a school that celebrated such a figure. While Coates spoke, I was wearing my Wilson College jacket. The dissonance was obvious. Here I was, listening to a man I admired saying things I absolutely agreed with, yet my actions went directly against what he and I believed. And herein lies the problem. The pervasiveness of Wilson’s legacy on campus forces me to associate myself with a legacy I wholeheartedly reject. Critics say that students criticizing the campus’s iconography are overly sensitive. A name can’t hurt you, they say. First off, the people saying these things probably have never found themselves in a situation when they are the outsider and their experience is being challenged. But it means something when you wear a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of a man who would not want me at this school. Woodrow Wilson thought people such as myself were inferior and

less deserving. Why celebrate that? Often, people say that naming something after a figure does not necessarily imply you endorse everything he or she did. But to suggest that you can name a policy school after Wilson, yet not wrestle with the racism of the very policies he implemented, is disingenuous. To name a residential college after Wilson, while ignoring the fact that he did not believe white and black people belonged on equal terms in the same spaces, is ridiculous. Naming a place after a person is by definition not selective or a half measure: it necessarily includes everything that person did. So we have to be honest about that. Symbols matter. Titles matter. They communicate a set of values tied to the man whom you are honoring. I do not think the University supports the uglier parts of Wilson’s legacy, but that is the very reason his name should not be elevated the way it is. When I see the name Wilson, I see the celebration of an ideology that put white people first, a worldview defined by prejudice. Wilson’s racism was not marginal or incidental to his life. It was a central, animating ideology that affected his policymaking. What matters is everything Wilson did with the power he had. The progressivism he believed in excluded people

of color. And any endorsement of him now does the same. As a student at the University, it is easy to get wrapped up in the tradition, in the stories we tell about this place. But it is important to take a step back and look at these narratives from the outside. Coates’ talk helped me do that, and his incredulity makes perfect sense given that he is not tied up in the University’s mythology of Wilson. When I say I live in Wilson and may concentrate in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, there is an inherent conflict. If I do study policy, it will be for the opposite goals and by the opposite ideology that Wilson had, and I hope that goes for most University students. The truth is Wilson did not reflect the values of the University, and would not have supported the diversity of the student body. We should not honor him as if he would have. Take a step outside the orange bubble, and this truth is crystal clear. Julia Chaffers is a first-year from Wellesley, Mass. She can be reached at chaffers@princeton.edu. This piece originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2018 issue of the Daily Princetonian.

head news editors Benjamin Ball ’21 Ivy Truong ’21 associate news editors Linh Nguyen ’21 Claire Silberman ’22 Katja Stroke-Adolphe ’20 head opinion editor Cy Watsky ’21 associate opinion editors Rachel Kennedy ’21 Ethan Li ’22 head sports editor Jack Graham ’20 associate sports editors Tom Salotti ’21 Alissa Selover ’21 features editor Samantha Shapiro ’21 head prospect editor Dora Zhao ’21 associate prospect editor Noa Wollstein ’21 chief copy editors Lydia Choi ’21 Elizabeth Parker ’21 associate copy editors Jade Olurin ’21 Christian Flores ’21 head design editor Charlotte Adamo ’21 associate design editor Harsimran Makkad ’22 cartoon editors Zaza Asatiani ’21 Jonathan Zhi ’21 head video editor Sarah Warman Hirschfield ’20 associate video editor Mark Dodici ’22 digital operations manager Sarah Bowen ’20

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Friday March 8, 2019

Sports

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BEVERLY SCHAEFER / GOPRINCETONTIGERS

Jordan holds the ball against Harvard.

JORDAN

Continued from page 12

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the multitude of resources that Princeton has to offer, such as Career Services and the basketball team’s faculty fellows. Jordan has also faced struggles in being able to manage her academics, athletics, and other extracurricular activities. She recalled being a freshman and studying with her teammates every day, but that those study sessions would easily turn into them watching videos or doing dances. “I remember having to learn the time management part of it,” she said. “Learn-

ing to be more intentional about what my time was for and making it more special when I had the time to spend hanging out.” Banghart also recognized Jordan’s ability to balance all aspects of her Princeton life efficiently. “I always say when you study with your peers, you’re either hanging out with your books or you’re in group work,” Banghart said. “[Jordan’s] either studying or in group work, she doesn’t just hang out with her books.” Jordan has also made an impact in her decision to participate in political and social movements. Along with a few other teammates over the past two years, she has been a participant in the nationwide

social movement of kneeling during the national anthem before games. “We had a very long whole team discussion about the anthem a few years ago and it was not led by me,” Banghart explained. “It was led by the team and it was a chance for us to have honest and real conversations about what it means.” Jordan expressed that having her teammates and coaches support their decisions to kneel despite them not participating meant a lot to her. “I chose to kneel when the people who mean the most to me were able to understand what kneeling meant to me,” she wrote in an email to the ‘Prince’ after our interview.

Banghart supported her players’ right to free expression and said the entire women’s basketball team wanted to have an individual response, whether it was to kneel, stand, or put their hand on their chest. “We all wanted to be a team as well, so that’s why they put their hands on each others shoulders,” Banghart said. “We all support one another’s viewpoint, because it’s well thought-out.” … Jordan’s athletics, academics, extracurriculars, and commitment to social justice shows there’s more to being a varsity athlete at Princeton than just workouts and games. There were challenges,

from perfecting her time management skills, to sitting in Career Services, attempting to make tough decisions, and going to COS126 office hours full of frustration, just to find out that she missed only a period in the code. But after four years, she has shown all current and future athletes on campus that while it may be difficult, it is possible to do it all. So, what makes Sydney Jordan so special? Banghart was asked that question recently at an event honoring the Pyne Honor Prize recipients. Her answer? “Everything. She just does everything right.”

BEVERLY SCHAEFER / GOPRINCETONTIGERS

Jordan with fellow seniors Gabrielle Rush and Qalea Ismail during Senior Night.

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Friday March 8, 2019

Sports

page 12

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Every great team needs a Sydney Jordan: How Princeton’s senior forward excels on and off the court By Jack Graham and Alissa Selover Head Sports Editor and Associate Sports Editor

Saturday’s Senior Night win over Harvard was an emotional moment for Princeton women’s basketball. Playing at Jadwin Gymnasium for the final time, Princeton’s seniors led the team to a gritty 61–58 win. Head coach Courtney Banghart earned her 250th career win in the process. At the middle of it was senior forward Sydney Jordan. She was named player of the game and mobbed by teammates at midcourt after recording 10 points and seven rebounds. Jordan’s full contribution to the basketball team, or the Princeton community, can’t be seen on a box score, however. She anchors the women’s basketball team with her commitment to defense and detail. She is engaged in several service-oriented extracurriculars, including serving as the chair of the USG Diversity and Equity Committee and a member of the Community Service InterClub Council. She maintains a consciousness of political and social issues outside the Orange Bubble — she is writing a thesis on corporate social responsibility as a Philosophy major and joining a nationwide activist movement of black athletes by kneeling during the national anthem before games. For her achievements, she became the first Princeton female athlete to win the Pyne Honor Prize, “the highest general distinction conferred on an undergraduate.” Or, as Banghart puts it, “Sydney Jordan is what makes us great, in every way.” … Jordan comes from an athletic family. Her grandfather played in the NFL, and her two older sisters played Di-

vision I college basketball. She started playing basketball herself when she was six. She didn’t start to think of Princeton as a college option, though, until head coach Courtney Banghart took note of her on the DC-area AAU circuit. Banghart said that Jordan possessed a “defensive ruggedness” that she sought in recruits. Once the coaching staff got their hands on Jordan’s transcripts and test scores, their confidence in her fit for the program increased further. Jordan didn’t make an impact on the court immediately, averaging just 7.1 minutes and 1.5 points per game her first year. According to Banghart, Jordan used that time to get better. “Everything for her was additive. Once she figured out one concept, she’d work on the next one, and the next one,” said Banghart. “If you don’t take a day off, you get better really quickly.” Three years later, Jordan is a starter and team captain. She said she’s progressed not just as a player, but as a leader. “[Leadership] has been the biggest transition for me,” Jordan said. “Coming in as a freshman and not getting a lot of playing time, and now being a senior and a captain and having to reach out to the younger people on our team and help them in the way that the seniors on my team helped me in just getting through life here — I take pride in that position and hope that I’m doing as good a job as my seniors did.” Jordan initially cracked the starting lineup as a sophomore due to the same defensive prowess that intrigued Banghart at her high school games. She would be responsible for guarding the other team’s best player, regardless of position. As a junior, she

started 29 games and played a key role during Princeton’s run to an Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament bid. For all her strengths on the court, Jordan has never been much of a scorer. She averaged just 4.1 points per game as a sophomore and 5.0 as a junior. This year, the team has asked her to step up in that department as well. “That’s not how she wants to play,” said Banghart. “She wants to defend and rebound, and do all the little things. But I’ve asked her to do some of the big things, and it’s taken a huge evolution of hers to take that on.” She’s responded to the call. As a senior, Jordan is averaging 6.8 points per game in 27 minutes per game, both career highs. Her services were particularly needed in this year’s non-conference schedule, which junior forward Bella Alarie missed much of with an injury. Jordan reeled off several double-digit point performances, including a

three-game string of doubledoubles. “I think for us seniors, realizing how few games we have left as Princeton Tigers creates a sense of urgency,” Jordan said. “You can’t control what the other team is doing, but you can can control what you bring to the game and the energy that you bring.” Jordan and her team currently sit in a tie for first in the Ivy League going into the regular season’s final weekend. After that, they’ll travel to New Haven, seeking to earn another Ivy tournament win and NCAA tournament bid. … Of course, Pyne Prizes aren’t awarded for solid play on the basketball court alone. Outside of basketball, Jordan has excelled academically and extracurricularly, so much so that it makes one wonder whether she has the same number of hours in a day as the rest of us. On campus, Jordan has explored many different ex-

tracurriculars outside of basketball. Her term as the Chair of the Diversity and Equity Committee in the Undergraduate Student Government just came to an end, and she’s served as a chapel deacon through her four years at Princeton. She is currently on the Community Service Inter-Club Council where she represents her eating club, Cannon Dial Elm Club, and assists with community wide fundraisers, such as TruckFest, that are put on by members of the eating clubs. “I manage it all with a lot of help,” Jordan explained. “All of our faculty fellows are so amazing and so willing to give us advice on anything. Having that help and support of people around me who have been through college before and can guide me through the difficult decisions has been really helpful.” Jordan attributes much of her ability to be active in so many parts of campus life to See JORDAN page 11

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Jordan hands the ball of during a game against Harvard.

BEVERLY SCHAEFER / GOPRINCETONTIGERS

Jordan goes up for a layup against Marist.

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