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ACADEMICS | APRIL 27
U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S | D E C 2 0 1 4
Semenov ’15 named Jackson GS ’86, valedictorian, Hannan Nolan to speak ’15 named salutatorian at graduation By Christina Vosbikian Misha Semenov ’15 was named the valedictorian of the Class of 2015 on April 27, and Neil Hannan ’15 was named the Latin salutatorian. The valedictorian and salutatorian were announced at the faculty meeting on Monday, when Dean of the College Valerie Smith announced that the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing had recommended Semenov and Hannan for the respective honors.
Semenov, a native of San Francisco, is concentrating in architecture with certificates in urban studies and translation and intercultural communication. For his senior thesis, advised by Dean Stanley Allen of the architecture department and history professor Alison Isenberg, Semenov studied housing projects designed to accommodate residents’ expansion, and examined how more flexible, rule-based architecture can help fulfill larger social goals. “Professor Isenberg de-
U . A F FA I R S | M AY 1 6
HOLI
staff writer
scribes him as the most talented undergraduate she has encountered in 20 years of teaching,” Smith said. Hannan is a classics major pursuing a certificate in finance. For his senior thesis, advised by classics professor Dennis Feeney, Hannan studied a number of disabled or constrained literary characters in the early Roman Empire who held positions of authority. “Professor Feeney describes this work as one of the best theses he has seen in See GRADUATION page 4
By Jacob Donnelly & Grant Golub news editor & staff writer
Acclaimed British-American film director Christopher Nolan will be the Class Day speaker this year, the Class of 2015 Council announced on Dec. 5, and Lisa Jackson GS ’86 will speak at this academic year’s Baccalaureate ceremony on May 31, the University announced in a press release on Dec. 8. Jackson is vice president of environmental initiatives at Apple and is a former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the agen-
cy’s top job. She earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University and was appointed a trustee of the University in June. Jackson did not respond to a request for comment. In a 2013 Q&A with The Daily Princetonian, Jackson identified her two biggest accomplishments with the EPA as their finding that “emissions of greenhouse gases are endangering public health and welfare,” which obligated the EPA to address greenhouse gases, and “expanding the conversation See SPEAKERS page 4
Class of 2019 yield 68.6 percent
Email it to: tips@dailyprincetonian.com
By Jessica Li
In News
The University adjusted its yield rate to 68.6 percent on May 15 after 14 admitted students deferred their admission to the Class of 2020, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said. The yield rate is no longer a record yield rate. The previously reported yield rate was 69.4 percent, compared to last year’s yield of 69.2 percent. Rapelye said she ultimately expects to admit 20 to 25 students from the wait list. These students will be notified before June 30. “Since students continue to ask to defer or withdraw throughout the next few weeks and months, the numbers in the class and the yield will change, as they always do during this period,” Rapelye said. Rapelye noted that the enrolling number for the incoming freshman class currently stands at 1,310, which is the University’s target enrollment number. The number for the incoming freshman class does not include the 35 students who will be participating in
Staff writer Annie Yang highlights the push for more focus on the program in Latino Studies, and Jessica Li reports on Urban Congo disbanding following student outrage. PAGES 1-7
In Opinion Editor-in-Chief Anna Mazarakis invites readers to give feedback through a reader survey, and Chelsea Jones discusses the people in her class she has not yet met. PAGES 8-9
In Street
staff writer
Today in Street, we take a look at the University’s undergraduate improv comedy groups and at momentous events throughout women’s history at the University.
STUDENT LIFE | APRIL 12
PAGES 10-11
Some students who gathered in the University Chapel on April 12 to address issues of racism and prejudice turned their backs on University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, and some walked out. The gathering followed controversy the week of April 5 concerning performances by student group Urban Congo that some said mocked African people and racist posts on the anonymous social media application Yik Yak. Alison Boden, Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel, introduced each speaker. The event was intended to “take steps toward a better place,” she said. As Eisgruber began to speak,
In Sports Sports Editor Miles Hinson covers the career and accomplishments of women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart, and Associate Sports Editor Tom Pham recaps the men’s swimming team’s amazing performance at Ivy League Championships. PAGES 13-16
LISA GONG :: SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The South Asian Students Association invited students to throw dry powder and colored water to celebrate the Hindu festival of colors.
the Bridge Year Program next year. The University has offered admission to 1,908 students of the 27,290 applicants for the Class of 2019, which is the most selective admission year the University has seen to date. The number of applicants
for this year was also the largest, breaking the record number of 27,189 set by the Class of 2015. According to Rapelye, 60 percent of the incoming class will receive financial aid. Forty-two percent of students self-identified as American
students of color, and 12.6 percent are children of Princeton graduates. Of the incoming class, 46.8 percent of the committed students are women, and 53.2 percent are men. Rapelye said final statistics will be released in a report in September.
Discontented students stage walkout at Chapel Gathering By Melissa Curtis staff writer
around 20 students stood and turned their backs to Eisgruber. The audience, filling about half the chapel, was silent. The students remained standing until Eisgruber finished speaking. Eisgruber addressed what he said were “eruptions of hostile and thoughtless comments” that had taken place on Yik Yak. “Anonymous cowards find no fertile ground here for their hatred or their ignorance,” Eisgruber said. “These hateful comments have no place at Princeton.” Eisgruber also said he recognized the discrimination minorities on campus have faced. “On our campus and in our society, members of minority groups too often find See CHAPEL page 3
U . A F FA I R S | A P R I L 1 3
Requests to view admission files surge By Ruby Shao assocaite news editor
TED HORODYNSKY :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Students protested University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83.
Over 300 students have filed requests to view their admission files under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act since Jan. 15, according to Senior Associate Dean of the College Claire Fowler. FERPA became a federal law in 1974 to guarantee students a right of access to their educational records and to protect those records from disclosure to third parties. The flood of requests began after an anonymous satirical newsletter at Stanford University called the Fountain Hopper publicized a process for requesting admission files under FERPA. Members of the Fountain Hopper did not respond to requests for comment. The number of students who followed through with viewing their files as of April 13 was 137, according to a WASS calendar maintained by the Office of the Dean of the See ADMISSION page 5
The Daily Princetonian
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Thursday may 28, 2015
ISSUES PUT TO VOTE IN USG REFERENDA STUDENT LIFE | APRIL 3
STUDENT LIFE | APRIL 24
Students say ‘No’ to ‘Hose Bicker’ referendum Divestment vote fails to pass by slim margin By Jacob Donnelly news editor
Students voted against the referendum calling for the end of Bicker, Grant Golub ’17, the Undergraduate Student Government’s chief elections manager, said. The referendum would have called on the Bicker clubs to end Bicker by the 2019-20 academic year and on USG to create an ad hoc committee to facilitate ending Bicker. Voting took place from March 30 through April 1, and 1,988 students voted during that time. In comparison, 2,015 students voted on the referendum about the length of winter break earlier this year. Of the students who voted this week, 1,120, or 56.3 percent, voted against the referendum and 868, or 43.7 percent, voted in favor of the referendum. There are currently no plans for USG to examine the Bicker issue, Golub said. Golub is a former staff writer and former staff copy editor for The Daily Princetonian. Rene Chalom ’17 said the outcome of the referendum was surprising because it was reasonable to assume people who were against Bicker would have turned out more. He noted, though, that the number of people who voted in favor of Bicker shows how ingrained the system is at the University. “As someone who’s not in an eating club next year,” Chalom said, “I found the whole idea of dropping [$9,000-$10,000] to hang out with your friends a little silly, and that this institution is so popular that people are rushing to defend it is a little surprising.” The referendum was valuable for starting a wider conversation
on Bicker, Ryan Low ’16, who proposed the referendum, noted. “If this referendum were held a week or two immediately after Bicker, the results would have been different,” he said. “Turnout would have been different. Conversations on campus would have been different. This is a controversial issue on campus that affects all of us and that we need to continue working on in the future.” While Low said he was disappointed by the results, he was not completely surprised. “The proponents of Bicker and the proponents of the status quo more generally have found a way to take away the voices of anyone who disagrees with them,” Low said. “If you take Bicker as a case study, … if you were in a Bicker club, you couldn’t oppose Bicker because then you’re being hypocritical, if you got hosed you couldn’t be hypocritical because then you’re just being salty, if you’re never bickered then you can’t be opposed because you don’t understand the process.” Underclassmen sometimes don’t express disapproval of Bicker because they don’t want their chances of getting into a Bicker club to be affected, Low said. He added that students should continue to challenge the system in the future. “At least people know that there is a substantial number of students at Princeton who think there is something wrong with Bicker,” he said. The conversation surrounding the referendum was positive and made people think about why Bicker exists and how it should change, Joe Margolies ’15, former Interclub Council president, said, noting that he was not speaking for the Interclub Council or the
eating clubs. Jean Carlos Arenas ’16, the current Interclub Council president, and other eating club presidents either did not respond to a request for comment or declined to comment. The ICC discusses Bicker extensively before it occurs every year and follows up with students who bickered, Margolies said, noting the most common comment received is that there should be more transparency surrounding how the process works and decisions are made. “There are definitely legitimate critiques to Bicker felt by Bicker club officers, such as wanting to accept more people than there is room for, or having to run a process that is very stressful and political,” Margolies said. “I don’t think anyone thinks Bicker is perfect, even in a Bicker club.” While 57.8 percent of the freshman class, 58.7 percent of the sophomore class and 58.2 percent of the junior class voted “no” on the referendum, Margolies noted that only 51.2 percent of the senior class voted “no” on the referendum. “The Class of 2015 has more experience with the process,” Margolies said. “They would have gone through it two times, rather than just one. The second thing is that the Class of 2015 is less affected by this referendum than other classes are. If a member of the Class of 2015 didn’t like Bicker but wanted to join a Bicker club, they might have had a higher estimation of Bicker before that.” The difference might also have just been due to random chance, Margolies noted. The vast majority of students who took the sophomore survey about Bicker said they enjoyed
the process, Thomas Fleming ’69, chair of the Graduate Interclub Council and of the Cap & Gown Club graduate board, noted. While this referendum was an important part of the larger conversation about eating clubs, serious critiques have been made of Bicker at least since the 1950s and 1960s, Sandy Harrison ’74, chair of the Terrace Club graduate board, noted. “Students are still opting for Bicker clubs, knowing it’s there, and knowing they might not get in and could be hosed, and recognizing all that, it’s a willingness to live with the fact that it’s pretty exclusionary and elitist and discriminatory,” he said. “Every four years, there’s a complete turnover of the student body, and [Bicker’s] a good thing to be talking about.” The results were more balanced than one might have expected, Undergraduate Student Government president Ella Cheng ’16 said, adding that the campaigning of Low and others might have been responsible. Cheng is a former staff writer for The ‘Prince.’ While USG administered the referendum, it did not endorse it. “The momentum largely died out by this week, so I was expecting a more one-sided vote,” Cheng said. “I don’t have a personal opinion on either side, because it’s such a complicated issue, but [Bicker] is a good thing to think about.” While USG will not be required to create an ad hoc committee to facilitate the end of Bicker due to the referendum failing, Cheng said one of her priorities coming into office this year was to increase accessibility to the eating clubs and that USG would work with the ICC and the University to institute a more streamlined eating club financial aid process. A report on eating club accessibility is in the works, and USG is pushing for more PUID nights instead of having students rely on passes or membership as much, she added. “It’s much more complicated to deal with things regarding the social aspects of eating club life, because a lot of that is out of University and definitely USG control,” Cheng said. Joe LoPresti ’15, who helped campaign in favor of the referendum, said he was pleased the referendum did as well as it did. “The sort of banter you heard on Yik Yak and other anonymous sources tended to be on the ‘no’ side,” he said. “I think the [results from the senior class] show that the more people think about Bicker, the more they realize it is a bad system.” Some clubs historically had members threaten to drop when they were refusing to admit women, and that pressure resulted in some success in allowing women into the clubs, he said. “I’m hopeful that next year’s sophomores will exert that kind of pressure [on the Bicker system],” LoPresti said.
By Daily Princetonian Staff The divestment referendum did not pass, with 52.5 percent of students voting against divestment and 47.5 percent voting in favor of it. The referendum called on the University to divest from companies “that maintain the infrastructure of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, facilitate Israel’s and Egypt’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or facilitate state repression against Palestinians by Israeli, Egyptian, and Palestinian Authority security force.” Though 2,200 students participated in the election and voting process, only 2,032 students voted on the referendum. Princeton Committee on Palestine board member Katie Horvath ’15 explained that, although the movement for divestment had been significant, she was not surprised at the outcome of the referendum. “We knew from the outset that this was going to be an uphill battle, and we had done our research and looked at the previous divestment movements at Princeton,” Horvath said. She added that she was pleased to have lost by only 102 votes, because with more outreach and slightly increased support, the referendum would pass in a similar scenario. She explained that because winning the vote was a long shot, the leaders of the campaign had multiple goals during the process. “We had three goals, and only one of them was the actual numbers of the referendum. The other two goals were education and reaching the broader audience outside of this University,” Horvath said. The University is a leader in the United States, so the relative success of the campaign will give hope to pro-divestment students at other colleges, she explained. “If we can run a campaign here, on a campus that has so recently been apathetic and historically has been very resistant to divestment and to change, this could happen anywhere,” Horvath added. “A lot of schools will have even more success the first time around than we had.” There may or may not be a referendum next year, depending on how events play out, she noted. The divestment movement is certainly not going away, and another referendum will probably be useful to pursue in the future, she added. Though she feels some regret about the outcome of the vote, the diversity of race, religion, other social justice interests was inspiring, Horvath said.
“One of the things that I’m most excited about in this campaign is that it catalyzed this unprecedented show of solidarity on campus from all sectors,” Horvath said, adding that she hopes the unity shown by students and various student groups will happen again in the future. Leading up to the vote, Elise Backman ’15 said she and fellow members of the No Divest coalition had been trying to talk to as many students as possible about alternative ways to promote a two-state solution and sustainable peace among Israelis and Palestinians. “We were just really proud that the majority of the voting students saw through the misleading language of the referendum and ended up rejecting what we saw as a counterproductive proposition, especially coming from the University forum,” she said. ”We don’t believe that it’s a productive policy tool to improve the status quo in the region.” While the coalition had no expectations about whether the referendum would pass, Backman said, she successfully predicted that the outcome would be very close given the abundance of perspectives. “Moving forward, we really want to focus on impacting the region in as positive and constructive a way that we can, and we hope that other students will join us in that endeavor,” Backman said. She noted that the No Divest coalition will continue working on Tigers Together, which begun earlier this year as a collaboration mainly between Tigers for Israel and J Street U. “Tigers Together wants to have as positive and constructive and immediate of an impact as possible on the ground by supporting organizations that work on development issues for Israelis and Palestinians, like entrepreneurship and water scarcity,” Backman said, adding that Tigers Together has already begun fundraising for such organizations. She explained that next year, Tigers Together will also launch an internship program that will send students to Israel or Palestine, so that they can bring firsthand perspectives on the region back to campus. The organization is seeking faculty from a diverse arena of academic disciplines, including the Wilson School and development-oriented fields, Backman noted. “We think the more students that know about the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, the better,” she said, adding that the No Divest coalition is happy that there is dialogue on campus concerning the Israeli-Palestinian relationship.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday may 28, 2015
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CAMPUS EVENTS LEAD TO PROTESTS STUDENT LIFE | APRIL 6
STUDENT LIFE | APRIL 5
Big Sean considered a contentious choice By Christina Vosbikian staff writer
Some students took to social media over the weekend of April 4-5 to express concern over the choice of Big Sean as the main act for Lawnparties after Duncan Hosie ’16 and Rebecca Basaldua ’15 started a petition urging the Undergraduate Student Government to rescind its offer to the rapper. The petition alleges that Big Sean promotes rape culture and misogyny in his lyrics. Hosie said USG’s promotional video, which featured Big Sean repeating the phrase “stupid ass bitch,” spurred him to reach out to Basaldua, and to start the petition and open up dialogue about the selection of acts for Lawnparties. “After I saw that video, I started researching Big Sean’s language and I found language that was both misogynistic and homophobic,” Hosie said. “We wrote an op-ed piece that we published on Google Docs [on Sunday, April 5] and wanted to see the number of supporters. Right now, close to 500 people have signed.” Hosie said that posters hung around campus containing sexually explicit Big Sean lyrics, intended to urge students to protest the selection of Big Sean, were not his or Basaldua’s doing. Basaldua, who is an editor of the blog “Equal Writes,” said the protests over Big Sean’s lyrics have a precedent at Columbia University. “I’m sure every singer has a questionable song, but there are a significant amount of his songs that deal with this and I think there are a lot of other artists in the same genre even that would have been a better choice,” she said. The USG social committee generates a list of five to 10 names, which are then sent to an entertainment agent that connects USG with artists, USG social committee chair Simon Wu ’17 said. “We send them to the agent and then the agent will get back to us with prices and availability, and this is a process that happens about six or seven times be-
fore we can find somebody that works,” Wu said. Price and availability are key factors in deciding whether or not an act is feasible for Lawnparties, he added. “There are other people who are booking, and artists don’t want other people to know where they’re going before they want a press release,” Wu said. “Once we get an offer back from someone, we usually have to respond rather quickly because they’re also looking at booking at places other than us.” Since USG’s officers are in transition during the selection of a spring Lawnparties artist, there is little time to reform the artist selection process when new officers take office, because USG would have to risk selecting nobody, Wu said. “The contracts are signed and it’s unrealistic to stop this from happening,” Wu said. “The best way to move this in a productive way is to see how we can improve the selection process.” Diego Negron-Reichard ’18 said the protests could help to reform the artist selection process. “I think it’s ridiculous to try to boycott Lawnparties at this stage, but [the petition] does open up the conversation for next year’s act and not bringing people that have a possibly harmful message,” Negron-Reichard said. Olivia Fiechter ’18 said she was excited to have a big-name artist coming to Lawnparties. “We, as students, have told them that we want big names,” Anna Walker ’17 said. “Now people are attacking them for something else. It doesn’t really seem fair … I have full faith that they’ve thought about the ramifications of what Big Sean means and the connotations that come with him, and I think that, in this case, they put people’s interest in wanting a big name first.” Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne and Wu are going to meet with Hosie on April 10, Wu said, adding that a panel with the Women’s Center discussing misogyny and lyric culture may be organized.
ZACH GOLDFARB :: PRINCETONIAN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A video of an Urban Congo performance at the Princeton Varsity Club talent show provoked outrage across many segments of the student body.
Urban Congo sparks social media storm By Jessica Li staff writer
Students voiced their outrage over social media on the weekend of April 4-5 about videos featuring Urban Congo, a student organization recognized and sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. One of the videos shows a dance performance by members of the organization at the annual Princeton Varsity Club “Tigers Got Talent” talent show in November that was deemed inappropriate by many, citing disrespect for multiple African and Native American cultures. In response to growing discontent, Urban Congo removed the video from its YouTube channel and deactivated its Facebook page. Michael Hauss ’16, the president of Urban Congo, noted that these decisions were a result of a discussion held among organization members and not from pressure from the University. Though its membership is mostly comprised of students on the men’s swimming and diving team, Urban Congo is in no way affiliated with or funded by the athletic department, Hauss explained. The group has also not received funding from ODUS, according to Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne. Urban Congo was approved by the Student Groups Committee and by the USG senate in May of 2013.
Urban Congo also performed over the weekend of April 4-5 as a guest performer for eXpressions Dance Company’s spring production. Achille Tenkiang ’17 said that Urban Congo’s performances disgusted and disappointed him deeply. “I’m ashamed that I share an affiliation, however tenuous, with a group like Urban Congo,” Tenkiang said. “I think this just calls for greater discussion on campus. I hope that my peers wake up and realize that things aren’t so pretty inside the FitzRandolph Gate, and there are a lot of things we need to address as a community.” In response to claims that members of Urban Congo did not have bad intentions, Tenkiang said the impact was more important than the intention. “You may be the most wellmeaning person ever, but how it comes across is a totally different picture, and that’s what you need to be cognizant of as you act and you decide to do certain things,” Tenkiang said. Lena Sun ’16 said that she had seen Urban Congo perform at the eXpressions show on April 4, in which five male students came onstage wearing loincloths for a filler performance. The students held items above their heads at times and at others placed them on the ground, as though at an altar, she said. According to Sun, people laughed and cheered at the perfor-
mance. She said she felt uncomfortable with the performance and was confused as to why others did not seem to feel the same way. The next morning, students took to social media to express their varying reactions to the performance. “After realizing the mistake we had made, we fully recognized the offensive nature of the performances and felt it was best to take the video down,” Hauss noted. Hauss said that he and his organization were being ignorant. “Though we did not intend to denigrate other cultures, we realize that this fact does not absolve us in the least,” Hauss said. “We created something that was inexcusably offensive, and we appreciate all those who called attention to our mistake.” Hauss added that he believed the error in his organization’s judgment has sparked a productive dialogue that will help the University community to become more conscientious. He said that after surveying reactions to the video, the organization has decided that it will not continue to function as a performing arts group. “[Our organization] was founded on inclusivity; if our existence is harmful or offensive to anyone, we have become something that this group never stood for or intended to be,” Hauss said. Clare Sherlog ’17, president of eXpressions, declined to comment
about Urban Congo’s latest performance. After watching the video, Undergraduate Student Government president Ella Cheng ’16 said she would take on an initiative to reexamine Urban Congo’s recognition as a student organization by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. “I was equally offended, like the many students who’ve voiced [their concerns] over social media, by the misappropriation of culture in the video. And it was upsetting to learn that [Urban Congo] was an ODUSapproved group,” Cheng said, explaining that she, along with the Student Groups Committee, will be meeting with ODUS in the coming week to discuss the controversy. Cheng is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. In addition, Cheng said she will work with the Student Groups Committee chairs to inspect when the group was approved and whether the group description submitted at the time is at all reflective of its recent conduct. Cheng also noted that she is looking into protocols about revocations for ODUS-recognized student organizations and will bring the matter to the floor at the next USG senate meeting. Media relations specialist Min Pullan and University Associate Director of Athletics Kellie Staples did not respond to requests for comment.
Students read manifesto during Chapel reflections CHAPEL
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RAYE KESSLER :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Rapper Big Sean was the main act at spring Lawnparties this year.
themselves hurt,” he said. “The taunts and the insults have been hurtful.” Even though it is tempting to dismiss the anonymous words of a few, the University community has a responsibility to improve the campus climate, Eisgruber added. Ruha Benjamin, assistant professor in the Center for African American Studies, said she was deeply concerned about racial insensitivity. “The year is 2015 and we are failing,” Benjamin said. “It’s not that we don’t get the joke. It’s that stubborn fact that racist and sexist jokes never just end at the punch line.” The issue isn’t the people bringing concerns to public attention but the system instead, Benjamin added. The power of empathy is the only solution to apathy, Ucouncilor Jacob Cannon ’17 said. Regardless of background, all students have the right to prosper and succeed, he added.
“Try and understand why those around you think differently,” he said. William Gleason, chair of the English department, also discussed the importance of empathy. “Everything that happens on this campus touches every one of us,” Gleason said. “No one can turn away and say this doesn’t involve me.” Gleason addressed the Urban Congo performance and said highly offensive humor is detrimental to campus unity and student dignity. While Gleason said he believes humor can be a useful form of satire, it can also be “a divisive and deeply humiliating gesture,” he said. Athletics Administrator Isaac Serwanga ’13 called for action. As a student athlete, Serwanga wasted time wishing for change, he said. “For my first three years I complained,” Serwanga said. “It wasn’t until my senior year that I could be an agent of change. … Each and every individual has the opportunity to create change.”
Constructive criticism, positive engagement and mindful action constitute a three-part plan for beginning to grapple with campus issues, Serwanga said. “[I’m] tremendously excited about where we can go in the future,” he said. While stereotyping is natural, it’s important not to become complacent about accepting these stereotypes at face value, Lina Saud ’15 said, adding direct action to engage with and learn from individuals whom one stereotypes is necessary to overcome prejudice. U-Councilor Naimah Hakim ’16 then introduced four students who presented a list of demands, including dignity, accountability and change. While these students spoke, other students stood in the aisle of the Chapel with signs protesting for change. After the four students onstage finished their remarks, they and the protesters in the aisle marched out of the church, chanting, “Hate speech is not free speech.” Eisgruber then thanked students and other participants for
their attendance, and invited attendees to take part in small group discussion sessions. Students expressed mixed feelings about the event. Emily de La Bruyere ’16 said the gathering reflected the University’s lack of normal forums for addressing these types of issues. “I think there needs to be a forum of constructive conversation,” she said. Duncan Hosie ’16, who organized a petition calling for Big Sean to be removed as the Lawnparties headliner, said he felt the gathering was beneficial. “I thought the speakers were incredibly powerful, and I commend the University for creating this gathering,” Hosie said. “It was uncomfortable and challenging at points, but it was a very thoughtful and thought provoking experience.” The gathering took place at 2 p.m. In addition to the ref lections, the gathering also included musical performances by the University Chapel Choir and violinist Solene Le Van ’18.
The Daily Princetonian
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Thursday may 28, 2015
Semenov, Hannan to speak at Commencement ceremony on June 2 GRADUATION Continued from page 1
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15 years,” Smith said. Smith read a statement by Professor Feeney saying Hannan has a sophisticated and nuanced conception of how power networks operate and is a highly gifted literary critic. After Smith finished reporting the recommendations, the faculty voted and unanimously accepted the nominations. “Outstanding students,” University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 said. “It’s a pleasure to be able to recognize them.” After graduating, Semenov will spend two weeks sketching architecture in Europe using an award from the William Feay Shellman Travel Fund at the School of Architecture, Semenov said, adding that he will then begin a dual master’s program in architecture and environmental management at the Yale School of Architecture and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Semenov is a member of the Chapel Choir and has been involved with Theatre Intime, the Princeton Opera Company, the Nassau Literary Review and the Princeton Birding Club. He is a member of the Edwards Collective, a group of students interested in the creative arts and humanities who live together in Edwards Hall in Mathey College. Throughout his undergraduate career, Semenov has also
engaged with campus sustainability initiatives, serving as co-president of Greening Princeton, chair of the Greening Dining Committee
“Outstanding students. It’s a pleasure to be able to recognize them.” Eisgruber, university president
and member of the GreenLeaders forum. He also helped to implement the University’s new mixed recycling system. “I am interested in tackling larger scale urban issues,” Semenov said. “I’ve always been fascinated by production of green cities and ways that we can be more efficient. I certainly believe that cities are part of the solution to the environmental crises we face.” Semenov said that, when he first arrived at Princeton, he never thought he would be valedictorian. “I came from an academic high school, but I definitely didn’t think that I could ever academically compete with the top students at Princeton,” Semenov said. “There are lots of people here who are much smarter than I am. Sure, I’m intelligent, but I think I’ve just put in a lot of work, really, without expecting to get where I did, but just because I’ve loved what I’ve been doing and I wanted to do well at it.”
Hannan shared the George B. Wood Legacy Junior Prize with Allison Kruk ’15, an award given to a member of the senior class in recognition of exceptional academic achievement during junior year. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and has twice received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence. During the summer of 2013, he participated in the Princeton-sponsored Apulum Archaeological Excavation in Alba Iulia, Romania. Hannan has also served as a research assistant to politics professor Melissa Lane. He is a peer academic adviser in Forbes College and has served as a tutor in introductory economics and statistics at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. He was a portfolio manager on the Busi-
“The biggest single lesson that I’ve learned is realizing the value of academic discourse.” Neil Hannan ’15,
latin salutatorian
ness Today investment team and the community service chair of Charter Club. He is an undergraduate fellow for the Behrman Society of Undergraduate Fellows and the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.
Hannan said it is difficult to pick just one class when asked to choose his favorite class he’s taken at the University. He explained that the class that really made him consider classics as a major was a Latin course he took his freshman year with professor Andrew Feldherr about Ovid and his poetry and interacting with monuments in ancient Rome. “The biggest single lesson that I’ve learned is realizing the value of academic discourse, broadly speaking, and the value of having conversations with other people about different issues,” Hannan said. “Even beyond whatever conclusion you get to, going into the discussion really helps your understanding of the issue, your ability to understand similar issues, and that sort of line of argument.” After graduation, Hannan said he will work for Bridgewater, a hedge fund in Connecticut where he interned last summer. “My long-term interest is to look at the drivers of economic behavior and economic relationships and what goals and what mindsets lead people to behave in certain ways in an economic sense,” Hannan said. “I’m very grateful for the experience of these last four years and having the community of the rest of my class and so far as I can use this opportunity to express that gratitude, I’m looking forward to it.” Staff writer Kristin Qian contributed reporting.
COURTESY OF SEMENOV (ABOVE), PHOTO BY AUSTIN LEE
Semenov (above) and Hannan will speak at Commencement.
Baccelaureate to be held Sunday, Class Day Monday SPEAKERS Continued from page 1
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FILE PHOTO (ABOVE), COURTESY OF THE FILM STAGE
Jackson GS ’86 (above) and Nolan will speak at Baccalaureate and Class Day.
on the environment and working for environmental justice.” At Apple, Jackson has addressed allegations of unsafe working conditions at manufacturing plants in China regarding the use of toxic chemicals and has overseen a variety of energy efficiency initiatives across the company. Jackson was rumored to be a candidate for University president when she stepped down from her post at the EPA in 2012. University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 was chosen as former University President Shirley Tilghman’s successor in April 2013. Jackson was known to butt heads often with Republican politicians in Congress during her time at the helm of the EPA from 2009 to 2013. She was also under investigation for using a second email account for business matters that used a different alias. Jackson also spoke at Alumni Day in 2012 when she was awarded the James Madison medal, the University’s top award for Graduate School alumni. Eisgruber, who selected Jackson to be speaker, said in an interview that Jackson exemplifies the ideals of service that the University is looking for in a Baccalaureate speaker. “She’s demonstrated those ideals in a variety of different settings that matter to our students,” Eisgruber said. “I think
she is both somebody who has lived the University’s motto of ‘in the nation’s service’ and she’s somebody who’s very dedicated to Princeton. That’s a rare and special combination.” Eisgruber also said the Baccalaureate address has a unique role in the University’s graduation ceremonies. “Being a Baccalaureate speaker is different from being a Class Day speaker or different from being a commencement speaker at other universities,” he explained. “Baccalaureate really is a reflection on ideals of service and on ethics, so yes, I am very focused on selecting people who … one way or another — and there are a lot of ways to do this — have given parts of their lives to service.” Last year’s Baccalaureate speaker, Christopher Lu ’88, former Cabinet Secretary (an adviser responsible for coordinating policy across different departments) in the Obama administration and current Deputy Secretary of Labor, was the first Baccalaureate speaker to be chosen by Eisgruber, as it was Eisgruber’s first year as University president. Both Baccalaureate speakers chosen by Eisgruber so far have held high-ranking positions in the Obama administration. Previous Baccalaureate speakers have included former chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke in 2013, author Michael Lewis in 2012, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2011 and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2010. The last female Baccalaure-
ate speaker was Toni Morrison, a Pulitzer Prize winner and then-creative writing professor at the University, in 2005. The Class of 2015 announced on Friday that director Christopher Nolan will speak at the Class Day ceremonies on June 1. The Baccalaureate ceremony will take place in the University Chapel on May 31.
“Being a Baccalaureate speaker is different from being a Class Day speaker or different from being a commencement speaker at other universities.” Eisgruber, university president Nolan is widely known for directing “Interstellar,” which was released last month, as well as the latest “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Memento.” He has been nominated for three Academy Awards. He graduated from University College London with a degree in English Literature. According to an email sent to the senior class, Nolan has been making films since he was 7 years old and is known for his “unconventional story lines” and “innovative filmmaking.”
“While his films have entertained us and captivated us for the past 20 years, they have, more importantly, made us think,” the Class Council wrote in the email. “Regardless of our majors and our interests, we all share several things in common: our purpose, our passion, and our mission to do things differently.” The three members of the senior class who are part of the Class Day committee that chose Nolan as the speaker included Adam Tcharni ’15, Evan Coles ’15 and Hanna Kim ’15. “We wanted someone who was going to be an entertaining speaker,” Tcharni said. He explained that they were looking for a speaker who has excelled in their field and who has made an impact on the world with their work. After a long process, Tcharni said that the group decided that Nolan best fit the description of the type of speaker for whom it was looking. “We’re all striving to make an impact on the world,” Tcharni said. “We thought we’d learn from someone who has been doing that so much lately with their work.” Coles and Kim did not respond to requests for comment. Last year, former Vice President Al Gore spoke during Class Day. Previous speakers have included David Remnick ’80, Steve Carrell and Brooke Shields ’87. Class Day will take place on June 1, the day between the Commencement and Baccalaureate ceremonies.
LOCAL NEWS | APRIL 22
Princeton Board of Health raises minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 By Melissa Curtis staff writer
The Princeton Board of Health adopted an ordinance on April 21 raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco and other smoking products to 21. Princeton is the seventh town in New Jersey and the first in Mercer County to have implemented such an ordinance. The statewide minimum age to purchase tobacco in New Jersey is 19. The adoption of the ordinance follows a recommenda-
tion by the Board of Health in March. Mayor Liz Lempert said she supported the new ordinance. “The longer you can put off someone taking their first puff the more likely it will be that they’ll never start,” Lempert said. The feedback Lempert has received on the anti-smoking measure has been highly positive, Lempert said. “I think it’s more that we’ve tried to be practical in Princeton and a leader in the state when it comes to creating a smoke-free environment in
our parks and outside of our municipal buildings,” Lempert said. In 2013, the town of Princeton enacted a ban on outdoor smoking on municipal property, including municipal buildings, parks, pools and town-owned recreation areas, becoming the first town in Mercer County to do so. The town has the ability to issue fines for violations of this ban. However, Jorge Armenteros, owner of the cigar shop A Little Taste of Cuba, said he actively opposed the ban at a town council meeting.
“The saddest reason that I was opposing it was specifically about the Princeton students,” Armenteros said, adding he develops a rapport with University students who return year after year and enjoys interacting with them at his shop. “We have a lot of fun selling cigars for … celebratory events.” Town leadership did not seem very receptive to opposing viewpoints on the ordinance, Armenteros said. “It seemed like a done deal,” Armenteros said. Tom Davies GS questioned what kind of effect the ordi-
nance would have. “My experience from my home country is that minors don’t tend to start smoking at 18,” Davies said. “They don’t tend to get access to their tobacco through legal means in the first place. I’m not sure that a law moving the age of buying tobacco … to 21 would have any effect.” Tianay Zeigler ’18 similarly said access to cigarettes should not prove difficult for interested students. “I don’t really think it would make a difference either way because you could always prob-
ably get your hands on cigarettes,” Zeigler said. “Someone could go and buy it for you and hand it off. It’s basically the same way with alcohol.” Karen Feng ’18 said there was a parallel situation between smoking ordinances and alcohol prohibition. “I mean my opinion is that this is similar to what they’re already doing for the policy for alcohol and that clearly hasn’t really worked based on how the social scene at Princeton works, so I don’t think that this will be an effective policy,” Feng said.
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FERPA admission files to be destroyed upon completion of investigation ADMISSIONS Continued from page 1
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College called “FERPA File Review.” In March, when the first appointments began, 97 students did so. To view admission files, students must first submit a formal request for their records to the Office of Undergraduate Admission. Within 45 days, an administrator will contact the student and give permission to schedule an appointment in the WASS calendar. Students have one hour to view their files at West College. The file includes an introductory statement entitled “The Admissions Process,” a packet called “Joint Statement for Candidates on Common Ivy League Admission Procedure,” emails related to the student’s FERPA request, the reader scorecard, the alumni interviewer’s report, test score summary sheets, a copy of the high school transcript and recommendations that the student did not waive his rights to. Interviewed students said they heard about the phenomenon from online articles and friends, and requested their files to gain insight into an opaque admission process and to learn why they were accepted to the University. Emily Tu ’16 and Jacob Scheer ’15 said they wanted to revisit their high school trajectories by reviewing copies of their applications as well. Anna Leader ’18, who lives in Luxembourg, said she hoped to help her sister, a junior at a school that rarely sends graduates to American colleges. “I wanted to go find out if there was anything I could find out from records which would tell me what helped me get in so that I could tell her, since she’s starting to panic about applications,” she said. The admission process begins with a randomly selected first reader who summarizes everything he or she sees in the file, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye explained. The file then passes on to a second reader, the regional admission officer, who takes a broader perspective of how the student appears in the context of his or her educational
background. The most promising files go to committee for discussion and voting, Rapelye said. “The question we’re always asking is, ‘Has this student taken advantage of everything in his or her setting?’ ” Rapelye said. Based on interviews and a file review conducted by The Daily Princetonian, the first reader recommends an action for the second reader on a scale of four or five options, including “Unlikely,” “Only if Room,” “Strong Interest” and “High Priority.” The second reader may disagree with the first reader. Leigh Anne Schriever ’16 noted that her first reader had circled one option and that the second reader drew an arrow bumping her up to “admit.” Evan Kratzer ’16 said his first reader looked more at his extracurriculars, while his second reader focused on his alumni interview and potential for creating projects on campus. Several students expressed surprise at the low number of quantitative metrics. “I thought it was notable that your SAT scores don’t come up at all on the two-page sheet that’s your summary of who you are, effectively,” Kratzer said. On the other hand, Leader said her readers briefly mentioned her test scores as flawless. “It just seemed like it was a requirement you have to clear before they look at other stuff, so if you hit a certain bar, then they’re just like, ‘Oh, her test scores are good enough, let’s think about other things that she does,’ and I’d like to know where that bar lies,” she said. Leader said the readers were much nicer than she anticipated. “I was expecting them to be really critical, because they get a lot of amazing applicants, so I didn’t think my application was particularly standout, but they seemed really positive,” she said. Roger Van Peski ’18 said his readers predicted he would be a good math major who could branch out into other activities due to his wellroundedness. “ ‘An interesting candidate, I’m
sure Roger would be welcomed over in Fine Hall,’ ” he said his first reader wrote. He said the second wrote, “ ‘While his ECAs [extracurriculars] are largely academic (and we don’t see any for 9th, before he enrolled at MSSM [his high school]), he has gotten involved in badminton, key club and student government. Roger has a lot of promise and seems like one to consider.’ ” Tu said she was impressed by the solid grasp of her personality that the readers demonstrated in their summaries and said all of the comments were generous. But for Scheer and Schriever, the files included some unfavorable remarks. “Confident, self-assured and dedicated young man. His path from insecure 9th grader to mature warrior … his commitments to all that he does and his potential contributions to the [Center for Jewish Life] are clear. But are they enough in the end?” Scheer said, paraphrasing his first reader’s comments. The comments pointed out that, while he was a strong B.S.E. candidate, he was a B/B+ student in English and history. Scheer paraphrased his second reader as having written, “Dale Carnegie-esque isn’t my cup of tea, but does seem like a young man who’s going places.” Schriever said her interviewer had asked her to describe one of her greatest challenges to overcome. According to Schriever, her first reader wrote, “ ‘Self-described shy and quiet, star fourth paragraph,’ ” referencing the fourth paragraph of a report in which the interviewer expressed concern about Schriever’s answer. Schriever said she felt the reader’s comment implied a negative judgment. The interview reports apparently played a significant role for several students, including Nathan Suek ’17, Kratzer and Scheer. “I had a suspicion that it was my interview that pushed me over the edge because I didn’t get into other universities of similar caliber,” Scheer said. “And my hunch actually turned out to be correct, that my interviewer wrote a raving
description of me and said that she would highly recommend me to be a student here.” Schriever said her readers focused on her underrepresented geographic origin and her very strong teacher recommendations. “The second reader’s comment was, ‘Neat and ambitious young lady from a county from which we admit few, who seems to be yearning for a chance to be pushed harder. Not much more we could ask of her in context,’ ” she said. The readers underlined parts of Schriever’s application that they found most interesting, such as her residence in rural New Jersey, her co-presidency in debate club and the low percentage of students from her high school that attend fouryear colleges, she added. Kratzer, who said he was curious about how his status as half-Asian and a legacy might factor into the admission process, noted he found no evidence of either issue influencing the decision. Michael Yuan ’15 said he thought during the application process that, as an Asian applicant, he needed to distance himself from stereotypes of being Asian. “I didn’t really see them evaluate me in the context of me being Asian at all, so I’m still convinced that that happens, but I don’t know how,” he said. When asked how the Office of Admission accepts similar percentages of students from certain demographics every year, Rapelye said readers apply institutional priorities, which are set by the president, the Board of Trustees and the faculty. “A difference of five to 10 students in any one of our categories is actually a very big difference for us,” Rapelye said. “Ten more female engineers makes a big difference in our pool. It seems like a small number to you, but it’s not a small number for us. And that’s true of any of the institutional priorities we have.” Fowler added that the Office of Admission uses guiding principles rather than comparative practices. “The students who apply here are so interesting and so well-rounded and so multifaceted that they cross
so many different categories that the Office of Admission looks at every student as an individual, not as representing any particular category,” she said. Suek said he was waitlisted after his first reader strongly recommended him, even though one of his friends was accepted regular decision after being marked as “Only if Room,” an inconsistency that confused him and made him wonder who gets the final say in admission decisions. Suek, Schriever and Van Peski expressed interest in seeing transcriptions of the discussions about their applications. However, committee conversations are not recorded and no written admission records exist aside from those provided through FERPA, Rapelye said. If students waived their rights to see recommendations, the Office of Admission hired people to remove anything written about the letters, Rapelye noted. Any comments about other students were redacted, such as in an email from a guidance counselor updating the University about multiple applicants from one school, she added. At an undetermined future date, the FERPA files will be destroyed. The University once had a longstanding policy of giving students’ essays, college application and transcript to the residential colleges for advising purposes, Rapelye explained. The Office of Admission would then destroy the reader workcards and everything else in the file at the end of every year, since the information would have been unnecessary and expensive to store. However, eight years ago, the Office for Civil Rights began a compliance review, investigating the University after a student claimed that his admission process had been unfair. Rapelye said her office has kept its records throughout this timeline, but will return to the original policy barring any other resolution. Stanford and Yale Law School have begun destroying their files since the Fountain Hopper launched the FERPA phenomenon. All of the interviewed students said they would recommend that
curious classmates request their files. “For a lot of people who wind up here, they don’t know why they’re here or feel that they don’t belong, and I think it’s a good affirmation for most people that they do belong here, and somebody had faith in them when they read these essays,” Schriever said. Leader said reading the file can empower and reinvigorate students by reminding them they did great things in high school and that they will continue to do so. If students discover discouraging comments, they can just prove the admission officers’ expectations wrong by excelling on campus, she said. “[My readers] both said, ‘Sounds like a great admit to the Class of 2018,’ which felt very nice. I left there feeling that I was supposed to be here,” Leader said. On the other hand, several said that they found the contents underwhelming. “There’s no harm in reading it. Just don’t go in with high expectations. I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to change my perspective on admissions decisions,’ and it really doesn’t,” Suek said, adding that he still finds the admission process very mysterious. However, Rapelye and Fowler noted that the timing of the requests was particularly difficult. “A lot of the requests have hit when admissions is at its height. It has been very hard for us. I wish I had been able to dedicate that time to other responsibilities,” Fowler said, adding that the admission files are no longer valuable or relevant. The files have occupied both of her assistants’ time, she noted. A number of full-time employees have been hired to help manage the FERPA requests, Rapelye added. Contrary to what students might believe, there is no secret to the admission process, Rapelye said. “I realize you all may be somewhat interested, but the bottom line is we value all of you on this campus for what you are doing now, and when we admitted you we saw potential and promise for a strong performance,” she said. “What we care about is what you’re doing now.”
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U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S | M AY 2 4
Nash GS ’50 and wife killed in taxi accident on NJ Turnpike By Zaynab Zaman staff writer
University mathematician John Nash GS ’50 and his wife Alicia Nash died May 23 at 4:30 p.m. in a taxi crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, according to Sergeant Gregory Williams of the New Jersey State Police. Nash was 86 and his wife was 82. The taxi had been traveling southbound on the New Jersey Turnpike in Monroe Township before the accident, Williams said. He added that preliminary findings indicate that the taxi had been trying to pass another vehicle, but then the driver lost control of the car and crashed into a guard rail. Both Nashes were immediately ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, according to NJ.com. The taxi driver sustained nonfatal injuries, and Williams said the accident is still under investigation. In 1994, Nash was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics for his research on game theory, on which he collaborated with two other mathematicians. Nash was awarded the Abel Prize this year alongside Louis Nirenberg for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations. The Abel Prize is an international award given once a year by the Norwegian government to one or more scholars for outstanding scientific work in mathematics, according to the official website. The prize amount is approximately six million Norwegian krone, or about 825,975 U.S. dollars. Nash was also the main subject of Sylvia Nasar’s biography “A Beautiful Mind” and the subsequent 2001 film of the same name based on the book. “A Beautiful Mind” described Nash’s struggles with paranoid schizophrenia and his mathematical prowess. Rus-
sell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly acted in the film, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Chair of the University’s mathematics department David Gabai said he was shocked to hear the news on May 24. “For all mathematicians and for me personally, he was such an inspiration for not only doing just spectacular work but also for having unbelievable mental power and willpower to overcome his sickness and problem, and for being able to function as a human being and as a mathematician,” Gabai said. Nash grew up in West Virginia and received a full scholarship to what is now Carnegie Mellon University, which he entered as a chemical engineering major before switching to mathematics for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 1948, he became a doctoral student in mathematics at the University, and went on to accept a faculty position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951. Nash later returned to the University in 1995 as a senior researcher in the mathematics department. Gabai noted that his shock was doubled at the loss of Alicia Nash, and reflected on the significant role she played in her husband’s life. Nash married Alicia in 1957, two years after meeting her in an advanced calculus class he taught at MIT. Alicia Nash was one of 16 women in the MIT graduating class of 1955, according to PBS. “Through all those troubles she stuck with him,” Gabai said. “What he did was unbelievable even as he was just coming out of his sickness, but surely she played a tremendous and crucial role in being so supportive.” The Nashes divorced in 1963 but remained close and remarried in
2001. They are survived by a son, John Charles Martin Nash, who lives in his parents’ home. On behalf of the family, an unidentified person at the Nash household declined to comment. John Nash is also survived by a son from a previous relationship, John David Stier. Gabai noted that both John and Alicia Nash encouraged young students, explaining that they would often show up to various events and celebratory dinners for graduating students. “They were always supportive at all levels towards students,” Gabai said. He added that the University will almost certainly do something to memorialize John Nash’s great life. “It’s just a tremendous loss for humankind and mathematics,” Gabai said. University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 issued a statement on May 24 conveying his sadness at the untimely passing of John and Alicia Nash. John Nash’s revolutionary discoveries in game theory influenced generations of mathematicians, economists and scientists, Eisgruber said in the statement, and the Nashes demonstrated their courage in the face of daunting challenges throughout their lives. Prospective math major Luya Wang ’18 also expressed her shock at the loss of John Nash. “I’m speechless right now,” she said. “I think he was a very spiritual person in Fine Hall.” Reflecting on an astro-science lecture during which she was seated across the table from him, she explained that though he was hard of hearing and had trouble speaking, he always appeared cheerful. “He was always smiling,” Wang said. “Everyone is going to miss him.”
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Award-winning mathematician John Nash GS ’50 died Saturday with his wife, Alicia, in a taxi accident. U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S | A P R I L 2 9
Latino and Asian American studies report finds room for change By Annie Yang staff writer
The University should provide the American Studies program with the necessary faculty hiring capacity to sustain the development of programs in Latino Studies and Asian American Studies, an April 3 report by the Asian American Student Association and Princeton Latinos y Amigos argued. The report highlighted the current state of ethnic studies at the University. Specifically, the document calls for merging the program in Latino Studies with the program in American Studies, as well as allowing students to declare a track in Asian American Studies or Latino Studies within the American Studies certificate program. The report also seeks designation of Latino Studies and Asian American studies courses under two different headings in the course catalog. Right now, both are listed under LAO. The report, delivered to the offices of University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, Provost David Lee GS ’99, Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice, Dean of the College Valerie Smith, Deputy Dean of the College Clayton Marsh ’85 and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Katherine Rohrer, was sent in conjunction with a letter of support which received over 522 signatures from individuals across the University. According to University spokesperson Martin Mbugua, who spoke on behalf of the administrators, Lee sent a response to the letter on the afternoon of April 29. “Proposals for programmatic expansion or change typically originate from academic units and faculty members, not from the central administration,” Mbugua said. He added that administrators in the Office of the Provost are gathering views on the proposal from faculty members with research and teaching interests in Latino and Asian American Studies. The Office of the Dean of the College is also reviewing the designations of Latino Studies and Asian American Studies courses to see if it is possible to make them more distinct from each other. “Provost Lee is consulting with colleagues about ways to encourage faculty members and departments to increase course offerings in these areas while the University continues the process of recruiting additional permanent faculty members,” Mbugua said. Current cross-listing of many Latino Studies courses with Latin American Studies hinders the Program in Latino Studies, according to the report. “Latin American studies is a regional study, the history and culture of a region, while Latino studies is the study of a community within the United States,” Princeton Latinos y Amigos co-president Briana Christophers ’17 said. Christophers said that this distinction is particularly important for Latino studies because the Latino community is the largest growing ethnic or racial group in the
United States. Latino culture and identity overlap with various spheres including politics, medicine and social sciences, she added. “The problem with having Latino Studies and Latin American Studies, while having all of these classes being largely cross-listed, creates less emphasis on developing each one as an individual field of study,” she said. Christophers said AASA first approached PLA with the task of compiling the report, which not only commemorates the 1995 sit-in that advocated for the creation of these ethnic studies programs, but also reevaluates the state of ethnic studies in the past 20 years. According to the report, a protest and sit-in occurred on April 20, 1995 near former University President Harold Shapiro GS ’64’s office in Nassau Hall. Seventeen students occupied the office while over 100 other protesters gathered outside. A petition for more Latino and Asian American studies professors garnered support from 548 individuals across the campus. The following year, a significant gathering of students attended a rally to commemorate the event and to continue advocating for the creation of programs for ethnic studies. Cailin Hong ’17, co-president of AASA, noted that it is important to talk about ethnic studies in general to give the broader University community the opportunity to analyze and understand the intricacies of a diverse cultural group. She added that other universities including Columbia, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania have well established ethnic studies programs while the University remains lacking. Hong is a former design editor for The Daily Princetonian. Christophers said the report was meant to spark conversation and push the University to re-evaluate the status of Latino Studies and what will hopefully become the program in Asian American Studies. “While it’s wonderful to have a program in Latino studies, it’s not enough just to have one. You have to cultivate that area so that it becomes robust and something that Princeton is known for,” she said. “Simply having [a program] doesn’t mean it will become a flourishing program here at Princeton. You have to put the resources in and encourage people to study, so that we develop that critical mass of faculty.” Currently, the requirements for a Latino studies certificate include three elective courses and one required course, which is LAO 200: Latinos in the American Life and Culture. Christophers noted that next semester there will only be three courses listed next semester, with two being cross-listed with Latin American Studies. With so few courses being offered and variation between semesters, there’s no guarantee that a student will be able to take a course in the future if it isn’t offered, she added. By incorporating Latino and the potential Asian American
Studies in American studies, students will be offered the flexibility to explore other areas of ethnic studies as well, Christophers explained. Students can study about other communities within the United States in order to see the country from different perspectives. Latino Studies program director Marta Tienda declined to comment. Members of the Executive Committee on Latino Studies, assistant professor of religion Jessica Delgado and senior lecturer of sociology Patricia Fernández-Kelly, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Rebecca Weng ’18, Asian American Studies chair for AASA, said that Asian American Studies faces a unique situation in that program currently exists at the University, despite several courses offered this semester. “We feel that the narrative presented by Asian American Studies and Latino Studies makes for a more holistic picture of American history, because these ethnicities do play a major role in shaping our country,” she said. The Asian American Students Association, which started the report on ethnic studies and distributed the letter of support, faces a different set of challenges when approaching the administration because no program in Asian American Studies currently exists. English and African American Studies professor Anne Cheng ’85, an advocate for Asian American Studies who teaches courses related to Asian Americans, declined to comment. History professor Beth LewWilliams, who specializes in Asian American history, said she will be on leave next year and will not be teaching Asian American History. “I’ve been happy to see a large amount of student interest in Asian American studies courses at Princeton,” she said, declining to comment further. Outgoing AASA president Evan Kratzer ’16 said the University has not actually charged any department with the development of the program. He noted that one of the most important factors that contributes to the development of a program includes retention of faculty. He recommended that the University empower the department in American Studies to hire faculty. With faculty, the program can flourish and allow for graduate studies and a wider variety of courses, he said. Vice president, treasurer and former Asian American Studies chair of AASA Andrew Hahm ’17 said that it is imperative for the University to provide resources for developing Asian American Studies if the institution claims to support such a program. “To say that you’re committed to a program and not give it any resources is actually more harmful than not committing at all, because then you’re saying that you’re committing to something that many people are invested in, but not taking many moves to fulfill that,” he said.
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Task force on diversity makes recommendations U. appeal to dismiss tax lawsuit declined by court By Nahrie Chung staff writer
By Jessica Li staff writer
The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court declined to hear an appeal in April from the University regarding its tax-exempt status. The University had motioned earlier to dismiss a lawsuit that challenged this status, but was ruled against by the Morris County Tax Court. Four town residents are challenging the University’s receipt of a property tax exemption from the town in 2014. This is separate from a 2011 suit challenging the University’s property tax exemption for 19 buildings alleged to have noneducational or primary uses. The University will now take the case to trial, University Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee ’69 said, although hypothetically the University could have appealed the case to the New Jersey Supreme Court. With an unfavorable ruling in the trial, the University will be required to pay around an additional $40 million per year in taxes. Though the case was filed in 2014, if a settlement is reached, adjustments would only need to be made starting this tax year. In mid-February, Morris County Tax Court judge Vito Bianco upheld the right to sue for four local residents represented by attorney Bruce Afran. Bianco deemed the University’s argument — that the University’s “dominant motive” is to be an educational institution — irrelevant, a legal precedent that prompted the University’s argument to be overturned, Afran explained. Following the decision, the University immediately filed an appeal to the higher court. The Appellate Court upheld Bianco’s ruling as there were never any legal issues, Afran said. “The courts for many years have said that when a nonprofit shares profits and engages in commercial conduct, it is subject to lose its exemption in its entirety, and Bianco was just following the existing law,” Afran said. Durkee said that while appealing a decision prior to trial is an atypical practice, the University believed it was worthwhile to try. “It is unusual to ask the court to consider an appeal prior to a trial court decision, and we knew it was unlikely that the court would hear the appeal, but we believe the law is
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clear enough that it was worth asking for a ruling now,” Durkee said. Unless a settlement can be reached with the town and its residents, the University is at “serious risk” of legally losing its tax exemptions, Afran said. An agreement between multiple parties would entail a commitment from the University to appropriate to the township a reasonable tax payment each year, an amount Afran said would have to provide significant tax relief to residents. “People here are paying 30 percent more in taxes than they should,” Afran said. “It’s hurting a lot of members in this community because Princeton is not paying its fair share. The University needs to return to a position of being fundamentally honest.” The University expressed some interest in an outside settlement during preliminary discussions, Afran said, adding that going to trial includes incurring significant legal fees for all parties and creates a “huge risk” for the University. Unless the University can demonstrate at trial that it does not engage in widespread commercial conduct, it may lose the entire or a very significant portion of its tax exemption, Afran said. “It’s just not fair that Princeton can pay millions of dollars to its faculty and endowment fund managers while refusing to pay taxes, leaving thousands in the community strapped of cash,” Afran said, adding that the town’s residents include many working class men and retired individuals with limited incomes.
After months of gathering community input and conducting discussions regarding campus climate, the Special Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion released its recommendations to the University on May 20. The task force was formed in December 2014 under the Council of the Princeton University Community, when University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 called upon the CPUC Executive Committee to assess the current campus climate and develop recommendations to create a safer, more inclusive community. His charge came in response to students who had openly expressed dismay over the events of Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y., uncovering related questions of racial discrimination and bias prevalent in University students’ own experiences, according to the Dec. 12 letter from the Executive Committee to the University community as well as interviews with Fields Center Director Tennille Haynes and Zhan Okuda-Lim ’15. The 51-member task force, chaired by University Provost David Lee GS ’99, consisted of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, administrators and staff within the University community. In addition to its steering committee, the task force was further divided into three thematic working groups covering policy and transparency, academics and awareness, and structure and
support. “There was a very high level of engagement,” Lee said. ”Members of the task force exhibited a great deal of concern and interest. It was wonderful to see.” The task force’s final recommendations fell under four main areas: the student experience; addressing bias, discrimination and harassment; academic and curricular offerings; access to and use of data; learning about diversity and equity outside the classroom; and public programming. Lee said that he authorized budget allocations for four recommendations that were the most clear and immediately implementable. One included the hiring of a senior administrator in the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life, who would focus on diversity and inclusion. The second item secured additional staffing for the Fields Center, as well as a programming study to address the space needs of the center. The third budgeted recommendation was increased funding for student initiatives, particularly those connected to programs in the Fields Center, the Women’s Center and the LGBT Center, as well as other identity-based student groups on campus. The report called for the expansion of program resources, meeting of staffing needs and increased coordination between these resources to best respond to identity-based populations on campus. It also called for the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and the Graduate
School to make more funding available to cultural and identity-based student initiatives and campus groups. Representatives of the Women’s Center and LGBT Center could not be reached for comment. Finally, Lee gave budget authorization for a fourth recommendation to enrich and build the University’s academic programs in cultural studies fields. In a new initiative called the Provost’s Fund for Cultural Studies, Lee has issued a call for proposals and offered funding in areas such as racial, religious, regional and other cultural studies. As the University is on a trajectory to build its faculty, he said, the initiative’s purpose is to bring visibility to curricular needs, offer incentives for existing faculty and create opportunities for postdoctoral students and visiting faculty. An example is HIS 270: Asian American History, the University’s first AsianAmerican studies course, taught by assistant history professor Beth Lew-Williams in Spring 2015. Okuda-Lim, a member of the Task Force’s steering committee and the Executive Committee, took the course and said he was encouraged by the University’s response to this curricular need. “Students have been fighting for classes such as Professor Lew-Williams’ class for several decades now. Finally seeing the University take action on it was really exciting to hear, and to be in that inaugural class was also really exciting,” he said.
Okuda-Lim said he hoped for continued student and faculty engagement to push these recommendations into changing the University’s climate. “I do hope that students, faculty, administrators and staff who are going to be on campus over the summer and continuing into the next academic year keep up that momentum,” he said. “I do not want to see this report become another report on a bookshelf collecting dust. I want this report to actually move forward and cause positive action to happen.” Haynes, a member of the working group on structure and support, noted that committee discussions throughout the spring semester were highly fruitful. “It was a really great conversation to have about what’s going on on campus, how students of color are feeling in the classroom and outside the classroom, what’s needed, how [to] support them better as a community and also as a university,” she said. The task force also solicited feedback from students and other community members through online surveys, oneon-one meetings and wider group discussions. Lee noted that there was variability to how these recommendations would develop, moving forward. The report was certainly a first step to understanding the climate issues present and to spur further action on the part of various other University offices. However, the task force recommended certain items that could be acted upon immediately.
On Steinem and Big Sean: loving sexist music as a feminist Published April 9
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hen “Blurred Lines” was released in 2013, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of being both captivated by a catchy beat and turned off by lyrics that seemed to condone sexual assault, categorizing consent as a “blurred line.” Ironically, my mom was probably Robin Thicke’s biggest fan. (Her other favorite songs include “My Humps” and “Fergalicious.”) When I half-heartedly objected to her love of the song, she’d protest by saying, “But it’s so good!” The campus debate over backing a musician whose lyrics are satiated with overt sexism has prompted me to reflect on the dilemma I found myself in a few years ago. Does being a feminist preclude me from jamming to songs with lyrics like “I hate these blurred lines/I know you want it”? If so, I am in deep trouble. I have playlists upon playlists teeming with songs boasting questionable lyrics. And even artists not from this decade are culpable for promoting a sexist message. In The Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb,” Mick Jagger squeals, “The squirmin’ dog who’s just had her day/Under my thumb … The way she talks when she’s spoken to/Down to me, the change has come.” The Doors’ “You’re Lost Little Girl” is blatantly patronizing. Even The Beatles’ “Run For Your Life” describes their intent to assault a woman who defies them — “You better run for your life if you can, little girl/ Hide your head in the sand little girl/Catch you with another man/That’s the end ah little girl.” What about these songs keeps me listening? Perhaps this speaks to some women-hating impulse I secretly harbor. Or maybe the answer is more simple — inured to sexist music, I have learned to tune out what I don’t want to hear. New York Magazine author Ann Friedman describes this instinct, writing, “there is a huge swath of music that I enjoy by actively disengaging with its lyrics and their political ramifications.” Being outraged is exhausting, and, seeing as we are constantly barraged by misogynistic messages, sometimes it’s easier to simply ignore them so we can enjoy a catchy song. However, something about this approach feels lazy, insufficient, and I’m hesitant to justify consuming sexism simply because sexism exists everywhere. So the question remains: In order to be a “real” feminist do I have to purge myself of these offensive songs? For some reason, I don’t think so. Perhaps this is simply a justification because I don’t want to have to stop listening to my favorite songs. But perhaps there is a constructive way to consume sexist music, as contradictory and incongruous as that might sound. Ellen Willis, The New Yorker’s first popular music critic, sheds light on how one might do this. Willis wrote about rock and roll when it was rampant with misogyny, but instead of feeling oppressed and subjugated by offensive lyrics, she found herself empowered by the music. She wrote, “Music that boldly and aggressively laid out what the singer wanted, loved, hated — as good rock ’n’ roll did — challenged me to do the same, and so, even when the content was antiwoman, antisexual, in a sense antihuman, the form encouraged my struggle for liberation.” Willis found consuming sexist music did not discourage her political and social ideologies. In fact, in some way the music provoked her to muster her own voice in response, just as boldly and aggressively. Others agree that women-hating music does not by definition lead listeners to hate women. Bustle writer Kristen Sollee debunks the myth that listening to sexist music makes individuals sexist through some sort of osmosis-like process, going as far as saying that individuals can take ownership of music by imposing their own messages on lyrics. She writes, “Once a piece of music is released into the world, it’s my belief that each listener can imbue a work with his or her own meaning, too. That doesn’t erase the original impetus for a song, but it can change it, if only for the individual listener.” As Sollee points out, it is worth noting that we are not fed our opinions through song lyrics, but rather project onto song lyrics our preexisting opinions. Additionally, Sollee speaks to the unproductive nature of censorship, writing, “squashing artistic and creative expression through censorship laws or restrictions will not make violence against women disappear, nor will it foster a free-thinking society.” Ultimately, I appreciate that we live in a place where we question and remain critically aware of the music we listen to. I applaud the individuals that have spearheaded a movement that has prompted us to consider song lyrics and rape culture. But, like Sollee, I believe that censorship rarely begets change. Prohibiting Big Sean from performing at Lawnparties isn’t going to stop him from producing music and isn’t going to stop a sexist culture from partaking and consuming his music. Refusing individuals a platform in which to present differing and offensive views doesn’t end these opinions. Rather, it just conceals them from our privileged community. Certainly, these beliefs can still flourish elsewhere. Listening to music mindfully does not necessarily implicate us as participants in rape culture; I would go as far as saying that in consciously consuming offensive music we are extended and pushed to see what we usually get to ignore and perhaps provoked to confront our own inner inconsistencies. Some part of me is confident we can listen to sexist lyrics, push back and in doing so even solidify our commitment to equality. Julia Case-Levine is a freshman from New York, N.Y. She can be reached at juliacc@princeton.edu.
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
Anna Mazarakis
Letter from the Editor
Editor-in-Chief
Julia Case-Levine columnist
Opinion
Thursday may 28, 2015
Published May 10
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hen I introduced the 139th Managing Board of The Daily Princetonian in my first Letter from the Editor in February, I wrote that the new group of editors planned to work constructively with the Princeton community throughout our year at the helm of the paper. Throughout the course of this last semester, we have been hard at work in our newsroom producing content. We covered protests and petitions, referenda and reforms, admission and academ-
ics. We sought to share the facts behind controversies and events with our readers, and we sought the perspectives and voices of members of our community. I wrote this in my last letter, but I think it bears repeating: This newspaper cannot operate in a vacuum; we are nothing without you, the Princeton community. That is why we are asking for your feedback. Today we are introducing a reader survey through which we would like to learn more about how you connect to us. We want to ensure that the content is easily accessible to our readers and we want to constantly strive to ensure that our content is what you want to see and of the highest quality. All feedback is welcome through our
online reader survey, which can be found at this link: goo.gl/7yX1sV. In addition to this feedback form, we encourage you to send us an email with your thoughts on our content throughout the year at eic@ dailyprincetonian.com. This is the last paper we will print during the semester, but we will publish again during Reunions. We will then be back to our regular publishing schedule in September when classes start. Until then, we will continue to publish online throughout the summer. Keep in touch! Anna Mazarakis, a politics major from Montclair, N.J., is the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at annacm@princeton.edu.
A Misunderstood love Jon Robinson GS
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vol. cxxxix
Anna Mazarakis ’16 editor-in-chief
Matteo Kruijssen ’16 business manager
BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 vice presidents John G. Horan ’74 Thomas E. Weber ’89 secretary Kathleen Kiely ’77 treasurer Michael E. Seger ’71 Craig Bloom ’88 Gregory L. Diskant ’70 Richard P. Dzina, Jr. ’85 William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 John G. Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Betsy J. Minkin ’77 Alexia Quadrani Jerry Raymond ’73 Annalyn Swan ’73 Douglas Widmann ’90
NIGHT STAFF 5.27.15 design Tomi Johnson ’16
Tehila Wenger columnist
Published February 9
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ost of my professors have been women. It’s not a large majority — I have had roughly 8 female professors for every 7 male ones, but that ratio is the highest I’ve heard of among my peers. Most of my friends, on the other hand, have had male professor ratios far surpassing the 50 percent mark. One of my friends, another senior in the Politics Department, tells me that the vast majority of her instructors have been white men. A senior majoring in Computer Science has taken courses with a grand total of six female professors in her four years here. A junior in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has only had one female professor in the entirety of his time at Princeton. His teachers, too, are mostly white — but he assures me that some are European. At least Princeton has that international diversity factor down. At the Center for Jewish Life, a common topic of conversation is whether or not a specific teacher has Jewish ancestry. We frequently debate the etymology of a last name and compare anecdotes from lecture that support our identification of the professorial specimen in question. “He said schlep,” someone will announce
Matthew Choi Taitano columnist
Published April 13
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hat is home? According to the famous American poet Maya Angelou, it is, “the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” As the semester comes to a close and many students have begun to solidify their summer plans, I have repeatedly asked myself this question. Although I have already been offered an internship back at home, I find myself continuously looking at other internship programs to replace it. And talking to my friends, it appears that I am not alone. The repeated trend I hear is: “I just can’t be home the entire summer.” Why do we feel the need to replace our homes, the places where we’ve grown up for most, if not all, of our entire lives? For some students, staying home may simply be boring compared to a thrilling internship in a far off country or in the heart of a bustling metropolis like New
Teachers who look like us gleefully. “Definitely a member of the tribe.” We care about the association because it brings the professor closer to us. It brings Princeton closer to us. It’s no accident that I am drawn to courses taught by women. The number of Jewish professors I have had also significantly influenced my undergraduate experience. We want some of our mentors and teachers to look like us, to speak the same language (“schlep” and “kvetch”, for example, are to my ear what mom’s chicken soup is to my stomach), and to share the same cultural collective memory. In short, we want to relate. There is great value to having role models and instructors whose stories fit our stories. Their backgrounds reflect our backgrounds and they show us what we can become. This relatability is not only relevant for those interested in academia, but for those entering the professional fields related to their major as well. A professor in the Computer Science Department clearly inspires his students to pursue a diverse trajectory of career paths. I use a male pronoun in the preceding sentence very deliberately. On the faculty page of the department’s website, only thirteen of the fifty-eight people listed are women. The male undergraduates in the department lose out by this faculty imbalance almost as much as their female peers do; the
disadvantages of homogeneity aren’t limited to minority groups. The advantages of learning from professors with cultural and racial backgrounds that differ from our own are manifold and obvious. They offer us new perspectives, challenge what we know about the world, and teach us to respect difference. The lack of diversity in some of Princeton’s academic departments bites both ways. Female students majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering or Computer Science don’t have access to many female role models, and their male peers are limited to a pick of professors who tend to represent an exciting number of shades of white. I asked a Korean American friend, also a senior, if she has had any East Asian teachers. She hesitated. “Yes,” she finally answered. “But only for my Asian Studies classes.” Diversity varies widely across the different departments. President Eisgruber’s statement on the Trustee Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity’s Report, given at the beginning of his tenure as University President, announces that “in some academic departments, for example, progress toward diversifying the faculty will be limited until Princeton and other universities diversify their doctoral programs.” The Trustee Committee’s suggestion for diverse faculty hiring practices is such a tangle of
jargon that it’s hard to parse out how its vague propositions actually translate into diversity. There is one compelling section that discusses the importance of mentorship within the faculty. “Mentoring is critical to faculty member success,” the committee tells us. If mentorship is critical for academics whom have already chosen their life path and their fields of expertise, how can we begin to measure its effect on directionless undergraduates? And if Princeton waits for its diverse student body to grow up and supply specific departments with the diversity they now lack, how likely is it that black or female students will actually pursue studies in a department where they are so starkly underrepresented? President Christopher Eisgruber ’83’s statement mentions the success of Princeton’s work diversifying the undergraduate student body. My class may boast a spectrum of colors, nationalities, cultures, and an even gender divide, but as long as so many department faculty rosters (and I’m not just talking about STEM) do not reflect the University’s avowed commitment to diversity, minority students will remain minorities in more than just numbers. Tehila Wenger is a politics major from Columbus, Ohio. She can be reached at twenger@princeton.edu.
Home York. However, for many, the problem stems from something deeper. After all, doesn’t home offer us a place to escape the constant questioning and competition that we are sometimes inclined to feel at a competitive school like Princeton? It appears that even outside of FitzRandolph gate, Princeton students are not able to evade this judgment. Students are afraid of the stigma that comes with being home for the entire summer. While Princeton’s employment rate is higher than most other schools, with 86.6 percent of the Class of 2013 achieving their post graduation plans six months after graduating, there are still a significant 13.4 percent of Princeton graduates who are unsatisfied with how things turn out. With this in mind, it is no wonder that many students fear looking unproductive compared to their peers who are participating in intense jobs or research over the summer. As Princeton students, we might feel that we cannot afford to waste any of our time, even if we’re on breaks.
This fear becomes exacerbated for low-income first generation students. To these students, they might fear that going home would be a symbol of failure to their family. A full ride to an Ivy League school is a golden ticket, a way to escape and achieve the desired socioeconomic mobility encapsulated in the American Dream. To go back home for the summer while our peers are out in the world doing great things is to admit defeat. Furthermore, for these students, home may not be the “safe place” that Angelou was thinking of. To some, home might be a place filled with the memories of struggles and tribulations. When I went back home for winter recess, it was bittersweet. Although I was happy to see my family and friends again, I was also saddened to revisit the poor conditions to which my family has been subjected for my entire life. I couldn’t imagine having to be in a place like that again for almost four months. After being at Princeton, a place with a myriad of resources, I have become confused as to where my true
home is. Is it back at my run-down house in Guam? Or my little dorm room in Wilson? College is a strange time in our lives, when we have to move from our nests and are forced to discover the world for ourselves. However, I sometimes wonder if I will ever be able to call Princeton my home. With recent events on campus involving students of color making claiming, “Princeton was never made for students like me,” I wonder where home will be throughout the rest of my years here. No matter whether I’m in Princeton, Guam or somewhere else, I feel that I cannot escape the expectations placed upon me. It’s as if I’m in this limbo state of homelessness, unable to truly feel comfortable wherever I am, and I don’t know how to feel about that. I guess all I can do is to continue my Princeton career with the hopes that I’ll be able to figure it out along the way. Matthew Choi Taitano is a freshman from Yigo, Guam. He can be reached at mtaitano@princeton.edu.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday may 28, 2015
page 9
The postsecondary gamble
EDITORIAL
Guaranteeing academic freedom
vol. cxxxix
Published April 12
Anna Mazarakis ’16 editor-in-chief
Matteo Kruijssen ’16 business manager
139th managing board news editor Jacob Donnelly ’17 opinion editor Benjamin Dinovelli ’16 sports editor Miles Hinson’17 street editor Lin King ’16 photography editor Yicheng Sun ’16 video editors Leora Haber ’16 chief copy editors Caroline Congdon ’17 Joyce Lee ’17 design editors Julia Johnstone’16 Austin Lee’16 web editor Clement Lee ’17 prox editor Rebekah Shoemake ’17 intersections editor Jarron McAllister ’16 associate news editors Ruby Shao ’17 Jasmine Wang ’17 associate opinion editors Jason Choe ’17 Shruthi Deivasigmani’16 associate sports editors Sydney Mandelbaum ’17 Tom Pham ’17
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university is a stage for the clash of ideas through reasoned discourse between those of diverse points of view. Princetonians are diverse in many ways. We differ academically, politically and culturally. Diversity of thought inevitably yields disagreement. But despite our differences and deep personal investment in various debates, we pride ourselves on the ability to engage with one another and develop ideas and values through healthy participation in the University’s intellectual community. We therefore commend the University faculty and President Eisgruber’s administration for passing a motion to include a more comprehensive statement protecting freedom of expression in the University “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities,” and we strongly encourage our peer institutions to follow suit. The new statement “guarantee[s] all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” The recently passed motion admirably incorporates unequivocal language from a recent report from the University of Chicago. We suggest the University go one step further and wholly replace the existing free speech code in the guidebook with the new statement. The current code bears a “red light” designation from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, due to policies that “both clearly and substantially restrict freedom of speech.” The present language allows for University sanctions against an individual whose verbal behavior “demeans” or “intimidates” another. Though respect for oth-
associate street editors Harrison Blackman ’17 Jennifer Shyue ’17
ers’ viewpoints is absolutely necessary for constructive campus dialogue, such language is too vague. The new statement still prohibits the most harmful forms of speech that violate the law and threaten others; however, it cuts down on the potentially abusable discretion that the University currently possesses. As recent examples at other colleges demonstrate, attention to freedom of expression is as necessary now as ever. Last year, Stanford University’s Graduate Student Council first denied funding for an Anscombe Society conference on traditional sexual values and then levied an unprecedented $5,600 “security fee” in an egregious attempt to obstruct freedom academic expression (though the fee was waived after protests). Just last month, a California State Polytechnic University student was apprehended by university police after handing out flyers for animal rights outside of a designated “free speech zone.” Controversial debates, whether about police brutality, same-sex marriage or other topics, enliven our campus. It is unreasonable and intellectually dishonest to presuppose a consensus on these issues or to expect that no one’s sensitivities will be offended in the course of discussion. Reasonable, good-willed people can and often do disagree. Rather than illiberally empowering University authorities to define which subjects are open for discussion, thinkers of absolutely any opinion should be given the latitude required to make reasoned arguments with due civility. In protecting the unhindered operation of the marketplace of ideas, the University need not fear that it
will cater to hateful or outrageous speech. Such expression will quickly be rebuffed by clear and respectful argumentation from those who see it for what it is and the adopted language gives the University the ability impose time, space, and manner restrictions when appropriate. Flagrantly unlawful speech is controlled under narrow exceptions to the policy that cover threats, defamation, and breaches of privacy. At the same time, Princeton students must accept that not all campus discourse will be comfortable to hear. Broad protection of academic freedom does not favor any one viewpoint in favor of promoting ever more rigorous explorations of truth and meaning. The University only stands to gain by shoring up its defense of free speech, which will help foster the intellectual growth of all Princetonians and present a strong example to other institutions. In a November 2013 editorial, we called on our community to “recommit itself to upholding the principles of free speech in accordance with the University’s broader educational mission.” We believe that the faculty’s recent vote to affirm the “University’s fundamental commitment … to the principle that debate or deliberation may not be suppressed” is an excellent step in this direction, and we applaud this important decision. Jill Wilkowski ’15 abstained from this editorial. The Editorial Board is an independent body and decides its opinions separately from the regular staff and editors of The Daily Princetonian. The Board answers only to its Chair, the Opinion Editor and the Editor-In-Chief.
Missing Break
Grayson Shepperd ’16 ..................................................
associate photography editors Natalia Chen ’16 Christopher Ferri ’18 Sewheat Haile ’17 associate chief copy editors Chamsi Hssaine ’16 Alexander Schindele-Murayama ’16 editorial board chair Jeffrey Leibenhaut ’16 Cartoons Editor Terry O’Shea ’16
EDITORIAL BOARD chair Jeffrey Leibenhaut ’16 Allison Berger ’18 Elly Brown ’18 Thomas Clark ’18 Paul Draper ’18 Daniel Elkind ’17 Theodore Furchgott ’18 James Haynes ’18 Zach Horton ’15 Mitchell Johnston ’15 Wynne Kerridge ’16 Cydney Kim ’17 Daphna Le Gall ’15 Sergio Leos ’17 Carolyn Liziewski ’18 Sam Mathews ’17 Connor Pfeiffer ’18 Ashley Reed ’18 Aditya Trivedi ’16 Andrew Tsukamoto ’15 Jillian Wilkowski ’15 Kevin Wong ’17
Chelsea Jones
Coming around the corner
columnist
Published May 1 139TH BUSINESS BOARD head of outreach Justine Mauro ’17 Head of Client Management Vineeta Reddy ’18 Head of Operations Daniel Kim ’17 Comptroller Nicolas Yang ’18 Director of Circulation Kevin Liu ’18
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t the final Senior Pub Night, it became painfully clear that I do not know a large portion of the senior class and this seemed to be the consensus among many people I spoke with that night. Despite sharing four years on the same 500 acres — the same study spaces and dining spaces and workout spaces and social spaces — the senior class, as a whole, remains largely unfamiliar. The subset of the senior class that pushed their way towards the free beer and quickly disappearing French fries was full of — for lack of a better word — strangers. The realization seemed sad to me. I was standing in a room of people who had struggled through Princeton alongside me, had maybe watched the sun come up from the window of a study room after the same frantic all-nighter, had maybe walked a few steps behind or ahead of me after a night on the Street that wasn’t what we’d hoped, had maybe called home at the same time I called home just to talk to Mom or Dad because the day had been rough and we still hope that our parents might have all the answers. But my chance to meet these people had come and gone. I had fallen into a routine and these people had theirs and it just so happened that our routines did not quite line up. As a senior, everything is filtered through a nostalgic lens. So, it seemed sad to me that I was graduating without knowing more of these people, for they represented
all the groups I hadn’t joined, the auditions I missed, the classes I did not take. I felt like I might be graduating with more missed opportunities — be it new friends or experiences or interests — than I had realized. But this column, my final column, is not about regret. It is too easy to look over these past four years and see all the things we should’ve, would’ve, could’ve done. And that is exactly what I did after the staff of Triumph politely kicked out the few stragglers and another “last” — in this case the “last” Pub Night — was checked off my long list of “lasts” as the year comes to a close. I thought I would write about taking every opportunity, trying to meet as many people as possible so that your Senior Pub Night is filled with friends and acquaintances — not strangers. But you’ve heard that, or some metaphor like it, before. It is no less true, of course. I’ll just throw it in here for good measure — do everything you can! But even if you fill every minute of every day with wonderful Princeton opportunities you’ll still find yourself with regrets. You’ll still have your “what if.” That is okay. It is the blessing and curse of Princeton students — high-achieving, hyper-aware, analytical — to always see how things could be better. But it takes a distinct effort to step back and acknowledge the things that have been so very good. So, yes, I did not know everyone at the Senior Pub Night, but I knew quite a few. One time, they too were strangers — just another person attending a free Broadway show freshman year, laughing at the same
terrible joke in a precept my sophomore year, traveling abroad to the same university my junior year, attending the same Last Lecture my senior year. They represent the opportunities I did take and, when I look upon them, my regrets pale in comparison. So much of being happy, finding comfort in how the past four years were spent, comes from that shift in perspective. My glass is half-full these days. In fact, I’ve begun to see something exciting in the notion that even after four years in this rather small place you’ll never know everyone. W.B. Yeats wrote, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t met,” and I wish I had taken that to heart as a lost and somewhat jaded underclassman. There is always the possibility that someone you’ve never seen, not even once, will turn the corner and bump into you and change everything. It could be a friend or a significant other or even a professor who takes you under his wing and opens doors you could not have imagined. Any one of the people at Senior Pub Night could be my friend by Reunions — this year’s or next year’s or the one after that. Princeton is full of people you haven’t met and maybe it’s sad but maybe it’s wonderful and challenging and will always keep this place exciting and new. On the hard days at Princeton, when everything seems wrong and your Mom and Dad don’t have the answers, that is a comforting thought. Chelsea Jones is an English major from Ridgefield, Conn. She can be reached at chelseaj@princeton.edu.
Yoni Benyamini columnist
Published April 2
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ast week in Las Vegas, I was confronted with a difficult reality — that your path in life may depend solely on where you live, how much your family makes, the outcome of a lottery, and even which teachers are willing to commit to your district. If you haven’t seen “Waiting for Superman,” Guggenheim’s documentary would be a good start to understanding the problems facing the American public education system. Many academic settings in the United States are adulterated by a multitude of these structural and social determinants of education. Perhaps the problem lies in racial and socio-economic achievement gaps, organizational structure or skewed teacher incentives. After traveling down to Las Vegas, however, for a peek at the fifth largest school district in the nation, I’d like to entertain a different idea. Our education system is too narrow, focused on readying students to attend a four-year college or university. As denoted by William Synmonds’ 2011 paper, the emphasis on college-going relies on an implicit assumption. It assumes that an education tailored to the academic requirements established by four-year colleges will prepare adolescents for future success. Perhaps this isn’t true anymore — perhaps a fouryear college education isn’t for everyone. Take a city like Las Vegas, for example, the focus of the breakout trip I participated in over spring break. Many blue-collar customer-servicing jobs, whether working hospitality at a high-end hotel or dealing cards at a Vegas casino, generate far more cash than entry-level positions requiring a college degree. I would be remiss to label any of the individuals in these positions as failures — many have bachelor’s degrees, are accredited with professional licenses and are exceptionally talented artists. Brittany Bronson, an English instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is one of these figures. Despite having a Masters, she holds a second job serving at a chain restaurant off the Strip for economic security. Brittany risks the image she presents to her students as a university mentor for her true love of learning. Like her, many of her students hold similar parttime jobs, and 60 percent of her freshman will forego their college degrees to retain them. But unlike her, their decision to enroll in college may have stemmed from a lack of alternative pathways to success. Erica Mosca, another educator in east Las Vegas, founded a nonprofit which contributes to giving these students equitable post-secondary opportunities. She aims to make her students both collegeready and career-ready through a Leader-In-Training program, giving them the opportunity to make their own post-secondary choices. Our curricula have not always been geared towards college. At the start of the twentieth century, our nation underwent a feat that most other western nations would achieve some 30 to 50 years later. Newly afforded a system of education that was open to all — unhindered by universal standards and decentralized — American youth entered high school at a rapid rate to learn skills “for life” rather than “for college.” With a mere 9 percent of 18-year-olds holding diplomas in 1910, the United States oversaw measures to increase that number to around 40 percent by 1940. By the mid-1930s, graduation rates were as high as policymakers had forecasted for 1960. At a time when no European nation had a full-time schooling rate for older youths exceeding 25 percent, the United States secondary school enrollment rate was just below 80 percent. For decades, the United States remained at the forefront of educational achievement. Yet today, for the first time in our nation’s history, United States educational attainment is in danger of receding from current levels. Today, we’re ranked 14th in education worldwide. Today, we’re 17th in educational performance and 54th in educational expenditures. Today, our spectacular educational transformation has been reduced to 66 percent of all fourth graders lacking proficiency in reading. Can’t we catch up? It turns out that early reading proficiency is one of the most important predictors of high school graduation and career success. At the end of the third grade, students transition between learning to read and reading to learn. Student who fall behind that critical milestone rarely catch up, remaining four times more likely to drop out of high school. And because they have fallen behind in elementary school, these students are hindered from being able to make a post-secondary choice. Perhaps college isn’t for everyone. Many of the most successful nations in northern and central Europe emphasize high-quality career counseling and career education. That is not to say Europe is perfect – the story gets a bit muddled, since students there are tracked from a very young age, and separated onto either a college-bound or vocational track. But these nations recognize that multiple pathways to prosperity exist, instead of positing college as the holy grail of post-secondary decisions. Perhaps college isn’t for everyone. Nevada might be ranked last among the states in education, but Las Vegas’ abundance of magnet and vocational, trade and technical schools offer a new hope. Its dedicated employers are partnering with high schools to provide career-counseling and work-based learning. Its key stakeholders have pledged to collaboratively improve pathways for those left behind. Perhaps college isn’t for everyone. But the choice of a post-secondary path is. Yoni Benyamini is an ORFE major from Roslyn, New York. He can be reached at yb@princeton.edu.
The Daily Princetonian
page 10
Thursday May 28, 2015
FUNNY PEOPLE
PAGES DESIGNED BY LIN KING :: STREET EDITOR
Street takes you behind the scenes with the University’s resident jokesters — its illustrious improv comedy troupes. Originally published April 2, 2015.
FUZZY DICE
HARRISON BLACKMAN Associate Street Editor
I
n 2011, Nick Lavrov ’15, Nicky Robinson ’15, Preston Kemeny ’15 and Yegor Chekmarev ’15 had a vision: a no-audition improv group at Princeton. “We wanted to do improv comedy and the only way to do it was to make a new group for us to perform in,” Lavrov said. Their vision manifested as Lobster Club, the first and only no-audition improv comedy troupe on campus. It was founded around the same time as the ¿Shruggers? organization, which would eventually become a no-audition coalition with Lobster Club as its flagship organization, according to ¿Shruggers? president Ethan Gordon ’17. “The intent is to provide a space for anybody interested in performing arts to have the opportunity to explore all that the performing arts have to offer,” Gordon said. “[It’s to] help combat an underlying culture of selectivity that’s especially prevalent in performing arts communities really all over Princeton.” Running a no-audition performance group has its challenges, particularly in preparing for shows. “We need[ed] to figure out what would a good system be for no-audition but for still putting on shows,” Lavrov said. “You can’t just have someone perform in shows without ever having done anything before.” To ensure this, Lobster Club members are required to attend at least two-thirds of practices in order to perform. In some respects, Lobster Club functions as both a performance group and a group that builds improv skills. “There’s
LIN KING Street Editor
“I COURTESY OF REBECCA SICHEL ’17
LOBSTER CLUB no experience necessary,” Lavrov said. “We have a lot of people in our group where this was their first time was doing improv.” “We put emphasis on teaching the skill of improv, so our workshops are open and anyone can come to them,” he explained. At the same time, the no-audition format made necessary a division between members new to improv and more experienced members. “[We had to build] a leadership framework that would allow us to keep being able to teach improv to new people while also allowing older people to develop their skills,” Lavrov said. Since its founding, Lobster Club has grown increasingly prominent on campus. “It’s a dormitory name,” Gordon said, who noted that ¿Shruggers? has also been
QUIPFIRE! DANIELLE TAYLOR Staff Writer
F
ounded in November 1992, Quipfire!, Princeton’s oldest improv comedy group, has developed its particular style of improv over the past two decades. “They started off predominately doing short-form improv,” artistic director Jake Robertson ’15 said. Television shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? use shortform improv, which consists of smaller premise-based games, but Quipfire! has since expanded their repertory. Quipfire!, according to Robertson, now performs more long-form improv, which is currently more prominent in the proCOURTESY OF WARREN RIEUTORT-LOUIS
fessional improv world. One example of Quipfire!’s application of long-form is its improvised “Musicals!” shows, the latest of which took place this past weekend. The audience gave suggestions for a title of a musical, and the group improvised a musical production with many interlocking scenes to create a vibrant, unique and hilarious story each night of the performance. Despite the deviation from its shortform roots, the group still maintains close ties to its alumni predecessors. “We switch between generally three places now,” Robertson said. “We’ll do New York one year, and Chicago and then Los Angeles. Those tend to be places where there is a lot of improv going on.” Quipfire! does a set of shows during Frosh Week to get students interested in
expanding. “Last year, we started Acapellago, a noaudition a cappella group, and this year we’re starting Sans Comic, which is a noaudition sketch comedy group,” Gordon said. Overall, Lavrov said, being in Lobster Club has been an enjoyable experience. “Before being a senior, my favorite things were getting to do improv and perform in front of people and getting to watch other people grow with me,” Lavrov said. “As I learned more improv, these other people were also learning improv … and that was really cool to see.” After becoming a senior, however, Lavrov’s favorite aspect of being a part of Lobster Club has changed. “It’s definitely getting to meet freshmen,” he said. “When would I ever meet a freshman?”
auditioning for and watching the group, according to managing director Lauren Frost ’16. About 100 people auditioned this past fall alone. “I think we get a lot of people to audition because it’s something that doesn’t really need experience,” Frost said. “Improv is something that a lot of people haven’t done before, and a lot of the members that we get haven’t done it before.” “We also try to emphasize that we keep our auditions really fun,” Robertson added. “Sometimes people say, ‘Oh, I’m just glad I auditioned because I had a great time.’” Quipfire! performs a variety of shows throughout the year to showcase new forms of improv with which it is experimenting. In October, Quipfire! did its Gravid Water Show, which involves having actors memorize one person’s lines from a scene, and then pairing those actors with an improviser who does not know the scene and must come up with its responses on the spot. “People really loved it,” Robertson said, “We’ve grown throughout my experience into a group who experiments a little more. For example, Gravid Water was a one-off show, so we just did one evening. And I think that we’re making that into a thing we do more often.” Quipfire! is performing another Gravid Water in April, as well as a set of shows in May. “These shows will probably be Armandos,” Frost said, “where we have a guest, probably a professor, give a monologue based on a suggestion, and
went over to her room and I had this whole bag of activities we could do: we could do makeovers, we could do facials … and then I pulled out a magazine and said, ‘Or, we could write a murder letter by cutting out letters!’ ” No, this is not a fan-made sequel to Mean Girls. This is Fuzzy Dice, one of Princeton’s three improvisation comedy troupes, during downtime. Executive director Paulina Orillac ’17 (responsible for the conspiracy quoted above) said that part of what distinguishes Fuzzy Dice as a group is its emphasis on the social atmosphere, which she described as “chemically unbalanced” — in the fondest way possible. “We try to become really close-knit, we try to get to know each other outside of the rehearsal room,” Orillac said. “I think that’s something really special about Fuzzy Dice as a group, especially in Princeton.” On the more technical side, artistic director Angad Anand ’16 added that while all three groups on campus are friendly and supportive of each other, each has its own style. “We have a more holistic, scene-based improv where we really try to create some sort of objective,” he explained. “We really try to tell a story.” In shows, the group makes a point to incorporate as much audience involvement into its improv games as possible. Publicity chair Cat Sharp ’18 explained that a signature game, called, unsurprisingly, “Fuzzy Dice,” has four scenes going on at once, all inspired by the audience’s suggested keywords. Another staple is called “Paper Chase,” which invites audience members to write anything they want on pieces of paper that are collected outside the theater before the show. During the game, random papers are given to members, who must weave the contents into the scene. Seeing as Fuzzy Dice also performs
off-campus, both for events such as the Princeton High School graduation as well as inter-school exchanges, the group makes a conscious effort to avoid Princeton-specific jokes in general. “We try to make our improv very much universal,” Anand said. “We have a lot of parents and others come to see our shows, so we don’t want to be telling jokes about grade deflation, or Forbes, or something like that.” This school year has been an especially transformative one for Fuzzy Dice, after losing seven members in the Class of 2014. When the group returned from the summer, it had only four members remaining. “This year was very much a rebuilding year,” Anand said. “When we did auditions this year, we were looking for people with different styles of humor, different perspectives on life, different backgrounds. And we’ve really collected a very eclectic group of people.” As a junior and a second-year artistic director, Anand was particularly aware of these changes. He was accustomed to working with a group of experienced, senior improv comedians as an underclassman; now, suddenly, he was in charge of six new members, five of whom were freshmen. “A lot of first semester was just about training them on the basics, but looking forward, I really want to help them develop their own improv styles and voices,” he said. Looking forward for the group as a whole, Anand said that Fuzzy Dice would like to start experimenting with music in its improvisation, adding that they will be looking for a music director next year. In the meantime, changes are happening in smaller, but no less exciting forms. Sharp explained that the group released its first ever promotional video for the upcoming show, appropriately titled “April Show(er)s.” Sharp noted a significant increase in audience attendance after the publicity efforts of the February Shows, and hopes to see the same for the shows this weekend. “Come to our show! Watch the video promo! Check out the cool posters!” she said. “Down, doggie,” Orillac said.
COURTESY OF CAT SHARP ’18
then we improvise based on that.” According to Frost, Quipfire!’s future includes not only trying new forms of improv, but also getting more involved in the larger college improv community. “For a long time, we were pretty isolated, just doing our own thing here,” Frost said, “but now we do the College Improv Tournament, we had our show with the Fordham improv group, Stranded in Pittsburgh, and we’re going to a comedy festival at Brown next weekend.” (The weekend of April 3-4.) Quipfire! is trying to both see and per-
form more college improv shows in order to gather good ideas and inform the outside world about the group. “As weird as it seems, you could get someone to come to a school because of improv,” Frost said, “We actually had an alum interviewer email us and say he interviewed a kid who hadn’t applied to any other Ivy League schools, but applied to Princeton after seeing us perform somewhere. That’s the dream, that people would see us and think we are one of best college improv groups they’ve seen, and decide they want to come here and do improv.”
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday May 28, 2015
page 11
1965-2015
CAMPUS PICKS
This March, in honor of International Women’s Day, Street Editors Lin King, Harrison Blackman and Jennifer Shyue took a look at portrayals of women in 50 years of Daily Princetonian archives. Originally published March 4, 2015.
DANCE EXPRESSIONS DANCE COMPANY REUNIONS PERFORMANCE
Hagan Dance Studio at 185 Nassau St. Thursday, 3 p.m. Join eXpressions for an afternoon dance performance by Princeton’s oldest and only all-female dance company.
1965
THEATER PRINCETON SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRESENTS: COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)
The cover art of “Where The Girls Are: A Social Guide to Women’s Colleges In the East,” a dating guidebook for Princeton men published by the ‘Prince’ in 1965. The book includes summaries of events and insiders’ looks at women’s colleges, as well as an opening article titled, “How to Succeed with Women Without Really Trying — You Can’t.”
East Pyne Courtyard Thursday and Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Shakespeare may have composed a large body of work, but that won’t stop PSC from condensing all of the Bard’s work into one action-packed show!
1969
Princeton officially began accepting women applicants, a transition documented in the Prince on October 21, 1969. The photograph below, featured in the article “Coeducation at Princeton: The Struggle of an Idea at a University in Transition,” was accompanied by the caption: “Flirting with more than snow during Coed Week.”
THEATER PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PLAYERS PRESENTS “THE FANTASTICKS” Frist Film/Performance Theatre Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.
PUP is performing “The Fantasticks,” a 1960 musical based on a play by Edmond Rostand, about two fathers who plan for their children to fall in love by, of course arguing with each other.
EVENT PRINCETON ARTS IN ALUMNI REUNIONS RECEPTION Lucas Gallery at 185 Nassau St. Friday, 3:30 p.m.
If you are an artsy alumnus, consider joining the Lewis Center for the Arts for a Reunions reception.
MUSIC GLEE CLUB REUNION SING (‘SPEM IN ALIUM’) AND ‘65 EUROPEAN TOUR REUNION Richardson Auditorium Friday, 4:30 p.m.
1970
On September 14, 1970, the ‘Prince’ reported that freshmen and sophomore women students will be able to enroll in Physical Education courses. According to the article, thirteen students signed up to form a women’s crew team, “[scoffing] at a suggestion that they might develop tremendous shoulder muscles.”
Glee Club will sing in Richardson Auditorium, featuring a reunion of the ‘65 European Tour.
THEATER THEATRE INTIME PRESENTS “HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES” Hamilton-Murray Theater Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m.
Two couples contend with the implications of infidelity in this 2009 play written by Alan Ayckbourn, presented by Theatre Intime.
DANCE NAACHO SOUTH ASIAN DANCE COMPANY PERFORMANCE U-Store Courtyard Tent Friday and Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
1979
dances up a storm under the The Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Naacho tents outside of 36 University Place. Women’s Studies officially proposed the Women’s Studies Program on May 22, 1980. The MUSICAL PRINCETON TRIANGLE Program was officially renamed Gender and SHOW: AN INCONVENIENT SLEUTH Sexuality Studies (GSS) in 2011, according to McCarter Theatre its website. Nancy Malkiel (née Weiss) went on Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. to become the first interim director of happened to Smalltown’s the Women’s Studies Program and the What mayor? Four crimefighters find out in longest-serving Dean of the College. this show - written, directed and acted in by students, as is Triangle tradition.
MUSIC PRINCETON UNIVERSITY BAND PRESENTS FRED E. FOX ‘39 MEMORIAL CONCERT Cannon Green Saturday, 11 a.m.
The Band brings its raucous brand of music to Cannon Green in the annual Fred E. Fox ‘39 Memorial Concert.
1990
Although Sally Frank ’80 lodged her complaint against the University’s all-male eating clubs for sex discrimination in 1979, it was not until 1990 — eleven years later — that Ivy Club and Tiger Inn were compelled by law to admit women members. Frank, now a professor at Drake University Law School, spoke about her experiences on October 13, 2014 at a public lecture in Whig Hall.
MUSIC BATTLE OF THE ALUMNI BANDS U-Store Courtyard Tent Friday, 11:30 a.m.
Starting at 11:30 a.m., alumni bands will perform all afternoon in the annual Battle of the Alumni Bands.
DANCE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY BALLET: REUNIONS SHOW Hagan Dance Studio at 185 Nassau St. Saturday, 8 p.m.
Watch the men and women of the University’s only ballet company piqué and grand jeté across the stage.
2001
On May 5, 2001, Professor Shirley Tilghman was named the 19th president of Princeton University. She stepped down from the presidency in the end of the 2012-2013 academic year, after a 12-year tenure. See S2 for an exclusive interview with Tilghman.
MUSIC PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA LAWN CONCERT Finney and Campbell Fields Saturday, 8 p.m.
PUO leaves its home in Richardson Auditorium to perform a concert on a lawn before the fireworks display.
page 12
The Daily Princetonian
Clockwise from above: students struggled in the snow (Yicheng Sun); the Dalai Lama visted the University (Monica Chon); the Class of 2018 walked through FitzRandolph Gate (Grace Jeon); ballerina Misty Copeland gave a lecture (Tomi Johnson); students protested outside Frist Campus Center (Conor Dube); Triangle performed “An Inconvenient Sleuth” (Conor Dube); Google chairman Eric Schmidt ’76 spoke on campus (Sunny He).
Thursday may 28, 2015
The Year in Review
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday may 28, 2015
page 13
TENNIS| MAY 10
YASH HUILGOL :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The men’s and women’s tennis teams both fought tough matches in their tournament appearances.
Men’s and women’s tennis teams conclude excellent seasons with trips to NCAA Tournament By Miles Hinson sports editor
Men’s Tennis: The Princeton men’s tennis team saw a successful season end on Friday evening, as they lost in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament to the Minnesota Gophers. The day started out strong for the Tigers (19-8 overall, 4-3 Ivy League), as they won in doubles to kick the battle with Minnesota off. However, things would turn south as the men went into singles play. Zack McCourt, Tom Colautti, Joshua Yablon and Dan Richardson took the four losses that cost Princeton the chance to advance. The Tigers can consider this season a success given their long-standing postseason drought: no Princeton men’s tennis team had made the NCAA Tournament since the spring of 1998. In fact, their regular season record is the best the program has seen since the 1999 season. Richardson noted that both the season as a whole and the trip to the NCAA Tournament leaves the team in excellent position to continue building the program. “It was a huge step for us to get to the NCAA Tournament, but we also proved to ourselves that we could beat some of the best teams in the country [such as Clemson, Mississippi State, and Harvard],” Richardson said. “Playing in the NCAA Tournament was a great learning experience for the team, and I know they will use this experience to help them advance in future years.” The Tigers now bid farewell to a strong senior class of McCourt, Richardson, Ben Quazzo and Michael Katz.
McCourt and Richardson in particular have had fantastic final campaign. McCourt earned first-team AllIvy honors and went 25-12 in singles play for the season. Richardson, for his part, put in an excellent 23-12 in his singles play. Richardson noted that, despite the loss, ending his career with this appearance in the tournament is exactly how he wanted to go out. “It’s really an amazing feeling to be able to say we made history,” Richardson said. “To put our team in the same conversation as some of the greatest teams to ever play here is incredible. … I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my tennis career.” Women’s Tennis: Another successful season for the Princeton women’s tennis team came to a close on Saturday morning, as they fell in the Round of 64 to the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. The match proved to be a thrilling one, as the Tigers (12-9 overall, 6-1 Ivy League), despite falling behind early, came just short of taking the game and moving on to the Round of 32 in back-to-back years. After falling in the doubles sets, the Tigers looked to be in trouble after junior Amanda Muliawan finished the first singles match with a loss. However, the Tigers came right back, as they took three of the next four matches behind strong play from freshman Katrine Steffensen, sophomore Alanna Wolff and senior Lindsay Graff. All three were able to win just two sets. With the Tigers and Game-
cocks tied at 3-3, the Tigers’ fate came down to the match of sophomore Dorothy Tang, doing battle against South Carolina’s Ximena Siles Luna. While Tang was successful in taking the first set 6-3, Siles Luna rallied to take the final two sets 6-3 and 6-2 respectively, putting an end to the Tigers’ season. Despite the loss, the Tigers conclude another season as Ivy League Champions. Moreover they are well aware that, just as with this season, they will enter next season as the team to beat in the Ivy League. “I think next year, we just have to try to do the same thing we did this year,” Steffensen said. “We knew that teams would be coming after us, but I think we did a good job of dealing with the pressure and using it to our advantage.” Wolff expressed confidence in the team’s drawing from the additional attention to achieve even better results next year. “It’s definitely easier being the underdog, but having the confidence and experience from being defending champs the past two years will also help us.” Seniors Graff, Joan Cannon and Katie Goepel will certainly leave on a high note after seeing their team in these back-to-back trips to the NCAA, including the program’s first win in the NCAA Tournament last year. “It has definitely been exciting and rewarding to be able to represent Princeton at NCAAs, especially since the program has not historically had too many postseasons,” Goepel said. “I truly feel I was part of something special here and am honored to be part of this team.”
BEN KOGER :: SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Porter’s strong transition to professional play came as no surprise after an amazing career at Princeton, where he was unanimously named to the All-Ivy first team his junior and senior years.
Porter sees great results both at the collegiate and professional levels PORTER
Continued from page 20
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Yale, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the Tigers to receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. Porter finished the season with 15 goals, 34 points and 79 shots on the season. “This year Cam was just a dominant player in our league. He has the ability to create so many chances and get up and score goals, even during stretches of games where we weren’t necessarily on top of the other team or dominating the game,” Barlow said. “He was a threat in so many ways, he could get behind defenses with his speed, he could hold guys off with his athleticism and he could take people on, on the dribble. He was just so strong and hard to knock off the ball, [and] in the box it led to a lot of teams fouling him.” But Princeton’s star player didn’t just play well in the NCAA. Porter also found his place on the larger stage, playing for the Impact. “It’s been an interesting transition from a state of experience where you’ve been there for four years to one where you’re the new guy, you’re the rookie, and you have to learn how to play again, just at this higher level. And I think I was prepared well for that by the coaching staff at Princeton,”
Porter said. “The biggest difference is that you’re playing against guys who are more talented and think faster on the soccer field than before. But I think you get used to that day-to-day in practices when you’re playing with so many experienced veterans who are there not only to improve, but also to help you along the way.”
“To score the goal in front of almost 40,000 fans [is] just another level of excitement that you don’t expect in your first couple of weeks of playing professional soccer.” cameron porter, men’s soccer
Porter showed his ability to play at professional level right off the bat, making his Major League debut with a bang and scoring the gamewinning shot against Pachuca that sent his team into the CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals in early March. “It’s amazing to even have the opportunity to play on the professional level,” Porter said. “Once I got to that level, just being in the game,
I thought that was cool, and then to score the goal in front of almost 40,000 fans, its just another level of excitement that you don’t expect in your first couple weeks of playing professional soccer.” Barlow said, “I think it would have been hard for anyone to predict the success he had as a professional right away. We all were hopeful that he had the tools to be able to succeed at the next level but It’s hard to know if his special qualities are going to be special enough at the next level until he actually steps in and tries to prove himself.” After Porter’s goal against Pachuca, with hard work Porter found himself in the starting lineup, but in a stroke of bad luck, Porter tore his anterior cruciate ligament in just his fifth professional game, leaving him sidelined until the start of next season. And we at the ‘Prince’ can’t wait until this rising star gets back on the field and continues to play the game as beautifully as we have come to expect from him. “My recent successes, I would attribute to living by the motto, ‘Work hard, have fun,’ ” Porter said, “as long as you’re doing that I’m pretty sure you’re going to either be successful or be happy with what you’re doing, so that was the idea going into this whole experience, do those two things, and I’m sure the results will be good.”
Weekend sees great success for track as men come in first, women second, at Ivy League Heptagonals
TRACK AND FIELD | MAY 10
By Miles Hinson sports editor
It was a weekend of great success for both the men’s and women’s track teams, as the men claimed first at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in a nail-biter, and the women’s team claimed second on the weekend.
CARLY JACKSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
With the victory at Heps, the men’s track and field team completes the “Triple Crown” - league champs in fall, winter and spring.
Men’s track and field Senior Matt McDonald earned his first individual Heps title by placing first in the 10,000m race. Moreover, McDonald was not the only one to stand out above the rest on the day. Junior Adam Bragg, coming off earning a school record in the pole vault, continued his success by earning first at Heps, getting up to 5.10 meters. The final one of Princeton’s individual title winners on Saturday was senior Tumi Akinlawon, who placed first in the long jump with a distance of 7.43 meters. Akinlawon was not the only Tiger to score well in the event — junior Jake Scinto was runner-up in the event with a distance of 7.29 meters. After the first day, Princeton
held the lead, having earned 46 points to second-place Dartmouth’s 39. The winners of last year, Cornell, found themselves in just third with 26 points.
[T]he winner of Heps would come down to the results of the decathalon. Stephen Soerens, the Tigers’ competitor for [the decathalon] would save his best for last as he sprinted into first in the 1500m run - the final event of the decathalon - to secure the victory for the Tigers on the weekend.
in the 400m relay, 110m hurdles, the 1600m relay, the high jump and the shot put — all these in conjunction with strong performances in many events where they didn’t place first led to them taking over the lead. Luckily, the Tigers were able to keep themselves close enough in the hunt due to victories by junior John Hill in the 100m dash and by senior Nana Owusu-Nyantekyi in the triple jump. By the end of the day, Cornell still holding onto a slim lead, the winner of Heps would come down to the results of the decathalon. Senior Stephen Soerens, the Tigers’ competitor for the event, would save his best for last as he sprinted into first in the 1500m run — the final event of the decathalon — to secure the victory for the Tigers on the weekend. They would win by a mere four points, 163-159.5. With the victory, Princeton claims the triple crown, earning first in Heps across the fall, winter and spring.
However, the Big Red came out to play the next day. They placed first
Women’s track and field The women’s track and field team continued their strong season be-
hind great showings from of their top performers. Sophomore Megan Curham continued her fantastic season, earning first in the 10,000m run on Saturday to start the day. The field events also saw the Tigers’ success. Junior superstar Julia Radcliffe continued her great throwing, placing first in the hammer toss with a distance of 68.16 meters. Second-place finishes went to junior Sara Ronde in the long jump (5.66 meters) and sophomore Allison Harris of the pole vault (3.75 meters). After the first day, Princeton held first place with 39 points, as Harvard trailed in second with 26. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the tide would turn in the Crimson’s favor. While Princeton continued to get first place results on the second day — sophomore Lizzie Bird took first in the Steeplechase, and Curham won the 5,000m race — a slew of Harvard first-place finishes wore down on the Princeton lead. A victory in the heptathlon by the Crimson certainly did not help the Tigers’ chances. Ultimately, Princeton earned second place and 118 points on the day.
The Daily Princetonian
page 14
Thursday may 28, 2015
MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING| APRIL 1
Men’s swimming dominates at Ivy League championships By Tom Pham associate Sports editor
In what surmounted to be a fantastic and memorable season, the men’s swimming and diving team reclaimed the Ivy League Championships. Despite a mix-up at the NCAA Championships that led to the Tigers defaulting on both of their individual races, this season must be considered a great success. The team competed in several tournaments in its spring season, starting with a match against Navy at DeNunzio Pool and ending with the Ivy League Championships at the same location. The team spent most of its spring season facing Ivy League opponents, facing
only Navy and NC State in non-conference meets. The team easily beat Patriot League champion Navy to the tune of 171-129 but was dispatched by NC State by the score of 180-113, on what was also Senior Day for the Tigers. Although the team was soundly beaten by NC State, senior Michael Manhard made the day his own with two individual victories. Going into the spring season with a 4-0 Ivy League record, the team hoped to continue its dominance but fell short of a perfect season after losses against Columbia in New York and against Harvard at the Harvard-YalePrinceton meet, which led to Harvard’s perfect regular season. The team compiled
a 7-4 record on the year and a 5-2 record in the Ivy League, which offered great hope for the team prior to the everimportant Ivy League Championships, which the team hoped to reclaim. Despite losing to Harvard and Columbia, the team came away with the final laugh as it came out victorious in the Ivy League Championships to claim Coach Orr’s 22nd Ivy League Championship in 35 seasons and his sixth in seven years. The team absolutely dominated the field in the Championships, finishing with 1519 points in a wire-to-wire victory. They beat runner-up Harvard by 233.5 points and had already claimed the tournament after the preliminary
sessions. “I’m very proud of the guys for a great performance against a tough league,” Coach Orr said after the competition. The Tigers’ fantastic performance throughout the season saw the team rewarded with five berths in the NCAA Championships, two in individual events and three in relay events. Senior Harrison Wagner and freshman Corey Okubo both qualified for the NCAA Championships individually, with Wagner qualifying for the 50-yard freestyle for the second time and Okubo qualifying for the 400-yard individual medley. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, Wagner, Okubo and two of the relay
WAGE GAP Continued from page 16
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Athletics/Finance and Administration Chris Brock did not respond to request for comment, and Assistant Director of Athletics/Finance and Administration Ryan Yurko declined to comment. Ever since the inception of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act of 1994, colleges have been required to submit annual salary reports detailing expenditures and revenues for male and female teams. After the data has been collected and compiled, it is made public through the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool. Princeton came in a close second to the University of Pennsylvania, whose differ-
KIRA IVARRSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Women’s water polo performed especially well given that the west coast boasts the nation’s best teams.
Women’s water polo defeats University of Hawaii, finishes sixth in NCAA Tournament sports editor
Battling in a pool of the best teams in the nation, the women’s water polo team (31-5 overall, 9-1 Collegiate Water Polo Association) finished its season at Stanford, Calif. in the NCAA Championship Tournament. It went 1-2 in its time there, earning sixth place in the tournament. The Tigers opened up the weekend with a daunting task — taking down the hosts and reigning NCAA Champions the Stanford Cardinal (24-2, 6-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). The Cardinal came out ready to go — it held Princeton scoreless in the first half and scored six goals. While the Tigers were able to get themselves on the board via goals from senior utilities Taylor Dunstan and Ashley Hatcher, it wouldn’t be enough to surmount the early deficit as the team would fall 7-2. Despite the loss, junior goalie Ashleigh Johnson turned in another stellar performance, making 18 saves in the game. Knocked out of the running for the national championship,
the Tigers entered their first consolation game against the University of Hawaii (19-10, 3-2 Mountain West Conference). It was the Tigers’ chance to get revenge, after falling to Hawaii 7-6 at the Aztec Invitational over spring break. The game was tightly contested end-to-end: neither team would get ahead by more than two goals. Heading into the final period up 5-4, the Tigers pushed their lead back out to two via a breakaway by junior utility Pippa Temple. It was at this point where things got tense – Hawaii scored the next two goals in just over a two-minute span. With the game level, Hawaii got their next big chance with just under a minute to play, as a save by Johnson just prevented the Rainbow Warriors’ go-ahead goal. The tide, however, turned soon after. Following the Johnson save, the ball found its way to senior utility Jessie Holechek. With just seconds to go in the game, Holechek buried the ball in the back of the net to put the Tigers up for good, giving them a 7-6 victory. In the Tigers’ final battle of the weekend, facing the Univer-
sity of California – Irvine (21-9, 4-1 Big West Conference), Johnson would shine once again, setting a record for saves in the NCAA Tournament with 22. The game, like the previous one, was a neck-and-neck affair, neither team able to break away. The Tigers entered the fourth quarter with a 4-3 lead — an exchange of goals by UC-Irvine’s Mary Brooks and senior utility Ashley Hatcher pushed the score out to 5-4. UC-Irvine, however, would convert on a power play to bring the score level. Afterward, in a counterattack off of a Hatcher near miss, Brooks would put in the go-ahead goal to put the Anteaters up 6-5. The Tigers were unable to capitalize in their final offensive opportunities, and fell in their final game of the tournament. The game marked the end of a career for six seniors on the team: Dunstan, Hatcher, Holecheck, attack Cece Coffey, utility Camille Hooks and left attack Kelly Gross. These players have gone to the NCAA Championships in three of their four years at Princeton and have helped the Tigers amass a record of 119-19 in that time span.
Victories over Fairfield, Stony Brook set Princeton up for rematch with Duke W. LAX
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go toe-to-toe with the Tigers. Neither team could either score in bunches or break away from the other — they were tied at just 3-3 going into the half. However, a hero emerged to push this onto the next level: freshman midfielder Abby Finkelston. Coming off
the bench, Finkelston put in three of the Tigers’ five goals in the half, and had four goals on the game. Continuing that stiff second-half defense exhibited in the first game, the Tigers would win 8-4 and kept their hopes of a championship alive. The prospects look as bright as every for the Tigers. The last time they won two games in the NCAA Tournament was in the 2004
them with our incoming class,” Coach Orr said. As a recap to the season, Coach Orr said that “this was an exceptional year, the team acted like a good solid unit and team all season long, which showed especially in the Ivy conference,” before adding, “overall, I felt that it was extremely successful season, and I feel that most everyone on the team feels that way as well.” Although the team is losing some of the best swimmers and divers in the Ivy League, the current crop of freshmen and next year’s recruits are sure to bring promise and talent as the team looks to defend its Ivy League Championship next year.
Wage gap between coaches of men’s and women’s sports a nationwide issue
W O M E N ’ S W AT E R P O L O | M A Y 1 0
By Miles Hinson
teams did not compete in the NCAA Championships. “As far as that goes, it was quite admirable because of the circumstances at NCAA: the mature reaction of all the people involved was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen it my time here,” Coach Orr said on this topic. At the end of the season, the team will bid farewell to some of its key contributors in the past four years. These seniors will leave having contributed to three Ivy League Championship titles in four years and contributed to various other victories during their time here at Princeton. “We graduate a large group of point scorers and leaders and hopefully we can replace
season, when they were runner-ups in the championship match. In addition, the Tigers will have the chance at revenge in their match to get into the semifinals. They will get to face the Duke Blue Devils (15-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), the same team that knocked them out in a double-overtime loss in the first round of the tournament back in 2013.
ence hovers above $14,000. All other Ivy League schools demonstrated much steeper differences, ranging between $30,363 for Dartmouth and $45,886 for Harvard. In addition to the salary gap, the Department of Education shows that Princeton invested over 68 percent of its recruiting budget on men’s teams. The data suggests that while Princeton may rank relatively low in terms of salary gap, gender-based disparity within collegiate athletics still persists. There are a number of factors that influence the difference, including the revenue for male and female teams. According to the Department of Education data, the grand revenue total for men’s teams is $10.2 million, which is significantly higher than
the women’s teams’ revenue of $6.4 million. The issue only worsens beyond Princeton, especially at athletically-high-performing state schools. A 2012 New York Times article on the same issue reported that the salary of the UNC Men’s Basketball Coach Roy Williams tripled that of his counterpart, Sylvia Hatchell. The article said that while Title IX and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 prevent different compensation for comparable amounts of work, collegiate coaching contracts often delegate more work to coaches of male teams to justify the additional pay. Furthermore, such contract disparities do not include the often third party bonuses that many high profile coaches receive, which only widen the salary gap.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday may 28, 2015
page 15
BANGHART | APRIL 7
Banghart named Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year By Miles Hinson sports editor
Banghart wins Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year It seems Courtney Banghart has reached the top of the college basketball coaching world. On Tuesday, Banghart was named the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year. She led the Princeton Tigers to a perfect record during the regular season, as the team won all 30 of their games. She took her program to its first NCAA win, defeating the University of Wisconsin — Green Bay. It appears that a perfect regular season was a prerequisite for winning the award this year. The winner of the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year, the University of Kentucky’s John Calipari, also failed to drop a game during the regular season. Also, just like the Tigers, the Kentucky Wildcats would fall to a no. 1 seed, losing to the University of Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. The Naismith Coach of the Year award is arguably the most prestigious award given out to a college coach. As Banghart receives this honor, she will be adding her name to a list of legendary coaches. Previous winners of the award include the University of Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma and the University of Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, both of whom have been named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Indeed, Auriemma was named along with Banghart as one of the finalists for this year’s Naismith award. Auriemma’s Huskies are currently in the finals for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament. The fact that Banghart was selected despite the Tigers’ falling in the Round of 32 speaks volumes to the respect she has garnered as a coach and a leader. Of course, Banghart has earned
the attention of the college basketball world through her many seasons of success, but the number of awards she has received in the last few weeks alone defy belief. She was already named Ivy League Coach of the Year back in March. In the past two days she received both the US Basketball Writers Association Women’s Coach of the Year and the Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year awards. When reached for comment, Banghart described the difference between winning the USBWA’s award and the Naismith award. “[It’s about] the prestige of the Naismith, it’s the premier coaching award out there,” Banghart said. “It’s the Super Bowl [of coaching].” Banghart also described the overwhelming joy she naturally felt when receiving the prestigious honor. “To be able to be amongst my peers, and have people so genuinely happy for me what my team of players did, it was the perfect time to get this award,” Banghart explained. True to form, she continued to put her team first when accepting it, saying, “I accepted it on behalf of my fifteen players.” Banghart received the award in Tampa, Fla., where the final game in the tournament is taking place. She said it was one thing to win the award — it was another to win the award while surrounded by so many other prominent figures in coaching. “I was somewhere where people understand the value of the award,” Banghart said. “It [was] great to see.” Banghart’s legacy at Princeton With this award, Banghart makes a strong case as one of the best coaches Princeton has seen. She is the first Tigers coach to receive the Naismith award. Moreover, Banghart expressed
the immense pride she felt by being able to connect Princeton to such a prestigious honor. “[It’s great] to have Princeton’s name forever attached to the Naismith legacy,” Banghart said. “I’m proud to have been someone who can have Princeton notarized like that.” She explained how it’s an honor to bring the legacy of Princeton Athletics together with the legacy and gravitas the Naismith carries in college athletics. She spoke about having gotten emotional upon hearing her name called. “The Naismith carries with it such a legacy. I don’t get emotional very often. When I found out, I teared up,” Banghart said. “I know what the legacy stands for, how much of a difference these coaches have made in their teams and universities.” The difference Banghart has made in Princeton women’s basketball has been nothing short of eye-popping. She boasts a 169-67 record overall and a 92-17 record against Ivy League opponents, and she now has the most wins of any Princeton women’s basketball coach in history. She had her team at the end of the regular season ranked 13th in the country (per the AP poll) — the highest ever ranking for an Ivy League team. Ask those who work with her on a daily basis, and you will hear accounts of a focused coach hungry for more success. Sophomore guard Vanessa Smith spoke to the kind of presence and influence her coach has with the team. “She’s the perfect embodiment of what a driven, group-oriented leader can do,” Smith said. “At the core of all [the success] is our incredible coach who’s devoted first to her players and then to our goals.” Banghart driven for another run next season Assistant Coach Milena Flores, who like Banghart joined the
TIFFANY RICHARDSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Since taking over a struggling Princeton team in 2007, Banghart’s rise to the top has been meteoric.
team in 2007, expressed how inspiring it is to see Banghart’s competitiveness and desire to succeed up close. “Being an assistant for her, it’s really special to see her competitive drive [and] unending enthusiasm,” Flores said. “[She’s] always wanting to be better.” Despite a season filled with high after high, Banghart continues to focus on the ultimate prize — an NCAA championship.
Her gift of coaching appears to be matched by her gift of selfimprovement. “She’s someone who always wants to learn. [She’s] incredibly willing to adapt,” Flores said. When asked what in particular about Banghart’s comportment this season impressed her, Flores added, “Her main improvement was game management. She knows her players really well, [and] just has a really good feel
for what to do in games.” Banghart herself noted that as she grows, she must be aware of the new team she’s coaching. “Every year, you’re coaching that team, that particular team. We start on the court this year with next year’s team,” Banghart explained. “I have to be the best version of me for next year’s team. You have to evolve. I have to be prepared and ready to bring this team where it needs to go.”
Dietrick’s success built on competitive nature DIETRICK Continued from page 16
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myself to be the best that I possibly can.” Indeed, the notion that Dietrick might need someone other than herself to push her onto greatness seems ridiculous to anyone who has been around her. Her intense desire to succeed is evident to those that talk with her, and certainly to those lucky enough to call her a teammate. “She’s the type of kid that will just keep on fighting no matter what and I think that’s the very
TIFFANY RICHARDSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Tigers built their victory over the Green Bay on excellent three point shooting, going 9-16 from downtown on the game.
Princeton’s duel with Green Bay close throughout W. B-BALL Continued from page 16
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Junior guard/forward Annie Tarakchian and junior forward Alex Wheatley, who both posted double-doubles, notched 17 points and 16 rebounds and 15 points and 10 rebounds, respectively. Tarakchian also had five assists, while Wheatley had two. Senior guard and co-captain Blake Dietrick scored 11 points with three rebounds and five assists, and sophomore guard Vanessa Smith rounded out the group with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. The game began with Princeton winning the opening tip and scoring the first point on a Miller three from the right. Green Bay got on the board not long after, with a jumpshot from Lexi Weitzer and a layup from Kaili Lukan separated by a Dietrick three. Green Bay pulled ahead for less than thirty seconds off of a three from Mehryn Kraker before Miller took the lead again with a shot from behind the arc. The Tigers and Phoenix traded layups before a pair of freethrows from junior guard Amanda Ber-
ntsen, a long distance three from Tarakchian and a Vanessa Smith layup offset the balance and put the Tigers up by seven. Princeton and Green Bay remained close, with the Phoenix closing in every time the Tigers tried to pull ahead to bring Green Bay within three with 6:30 left in the first half. Green Bay played with an exceptional turnover margin, which explains the mere three point Tiger lead despite the incredible shooting that the Tigers are known for. A Wheatley jumpshot tried to pull away, but the Lukan sisters worked together for a layup before Green Bay’s Weitzer netted a jumper that brought the Phoenix within one point of the Tigers, 31-32. After a scoring drought of nearly two minutes, Green Bay scored again to take the lead 33-32. A fierce battle ensued for the last minute of play in the first half, but Green Bay’s Tesha Buck scored a second basket in a row to bring the score up to 35-32 before a Miller jumper brought the Tigers within one, leaving the Tigers trailing at halftime 35-34 despite a significant rebounding advantage. The second half opened with
Wheatley finding an open shooter in Tarakchian, passing for a three that put the Tigers in the lead right away. Phoenix Mehryn Kraker put in another three to pull Green Bay into the lead again, but another exciting Tarakchian three allowed the Tigers to regain the lead, solidifying her 11th double-double of the season. Again, the Tigers and Phoenix traded shots, alternating which team led until a Wheatley layup at 13:44 gave the Tigers the lead they held onto for the rest of the game. The Tigers continued to increase their scoring margin in pursuit of perfection, with another Tarakchian basket and Wheatley jumper after a freethrow from Greenbay’s Allie Leclaire pushing the Tiger lead up to five points. A great block shot from the center and pair of free throws in succession from Smith left the Tigers up by 10, 58-48, and gave the Tigers more momentum, with which they rolled over the Phoenix. With just six minutes in between the Tigers and their victory, Princeton was on an offensive blast as Wheatley and Tarakchian scored a pair of free throws. Buck then scored a three and Smith traded
free throws with Kaili Lukan, leaving Green Bay down by six as the clock counted down and less than three minutes left in the period. The game started to take a turn, and it looked as though Green Bay was putting together a rally with another two points with just over two minutes left, but the Tigers were not going to relinquish their lead, and pulled ahead again with a Wheatley layup. After Kaili Lukan tugged on Dietrick’s jersey in an attempt to keep her from breaking away, a pair of Dietrick free throws put the Tigers up by eight points with just a minute left. A basket from behind the arc scored by Green Bay’s Sam Terry came with just 48 seconds left on the clock, to put the score at 68-73. The last minute was intense, with a pair of Miller free throws and Kaili Lukan coming back with a pair of her own before Dietrick and Tarakchian combined to score another three points with just 17 seconds left on the clock, with the score at 80-70. The Tigers will return on March 23 at 6:30 p.m. to face off against the winner of the game between no. 1 seeded Maryland and no. 16 seeded New Mexico State.
“[Dietrick]’s competitiveness and will to win set her apart, and I think these qualities will make her successful on the next level.” michelle miller,
women’s basketball
best type of leader and teammate anyone can ask for,” sophomore guard Vanessa Smith said. “But at the same time, her love for the game is contagious and you can tell playing with her or from the stands what it means for her. Her work ethic and mental toughness is what has brought her and our team success this season.” Indeed, it would be remiss to talk about Dietrick’s immense success this past season without noting the work she has put in from her freshman year onward to grow into the player she is today. In addition, her role on the team has evolved from a catchand-shooter — high three-point percentages and very few assists are evident from her freshman year statistics — to the all-around playmaker she is today. While a regular contributor from early on in her career — she played in 23 games her freshman year — Dietrick points out that her adjustment from high school
to college ball was a tough shift to handle. “I didn’t adjust very quickly to the college game.” Dietrick admits. The solution to the problem? Just more time in the gym. “I just kept working at it,” Dietrick said. “The difference between the player I am now and the player I was then is crazy.” Just like her competitiveness, the amount of progress she has made in her game is not lost on her teammates. “Having played with [Blake] for 3 years, I have seen her grow tremendously to become a dynamic player with a high basketball IQ ,” junior guard Michelle Miller said. “Her competitiveness and will to win set her apart, and I think these qualities will make her successful on the next level.” As Miller points out, Dietrick’s amazing year has not finished yet. After receiving an invitation to training camp from the Washington Mystics of the WNBA, Dietrick will find out in late May if she gets the opportunity to continue her passion at the highest level. Dietrick has taken no time off in preparing for this dream. While a post-thesis life is normally the most relaxing time for most Princeton students, she has worked to prepare herself physically and mentally for the next great leap. “Physically, I’m prepared” Dietrick said. “Mentally, [it’s about] understanding that everyone is fighting for their job. The mentality [of the WNBA] is a work environment. The need for a little bit more selfishness appears counterintuitive. Dietrick has expressed earlier that the work mentality and the need to look out for one’s self in the workplace goes against the skills she’s developed as a leader for this Princeton team. It’s funny writing about Dietrick’s successes when potentially even greater successes are just on the horizon. It may be impossible to predict the future, but if Dietrick’s time as a Tiger is any indication, the Athlete of the Year award will not be the last she receives for her basketball prowess.
Sports
Thursday may 28, 2015
page 16
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } { Feature }
{ Feature }
Female Athlete of the year: Blake Dietrick By Miles Hinson sports editor
This season, Blake Dietrick has been absolutely stunning. She’s had one of the best seasons for any Ivy League athlete. An all-around stud on both ends of the floor, she led the Tigers and ranked among the top of the league in points per game (15.1), assists per game (4.9), field goal percentage (48.9) and steals per game(1.2). The accolades followed the on-court performance: she was named to the Women’s College Basketball Association All-Region Team, an honorable mention for the Associated Press All-American team, and was the unanimous choice for the Ivy League Player of the Year. Dietrick now has another honor to add to what is already an extensive list: the Daily Princetonian’s Female Athlete of the Year. Of course, her great individual accomplishments are all the more magnified when taking into account the unbelievable heights to which she took her team. Captaining a team for the ages, Dietrick
led her squad to its highest ever ranking in the AP Poll (13) and a perfect 30-0 regular season. The postseason saw her step up when the team needed it most. Already averaging a workhorse amount of 32.8 minutes per game, she played every single minute of the Tigers’ two NCAA games. Against the Maryland Terrapins, No. 1 seed and one of the strongest college basketball teams in the nation, she put on one of her finest performances for the season, nearly setting a career high with 26 points on a scorching 1018 shooting performance. Her on-court accomplishments are certainly top level. But perhaps what is most stunning about Dietrick is her relentlessness, the competitive drive that seems evident both as she plays the game and as she talks about her goals for the future. When asked whether she ever needed any kind of external motivation, Dietrick quickly brushed the question aside. “I’m extremely competitive.” Dietrick said. “I’ve always pushed See DIETRICK page 15
Male Athlete of the year: Cameron Porter By Sydney Mandelbaum associate sports editor
TIFFANY RICHARDSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Dietrick established herself as the league’s top player, becoming the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year this past season.
CONOR DUBE : SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Porter tied for first in the NCAA in scoring with 15 goals on the year.
Princeton soccer’s own senior forward Cameron Porter has had incredible success both in his Princeton and professional careers and is The Daily Princetonian’s 2015 Male Athlete of the Year. After finishing the season leading the NCAA in goals and points per game, Porter received Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year honors before he was drafted in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft by the Montreal Impact in January. “You always want to leave a mark in your senior year, like any other person, and make sure you leave the program in a better state than when you came into it,” Porter said. “I think going into the year that was more the goal than anything, and to just have all that come as a byproduct of it is awesome.” “He’s got a lot of qualities
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | MARCH 21
Tigers keep perfection alive, go to 31-0 and move onto Round of 32 By Sydney Mandelbaum associate sports editor
The Tigers continued their perfect season on Saturday, winning their first round matchup against the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay 80-70 in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament. After picking the Tigers to be in the Final Four in his March Madness bracket, President Barack Obama was in attendance for the Tigers’ dominant victory. The stands were a sea of Orange and Black as Head Coach Courtney Banghart led the Tigers to today’s win, the first in an NCAA tournament in program history and the second in Ivy League history.
Princeton received a No. 8 seed for the Spokane region of the tournament, lower than anticipated for an undefeated team ranked 13th in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll. This was attributed to the Tigers’ difficulty of schedule, as Princeton was the only school in the tournament not to face off against another top-25 team during the regular season. Both Princeton and the no. 9 seeded Green Bay Phoenix are very physical teams, playing man-to-man, which resulted in a thrilling game that only saw the Tigers begin to pull away in the last 13 minutes of play. Five Tigers scored in the double digits, led by junior guard Michelle Miller with 20 points, seven rebounds and two assists. See W. B-BALL page 15
TIFFANY RICHARDSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The cagers continue one of the best seasons the league has ever seen.
By David Liu staff writer
tweet of the day
“One of the best times of the year is fast approaching!!! #reunions” Princeton Water Polo (@pwaterpolo)
WOMEN’S LACROSSE | MAY 10
Women’s lacrosse wins both games over weekend, advances to NCAA Quarterfinals sports editor
Within Ivy League, Princeton among lowest in salary gap between coaches of men’s and women’s teams
AUSTIN LEE :: DESIGN EDITOR
See PORTER page 13
By Miles Hinson
BEYOND THE BUBBLE | APRIL 21
Among Ivy League schools, Princeton ranks second lowest in the salary gap between coaches of men’s and women’s teams, trailing only Penn.
that make him valuable,” head coach Jim Barlow said. “His speed and strength and athleticism certainly help but he’s also very comfortable on the ball. His instincts are to go to the goal and to take people on and get shots off. He just brings so much energy to the field and so much competitiveness too. He’s got so many qualities that made him a really special player for us.” “It’s so great to see him rewarded because he deserves it and he had such an incredible year, both on the field and off the field,” Barlow said. Barlow brought up Porter’s academic successes as well. “It’s great to see someone so talented on the athletics field be equally successful in the classroom.” In the fall, Porter helped the Tigers clinch a share of the Ivy League title, which they split with Dartmouth after winning their final game of the season against
Princeton ranked the second lowest among the Ivy League in athletic coaching salary disparities based on the team’s gender, according to data gathered from the Office of Postsecondary Education for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. According to the Department of Education’s online Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool, the difference between average salaries for full time coaches of men’s teams and of women’s teams at Princeton is $16,817. Full time head coaches
of men’s teams earn about $124,744 on average and full time head coaches of women’s teams earn about $107,927 on average. The gender reported does not refer to the gender of the coach but rather that of the team. While male coaches dominate men’s sports in the Ivy League, many men also coach women’s teams and are thus included in the latter gender group. Specifically, even men coaching women’s teams suffered lower salaries. Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux ’91 did not respond when reached for comment. Senior Associate Director of See WAGE GAP page 14
It’s been a magical spring for the Princeton women’s lacrosse team. After becoming Ivy League champions in the regular season by winning the Ivy League tournament, they have followed up with two wins in the NCAA Championships to put themselves in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The Tigers (16-3 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) looked in top form this weekend as they rolled through the Fairfield University Stags (14-5, 7-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and the No. 6 seed, Stony Brook University Seawolves (18-2, 6-0 American East). With the two wins, the Tigers put themselves in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011. A dynamite offense was on display in the game against the Stags, as the Tigers scored 10 goals by the end of just the first half, finishing the game victorious at 18-8. While the first half was certainly not a blowout — the Stags responded to an opening 4-0 run by the Tigers to keep the score at 10-7 by halftime — the Tigers totally ran away with the game when the second half rolled around. They came out even stronger than they did in the first, scoring eight straight goals to put the game away. Fairfield would score their lone goal of the half after nearly 23 minutes had expired. Many members of the Tigers’ offense got in on the goal-scoring action in this game – eight different Tigers managed to find the back of the net. Leading them was sophomore attack Olivia Hompe, MVP of the Ivy League tournament, with four goals. The next battle proved to be much more of a grinder. Stony Brook, having lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, much like the Tigers, looked ready to See W. LAX page
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