The Daily Princetonian: September 24, 2021

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Friday September 24, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 51

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STUDENT LIFE

STUDENT LIFE

Students participate in Princeton’s first-ever Vietnamese course through Brown University

By Ngan Chiem Staff Writer

CATALEYA JIANG ‘23

The crowd outside Colonial Club on Sept. 17.

After weeks of ‘members only,’ eating clubs reopen to all

By Miguel Gracia-Zhang Staff Writer

Last weekend, the Street reopened to all undergraduates for the first time in 18 months; the return of inperson festivities resulted in long lines and overcrowding.

As of Thursday, Sept. 16, some of the University’s 11 eating clubs have begun reopening to the greater student body.

On Thursday, Terrace Club held the first PUID event of the semester: Open Tap Night, featuring Sam Spector ’24 and the Degenerates. The event was fol-

lowed the next night by Colonial Club’s Stoplight party.

Clubs waited until Sept.

16 to reopen due to both safety concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to adjust and plan for in-person activities, according to the president of the Interclub Council (ICC) and Terrace Club President Schuyler Kean ’22, in a previous interview with The Daily Princetonian.

“This [Sept. 16] was the date pushed to us from the University and Graduate Interclub Council,” said ICC Vice President and President of Tower Club Sa-

vannah Hampton ’22 in an email to the ‘Prince.’

“Following September 16, it was up to each club’s graduate board to reopen.

Terrace and Colonial just happened to open first.

We discussed our plans as an ICC and plan to keep up the open communication to best open the Street safely and collaboratively,” Hampton added.

Though Eating Clubs were ‘members only’ for the first three weeks of the fall semester, prospective members from the Classes of ’22 and ’23 were allowed to enter clubs during Street Week — a week of events

that sign-in and bicker clubs host to recruit new members.

This year, “Street Week began Friday, September 3 with two days of protected sign-in club events, followed by two days of protected bicker club events, and finally bicker itself,” Hampton added.

Five of the six Bicker clubs, Cannon Dial Elm Club, Cap & Gown Club, Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, and Tower, participated in Fall Bicker, while Cottage Club did not. According to Hampton, over 180 upperclass students participated in See EATING CLUBS page 2

For the first time, Princeton is offering a course in Vietnamese this semester in partnership with Brown University.

The course, taught in-person by a lecturer at Brown, is attended via Zoom by two Princeton students from a classroom in East Pyne Hall.

Despite the newness of the course, advocacy for its implementation has stretched back many years. Cam My Nguyen ’23, one of the students in the course, discussed her personal journey and push for the course in an email to The Daily Princetonian.

“When I entered Princeton, I realized that South East Asians are not only less represented within the college population, but also the realm of academia,” Nguyen wrote.

Nguyen said she spoke to her Director of Studies, Associate Dean of the College Rebekah Peeples, and Center for Language Study coordinator Vandana Bajaj about taking Vietnamese, but was “told it wasn’t an option.”

Several students reached out to the Princeton Center for Language Study (PCLS) in the past advocating for opportunities in Vietnamese studies. In May 2020, nine Princeton students received an email from PCLS following up on their request and promising to “initiate some conversations with our partners within the University” to establish a Vietnamese curriculum.

See VIETNAMESE page 5

ON CAMPUS

Extremist protestors occupying Washington Road heckle students, spew hate-speech

By Caitlin Limestahl Head News Editor

JULIAN GOTTFRIED / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Aden Rusfeldt and other protestors stared down a crowd of students at their demonstration Wednesday.

Self-identifying Christian protestors displaying homophobic, racist, and sexist signs occupied the sidewalks along Washington Road on last Wednesday, attracting a large gathering of students who responded with their own demonstration.

The protestors’ largest sign addressed “homos,” “Muslims,” “cow worshipers,” “racists (KKK, BLM, Obama),” and “rebellious women,” among others, and warned them, “obey Jesus or hellfire.” Another

sign declared “feminists are witches” and “not a virgin + not married = whore.”

Several of the protesters’ children were present.

Students brought their own messaging: A number of them waved LGBTQ+ pride flags, held signs that read “BLM” (Black Lives Matter), and played popular sex-positive songs

by Lil Nas X, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion.

Nubia Morales ’25 was one of the counter-protesting students.

“It wasn’t combating hate with hate, but with being proud of who we are regardless of what other peo-

ple are saying about us,” Morales said. “I felt safe and comfortable once I realized there [were] people there from the Princeton community that did not agree with what they were saying and we’re gonna let that be known.”

At one moment in the protest, physical contact reportedly took place between the demonstrators and students.

Kyung Lee ’25 reported being pushed to the ground by two male protesters after attempting to grab an extra sign of theirs lying on the ground.

See PROTEST page 3

U. AFFAIRS

CPUC delivers divestment updates, discusses construction and COVID-19 policies

By Marissa Michaels Associate News Editor

At the first in-person meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) since the COVID-19 pandemic began, administrators discussed far-ranging plans for progress on fossil fuel dissociation, sustainable campus construction, and health updates.

Eisgruber delivers divestment updates After the CPUC Resources

In This Issue

Committee voted for dissociation from fossil fuels last spring, it submitted its proposal to the Board of Trustees. With some modifications to the CPUC proposal, the Board agreed to dissociate from the thermal coal and tar sands sectors of the fossil fuel industry and companies that promote climate disinformation.

University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 emphasized at the meeting that the decision is about University values, not politics.

“Dissociation is about living consistently with our values as a

university. It is not about advocacy or an attempt to influence the political process,” he said. “The purpose of selective divestiture is to separate the university from companies whose conduct contravenes the values of the university.”

Since the Board authorized dissociation last spring, administrative committees have been formed to create guidelines for dissociation.

“Over the summer, we had a series of conversations with internal and external experts,” said See CPUC page 4

MARISSA MICHAELS / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Administrators, faculty members, students, and other community members gathered in Frist on Monday.

OPINION | PAGE 11

SPORTS | PAGE 16

Princeton must invest in more resources for trans*, queer, and femme students

Princeton football cruises against Lehigh, opening season with a 32-0 win

PROSPECT | PAGE 14

Only human: Reflections from a pre-med in a pandemic

The Daily Princetonian

page 2 U. AFFAIRS

USG receives presentation on U.’s COVID-19 response

By Andrew Somerville Staff Writer

At this week’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) meeting, Assistant Vice President for Environmental Health and Safety Robin Izzo presented on the University’s recent responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She outlined the parameters that an advisory committee uses to determine the risk level on the University COVID-19 dashboard. She also shared her plans and hopes for the future of University public health policies.

“We have planned for anywhere up to a 0.5 percent [positivity rate],” she said.

“Anything above that is considered a high-risk situation.”

The campus COVID-19 dashboard defines campus positivity rate as “a Princeton-specific metric” that “represents one of multiple factors that helps to determine the Campus Risk Level.” The dashboard says that “University public health professionals monitor case rates daily and use [specific ranges] to assign a weekly positivity rate to the campus population.”

As of Sept. 20, the campus positivity rate was 0.08 percent, placing it within the ‘Low to Moderate’ risk category.

The testing facility is able to detect group transmission by comparing positive cases to each other via rapid PCR, which also determines the strain of the positive case.

“They are all Delta [variants],” Izzo said about the positive cases identified this semester.

Izzo also emphasized that mitigation decisions are made based on positive test

rates and knowledge related to social and group dynamics. If trends are spotted, mitigation efforts are implemented in those specific places.

She brought up the example of the spring 2021 semester, in which there was a cohort of positive cases among student athletes. “[Only student athletes] had to undergo testing three times a week,” she said.

The current vaccination rate for undergraduate students on campus is 98 percent.

“Not everyone on our campus is vaccinated, and some of those that are vaccinated are immunocompromised and do not feel comfortable in certain situations,” she said.

She also brought up the current in-class masking policy for small classrooms.

For seminars or small classes with fewer than 12 students, instructors may decide whether to require masks, as long as they are vaccinated.

“Not every student is going to feel comfortable saying ‘I am okay with [not wearing a mask],’” Izzo pointed out.

Izzo noted that the University is “paying close attention to the schools that are having surges” and this is one reason why there is a universal masking policy in place, since some of those schools did not have a universal masking policy instituted prior to their surge.

USG President Christian Potter ’22 pointed out that many students are coming down with illnesses that are not COVID-19 but are causing many to miss class or even attend class ill.

“If you are feeling any COVID symptoms but are unsure if you have COVID or not, do not go to class,” Izzo

clarified.

Izzo also pointed out that students can submit tests any day regardless of their assigned day, even just to verify that they do not have COVID-19. If a student has COVID-19 symptoms, however, they should not submit a test in the asymptomatic testing program and should contact University Health Services to arrange a test at McCosh Health Center.

She concluded by promoting the annual FluFest, where flu vaccines will be distributed to the University community for free. Details about the upcoming FluFest have not been released yet.

Beyond Izzo’s presentation, the Senate also unanimously approved the appointment of six new U-Councilors, which were selected by the Executive Committee from application review. Mohamed Jishi ’24, Alen Palic ’23, Isabella Shutt ’24, Anna Sivaraj ’23, Eric Sklanka ’23, and Jiwon Yun ’22 were confirmed.

At the end of the public meeting, the Senate moved into a private Executive session to select the U-Council representatives to the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) and the U-Council Chair.

Riley Martinez ’23 and Stephen Daniels ’24 were elected by the Senate to serve on the CPUC, and Martinez was also elected U-Council Chair.

USG Senate meetings are open to all undergraduate students and take place every Sunday night at 8 p.m. in Frist Campus Center, room 302.

Andrew Somerville is a staff writer who corresponds with and covers USG happenings and other campus news. He can be reached at jas19@princeton. edu.

HEADLINE FROM HISTORY

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The rules for who can show up and participate vary across clubs EATING CLUBS Continued from page 1

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Street Week, which ended at noon on Sept. 10 when results were posted to the ICC website.

The rules for who could show up and participate also varied from club to club. Tower, for example, used an interest form for attendees of their welcome event and kept track of all participants for their own records and for “COVID mitigation,” Hampton noted.

Eating Clubs also advertised their events differently. Some, such as Cannon, Cap, Tower, and TI, sent out emails to listservs with interest forms for upperclass students to fill out. Others, such as Quadrangle Club, Charter Club, Terrace, Cloister Inn, and Colonial, sent listserv blasts offering social events open to all prospective members without an interest form.

As the Street reopened, multiple clubs hosted parties for limited sign-on lists. The most popular destination on Friday night, however, was Colonial, which hosted the Stoplight party, where participants were encouraged to dress in red, yellow, or green depending on their relationship status.

The party was open to all University undergraduates, and the line in the courtyard soon ballooned into a crowd.

“From my vantage point, the line was definitely give or take over a hundred people. Also, there were more like several lines such that the entire front lawn of Colonial was essentially occupied,” Amy Ciceu ’24 said.

Ciceu is a staff writer for the ‘Prince.’

When Chiara Vilna-Santos ’24 arrived at Colonial around midnight, students

had been waiting in line for nearly an hour.

Eventually, both Ciceu and Vilna-Santos were able to enter the building.

“And there was a lot of dancing. It was very sweaty.

I [met up with] my friends, they looked like they’d taken showers,” Vilna-Santos said.

Vilna-Santos described the indoors as being much less crowded than the outside. However, being indoors also meant concerns, or lack thereof, about masking requirements.

“First off, despite being indoors, virtually nobody was wearing masks despite the conditions being way more crowded than those in lecture halls,” Ciceu said.

“Masks weren’t enforced by anybody either, though some of the people at the doors did make a point of making sure everybody entering the club read a message about consent.”

Vilna-Santos also confirmed that nearly no students were masked indoors.

In the latest Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meeting, Assistant Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety Robin Izzo said that if the reopening eating clubs were to affect COVID-19 transmission, there would be a spike by the end of the week, though it could happen up to 14 days later.

Even with the wait time and crowds, Vilna-Santos still plans to go to eating clubs, but she wishes that “more places were open at the same time,” to “mitigate the amount of people that were … concentrated.”

Miguel Gracia-Zhang is a staff writer who often covers University affairs and local news. He can be reached at mg43@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @gracia_zhang.

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Morales: It was about being proud of who we are regardless of what other people are saying about us PROTEST Continued from page 1

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“Initially, I didn’t rationalize the decision to try and take their signs, since they had already taken one of the student’s signs and ripped it up, littering it on the ground,” Lee alleged in an email to The Daily Princetonian. “But when I got there, one of the men on the left … grabbed me by the arm and pushed me to the ground, while the other man on the right of me shoved me to the ground as well, stepping on my foot in the process.”

“I am [now] aware that this group of protestors are known for frequenting the Princeton campus,” Lee continued, “but I didn’t know that at all yesterday and just thought they were random protestors who would leave us alone if we just gave them one good confrontation.”

In an email to the ‘Prince,’ University spokesperson Ben Chang wrote that the University was not made aware that the protestors were coming to campus beforehand. He did note that “once the demonstration began, University staff — Public Safety officers and free expression facilitators — arrived to ensure that University policies were upheld.”

Images and videos from students show the group stationed on both sides of Washington Road, both by Scudder Plaza and McCosh Walk.

According to Chang, because these areas are under municipality jurisdiction, the University did not have

jurisdiction over the protestors’ actions.

“Nonetheless, the University has taken a number of immediate steps to address the impact of this group’s actions on community members,” Chang wrote.

Chang wrote that “senior staff” at the University gathered last Thursday morning to ensure appropriate action was taken, including outreach to individuals targeted during the protest to provide them information about resources.

He also wrote that the Department of Public Safety “will discuss the demonstration with Princeton Police and coordinate planning for any future occurrence in order to minimize the risk to those who have to traverse the area where the demonstration took place.”

Who are the protestors?

The protestors’ signs included web addresses that lead to the Key of David Christian Center, a group that is, according to their website, a nondenominational Christian church led by Pastor Aden Rusfeldt.

Rusfeldt and his congregation have traveled to a number of college campuses in the Northeast, sparking lively counter demonstrations from students.

Last Wednesday was not the first time Rusfeldt appeared on Princeton’s campus and agitated students.

In 2019, he told the ‘Prince’ that he came to the University “because we heard a rumor that there are whores and homosexuals at Princeton, and we love them, and we want to warn

them that they are going to hell without Jesus.”

In spring 2021, the group was sighted on campus again, displaying similar banners and engaging in charged conversation with students.

Rusfeldt was ordered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to pay over $6 million in restitution and a civil monetary penalty following a number of lawsuits brought against him for fraudulent business dealings.

“I used to have a greed problem,” he reportedly told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I [also] used to have sex before marriage. I used to hit the bong like Cheech and Chong.”

A number of students took to social media with videos and memes mocking the protestors, and others danced before them in various states of undress.

After a video of Morales in a short dress posing in front of the protestors circulated on Instagram stories, she told the ‘Prince’ that the sexpositive environment created by the students allowed her to feel “confident and safe enough to express my feelings and [show] that this is my body. I’m choosing to present myself in this way, and that doesn’t make me any less worthy of respect.”

However, while the situation included moments of empowerment, one student we spoke with, Jane, acknowledged the effects of hearing the targeted, anti-LGBTQ+ slurs once they left the protest.

Jane is a pseudonym used to pro-

tect the identity of the student.

“I got home, sat down on my bed, and just started shaking,” Jane remarked. “I couldn’t even explain why in words, but it all hit me — the bad parts. It feels really awful to process something like that. I think part of it was because there wasn’t that strong community physically around me anymore. For quite a while, I was not doing very well.”

Another aspect of the protest that disturbed students was the presence of the young children partaking in the offensive messaging, but it did serve to curtail any escalation of the interaction.

“It was heartbreaking to see that there [were] children there,” Morales said. “There was common consensus among people on the [student] side of the street that ‘we can’t let this get too intense, there’s children.’”

Jane recalled the children reading scripture to them through megaphones. It was reported in 2018 that Rumsfeld’s fellow protestors frequently include his two daughters, stepson, and teenage Key of David Christian Center members.

Morales also reflected on the inclusivity she has experienced during her time on campus more broadly.

“There are groups [at the University] that we feel are safe spaces,” Morales said. “Just from our orientation groups alone, we see that they take into consideration our pronouns or they are very careful about certain phrasing. I feel like Princeton has

created a lot of safe space, but at the same time, people want to create dialogue that might put people in uncomfortable situations.”

Jane expressed frustration over the limitations of the University and Public Safety to remove the individuals from campus.

“I know the University is limited in what they can do in terms of free speech and actual legal ramifications, but there’s got to be something they can do,” Jane said. “There were [Public Safety] officers just hovering in the back and watching it happen as the protestors were calling us slurs and telling us to kill ourselves. The only time they intervened was when they pushed [Lee].”

In his email to the ‘Prince,’ Chang wrote that, “Hatred expressed to any member of our community is an affront to our entire community.”

“As abhorrent as this group’s messaging is, previous encounters with them have demonstrated that one of the most effective ways to combat their hate is to ignore them, as difficult as that may be,” he continued. “Our community members’ deliberate lack of engagement with their hateful provocations serves to minimize their voice. The University will continue to stand against all forms of hatred and in support of dignity, respect, and community.”

Caitlin Limestahl is a Head News Editor and has previously covered the Undergraduate Student Government and University Affairs. She can be reached on Twitter @caitlin_lime.

STUDENT LIFE

Carshare services return to Princeton

By Bailey Glenetske News Contributor

After over a year, carshare services returned to the University this past week, offering students and faculty the ability to rent transportation by the hour or the day.

An email sent to all undergraduate students on Sept. 17 detailed information about the service, including the 14-vehicle Enterprise CarShare fleet located at spots throughout campus. Enterprise offers an accessible and more affordable option to rent cars for princeton.edu email holders who are older than 18 and hold either a valid U.S. driver’s license or international driver’s license.

According to Enterprise Carshare’s website, rental rates at the University campus locations start at just $5/hour or $40/day, with fuel, insurance, and parking costs included. The rental works by using a membership card mailed to stu-

dents or faculty upon application approval to unlock the vehicles.

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Michael Emperor ’25 expressed his excitement for the service to be available.

“I think it’ll be useful for students to access resources that aren’t necessarily within walking distance of campus, and explore places and towns around N.J.,” he said.

Hector Betanzos ’22, who used the service in his first two years at Princeton, told the ‘Prince’ that it was hard to adjust to not having a personal car on campus.

“Life as a first and second-year was really difficult; as an FLI student, [moving to campus] kind of felt like a 180 compared to back home, as far as having access to cars,” he said.

Betanzos emphasized that the service is especially helpful for students who don’t have the ability to keep cars on campus and may need See CARSHARE page 4

THE MINI CROSSWORD

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COVID-19 cases discussed, new dean introduced CPUC

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Vice President and Secretary of the University Hilary Parker ’01, who is also a CPUC member.

More recently, a “Faculty Panel on Dissociation and Metrics Principles and Standards” has been formed. The interdisciplinary panel will provide expertise on economics, environmental science, engineering, and politics related to dissociation.

The panel will consider questions like how to measure disinformation and how to implement dissociation measures. Throughout the year, the panel will work with the Administrative Committee to come up with “actionable goals.”

Parker said that she expected the panel might present at a future CPUC meeting. There is also a website coming out soon with more information on this process. However, Parker did not indicate when progress on any of these goals will begin.

Divest Princeton, which referred to the University’s announcement of partial dissociation as “inadequate” in July, is hosting a sit-in at Nassau Hall to push for further divestment.

One graduate student asked if future students might have to deny funding from certain organizations that are invested in fossil fuels. Eisgruber responded that the University already turns down funding from sources that do not align with University values, and it is possible that that category will expand with new guidelines.

Community impacted by campus construction Multiple students at Monday’s meeting asked if on-campus construction start times can be pushed later, as they are disrupting students’ sleep.

According to administrators, there is no plan to do so longterm, as the University negotiated times with laborers before

beginning construction. Construction must also hit certain milestones before winter weather makes work more difficult.

However, the University has scheduled specific times during particularly stressful weeks, including reading period and exams, when construction schedules will be more sensitive to student’s needs.

Demolition of the art museum will cease in November. In the meantime, the University will soon hold meetings with residents of Dod Hall and Brown Hall — those most affected by the art museum construction to discuss the accommodations.

Though the art museum construction is the most prominent on campus, the University has several other ongoing construction projects.

Executive Vice President of the University Treby Williams ’84 detailed the construction of two new residential colleges, currently named Residential Colleges 7 and 8, that will add approximately 1,000 beds to campus. This will allow the University to expand the student body by 10 percent.

There will also be a new parking garage east of Jadwin Gymnasium that will fit about 1,500 cars.

Other new constructions include new buildings for Environmental Studies and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (ES + SEAS), and the Thermally Integrated Geo-Exchange Resource (TIGER) building.

Much of the construction is happening with the goal of reducing the University’s carbon footprint. Solar panels have been installed over the west-side parking garage and lot to increase the University’s use of solar energy.

“We’re going from 4.5 megawatts to 16.5 megawatts of solar energy that will provide annual electricity demand of about 19 percent of our campus,” Williams said. “We are also doing a major infrastructure project which is moving us from carbon-based heating technology to a hot water energy system, and that’s driven by electric heat

pumps, by thermal storage, and by geoexchange.”

This work will involve a lot of vertical construction that will help remove heat from the ground over the summer and store it for use in the winter. Some of it will be implemented by 2023.

Administrators discuss COVID-19 cases and masking One new concern on campus is the spread of respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms to COVID-19. Assistant Vice President of Environmental Health Services Robin Izzo said that in the past two weeks, 140 community members have submitted symptomatic COVID-19 tests and only one has come back positive.

The members of CPUC expressed satisfaction with how few COVID-19 cases the University has experienced recently. They urged University community members to submit COVID-19 tests the next day if they forget the test on their designated day.

Izzo also explained that they are hoping to launch a new tool this week that will remind people to submit their tests if they missed their scheduled test date.

Nolan Musslewhite ’25, a sports contributor for the ‘Prince,’ submitted a question asking if there are specific benchmarks in the COVID-19 dashboard that would loosen restrictions on masks.

There are no specific benchmarks, according to the administrators.

As of now, cases remain low, there are no clusters, and there has been no transmission associated with in-person teaching. The positivity rate is at .08%, below the University’s .1% threshold for “low risk.”

Izzo also claimed that the undergraduate vaccination rate rose from 98 to 99 percent and the graduate student vaccination rate rose from 97 percent to 98 percent, although neither of these changes are designated on the University’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Izzo did advise caution,

Princeton clinic begins booster shot administration

By Anika Buch

Assistant News Editor

As the duration of immunity afforded by COVID-19 vaccines remains to be seen, experts suggest a booster shot is necessary to continue protecting against COVID-19, in a manner similar to an annual flu shot. The University is now administering these booster shots at its vaccine clinic at Jadwin Gym. In an email to The Daily Princetonian, University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss wrote, “A small number of students have reported receiving a third dose using the MyUHS portal.”

Eligibility for the third dose is dependent on a number of factors, according to Hotchkiss, much like the first two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Federal and state health officials currently recommend additional doses of the COVID vaccine for individuals who are severely or moderately immunocompromised and for whom at least 28 days have passed since receiving their second

dose,” he continued. “The University continues to host vaccination clinics open to students, faculty, staff and the public.”

Several students have already received their third doses of the vaccine, some of them at the oncampus testing clinic itself, such as Naomi Hess ’22.

“Last Wednesday, I went to the University clinic to get my booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine, and it was super straightforward. I had been in communication with my doctor and she recommended that I visit the clinic,” said Hess in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

Hess is an associate news editor at the ‘Prince.’

Whether the University will require booster shots remains unclear.

“Any decisions about widespread use of additional doses would be based on guidance from federal and state health officials,” Hotchkiss wrote.

Hess advised students who are eligible for a third dose to ask medical professionals beforehand. “It’s

important for students who might qualify under the current conditions for the booster to consult with their doctors. But if someone decides to get the booster, I think the University clinic is a great place to get it,” Hess said. “It was super convenient that I did not have to leave campus.”

In order to return to campus in the fall 2021 semester, students and employees were required to be vaccinated. According to the most recent statistics cited by Dean of the College Jill Dolan, 98 percent of students have been vaccinated.

Vaccinated students must continue to participate in the asymptomatic testing protocol by submitting weekly tests, while unvaccinated students must test twice a week. As of the Sept. 10 guidance, students must continue wearing masks indoors.

Anika Buch is an assistant news editor at the ‘Prince’ who typically covers topics in medical journalism and on-campus STEM research. She can be reached at ambuch@princeton.edu.

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though.

“The cautious news is that surges can happen and that we still have high case rates in the surrounding community,” she said.

Almost all of the cases on campus are among vaccinated community members, and Izzo said that the Delta variant has accounted for all COVID-19 cases on campus.

Furthermore, the increased activity on campus from last semester means increased energy devoted to contact tracing. Izzo said that where people used to report one or two close contacts, most are reporting closer to 10 or 12 now.

In response to a question from Isabella Shutt ’24, a ‘Prince’ news contributor, Izzo explained that if the reopening of eating clubs to all students last weekend were going to affect transmission, we would expect to see a spike three to six days later — by the end of this week, but the spike could appear as late as 14 days after the parties.

Eisgruber also explained the University’s current mask mandate by saying that the University is looking at how other schools are handling COVID-19 and learning lessons from them.

He referenced “bursts” on other campuses — even campuses with testing and vaccination — where there are rapid spikes in COVID-19 cases that require severe restrictions like virtual instruction, to-go food containers, and limited gatherings.

“We don’t want to end up there,” he said. “Let’s continue this masking that allows us to have a relatively normal term with all the activities that bring us the joy and learning and growth that we want from a college campus.”

Eisgruber urged community members who submit questions to actually attend the CPUC meeting.

New dean introduced, changes to CPUC announced

New Dean of Faculty Gene Andrew Jarrett ’97 was also introduced at the meeting. After graduating from the University with a degree in English, Jarrett has had a long career in academia, teaching in English departments and acting as an academic administrator. Jarrett was also named the William S. Tod Professor of English at Princeton.

“I’ll always reaffirm the value of our faculty to the wonderful experiences of Princeton students and to the enterprise of scholarly research and innovation that continue to have an impact on the world,” Jarrett said.

At the start of the meeting, University Provost Deborah Prentice also introduced some changes to CPUC itself.

One addition was made to the charge to the Naming Committee. Whereas the committee always advised those considering changes to names, they are now charged to “proactively develop a list of names [and/or historical events/milestones]” to inform the University’s ... named programs, spaces, positions, or other forms of iconography,” according to a slide from the meeting.

They also decided to change the name of the Resources Committee of the Board of Trustees to the University Advancement Committee of the Board of Trustees.

CPUC was first created in 1969 with the goal of having a group of high-level administrators, students, faculty, and alumni to discuss any issues that are important to the University community.

New items can be added to the CPUC agenda by contacting someone in the executive committee, including Secretary of the Council Christine Gage.

The next CPUC meeting will be held on Nov. 8 at 4:30 p.m.

Marissa Michaels is an Associate News Editor at the ‘Prince’ who often covers town affairs and campus events. She can be reached at marissam@princeton.edu or @mmichaels22.

Emperor: I think it’ll be useful for students to access resources that aren’t within walking distance of campus CARSHARE Continued from page 3

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access to them sometimes.

“I think that seniors living offcampus or those in eating clubs or on independent meal plans will find it super useful to be able to rent a car just to run to get groceries or supplies for their clubs,” he said.

According to the Transportation and Parking Services website, cars can be found at the following locations, which are marked by Enterprise CarShare signage: - Lot 8/University Store – three vehicles - Lot 20 – six vehicles - Lawrence Apartments (near bus stop) – two vehicles - Lakeside Apartments (first floor of garage) – two vehicles

- Graduate College (at the Tower) – one vehicle New this year is the addition of two cars affiliated with the Zipcar rental company. The service is similar to Carshare, with rates starting at $9.50/hr and $79/day. Users do not need to be a princeton.edu email holder to rent but must hold either a valid U.S. driver’s license or international driver’s license. These cars can be found in the Princeton Railroad Station/Wawa parking lot next to the 15-minute meters and are marked by Zipcar signage.

Students can find more information on the service and sign up for a membership at either the Enterprise or Zipcar website.

Bailey Glenetske is a news contributor at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at baileyglenetske@princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday September 24, 2021

page 5

ON CAMPUS

Orange Key tours return to campus

By Edward Tian Senior Writer

The University has relaunched its Orange Key tours, hosting the first inperson campus tours for prospective students and parents since March 2020.

According to the Orange Key website, the three tour time slots for Monday, September 20 were all fully booked the night before, with the year’s first tour open to the public beginning at 10 a.m. The new Orange Key route started at the University Store at 36 University Place, the new home of Princeton’s Office of Admissions.

Tour guides Caroline Kirby ’23, Sakura Price ’23, and Justin Curl ’22 each led their own tour group.

As the tour group stepped out from the U-

Store toward the steps of Blair Arch, Curl noted the significance of the moment, as the first in-person tour since the start of the pandemic.

“I hope you’re as excited to be here as I am,” he shouted.

Price, who gave virtual tours during the past year, was equally enthusiastic.

“Prospective students get to actually see campus,” she said. “And you can finally see people laughing when your jokes hit.”

High school senior Erika Petterson and her father, Chad Petterson, flew in from Nashville, Tenn., to visit the University. They are combining the tour with a lacrosse tournament Erika is attending, Chad said.

“Every time, I thought

the last place would be my favorite, but it just kept on going,” Erika said, referring to both the content of the tour and the University’s renowned architecture.

Curl’s favorite part of the tour is the scenic walkway between the Architecture building and McCosh Hall. “At this part of the tour, I get to talk about the University’s undergraduate focus and availability of the professors,” Curl said.

“Giving tours always makes me excited to be at Princeton,” Price told The Daily Princetonian towards the end of her tour.

Then, a passerby shouted “Happy birthday!” at her.

It wasn’t her birthday, but the tour group congratulated her anyway.

EDWARD TIAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Caroline Kirby ’23 addresses her tour group outside Frist Campus Center.

Edward Tian is a news and features writer who experiments with data driven and alternative story for-

mat (ASF) reporting. He can be reached on twitter @edward_the6.

Student advocacy leads to inaugural Vietnamese program VIETNAMESE Continued from page 1

.............

Student-generated momentum around Vietnamese finally paid off last summer when a program coordinator at the Princeton Center for Language Study (PCLS) made contact with the Center for Language Studies at Brown and expressed Princeton students’ interest in learning Viet, according to Peeples in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

“And it just so happened that Brown had established this course sequence in Vietnamese and was able to offer some of our students an opportunity to join that class virtually,” Peeples said.

Bajaj and PCLS Director James Rankin also acknowledged the crucial role student advocacy played in facilitating the partnership that allowed for the Vietnamese course in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ They explained how cross-institutional partnerships can make courses in less-commonly taught languages more accessible to students.

“Since less-commonly-taught languages are also those that have fewer trained teachers and very small class sizes, a strategy used by institutions across the country is to share course instruction, in real time through videoconferencing, with students at other schools,” the statement noted.

Despite the advantages of telecollaborative learning, Nguyen wrote that occasional poor audio quality can make learning “difficult.”

“But the teacher has been very accommodating,” she said.

Brown’s visiting Vietnamese lecturer and professor of the course Trang Tran acknowledged the physical divide between students at Brown and Princeton as a

result of the hybrid format.

“I want my students from Brown and Princeton to be able to interact with each other more, so I’ve been reaching out to people who have experience in hybrid teaching to help me,” she said in an interview conducted in Vietnamese.

In addition, she explained how she designed her curriculum to best accommodate the students in her class.

“I’m using a new, updated textbook this year because I think it’s better suited for the Brown and Princeton students in my Intermediate Vietnamese class who are all người Mỹ gốc Việt [Vietnamese heritage speakers].”

“My students want to learn about their roots, their culture, and they want to be able to talk to their family,” Tran explained. “So I don’t just want my class to be about the language.”

Instead, Tran envisioned a more comprehensive curriculum.

“Lớp của cô...có thể nói về văn hóa, về cách cư xử, cái suy nghĩ của người Việt Nam,” she said. “The class could discuss the culture and customs of Vietnamese people.”

Nguyen cited her background as a Vietnamese American as strong motivation to pursue the language.

“Both my parents were born in Vietnam, and I would love to connect more with my Vietnamese heritage … I feel like this is a great step!” Nguyen wrote.

The chance to reconnect her students to their heritage brings Tran great joy. “Cô rất là vui,” she said, describing her students’ decision to enroll in their native tongue as “rất là quan trọng và rất là có ý nghĩa [very important and meaningful].”

“They could have chosen to learn Spanish or Chinese or any other language, but they chose to

MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Students enrolled in the Vietnamese course, which is taught live at Brown University, attend class virtually from a classroom in East Pyne. learn Vietnamese,” she explained.

The future of Vietnamese at the University is yet to be determined.

Departmental factors and level of student interest play an important role in deciding whether the Vietnamese sequence will continue into the Spring semester and whether it will expand past this academic year.

Currently, the course is housed under the Department of East Asian Studies (EAS), but department chair and professor Anna Shields explained that the possibility of offering Vietnamese studies in EAS “is not something that we have immediately on the agenda for the department.”

“Right now, our resources are very much dedicated to supporting our current languages, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean,” she said.

Shields noted logistical matters, such as translating credits from the Vietnamese course into the EAS certificate, that would “re-

quire a faculty discussion.”

“It’s very much a brand new venture, a work in progress, and we kind of want to see where it goes,” Shields said.

Peeples also emphasized Princeton students’ role in establishing a new language sequence, stating that “sustained student interest in the language sequence is also really critical.”

She notes how the progression of American Sign Language (ASL), from a stand-alone course to a credit bearing sequence, was the product of student advocacy.

“The commitment amongst students to that sequence was really demonstrated over time and through expanded offerxings that eventually made it clear that there was enough student interest to actually hire a lecturer for the purpose of continuing that instruction in a way that aligned with the university’s language requirement.”

Enthusiastic about the Vietnam-

Want to see video coverage?

Watch online videos online Visit dailyprincetonian.com/multimedia/video

ese course, Nguyen said she hoped it would become a language-bearing sequence one day.

“Being able to take a course in Vietnamese is very exciting for me because it gives me a sense of validation that the University believes this is a worthwhile opportunity, even if it is still disappointing that we have to take a course at Brown rather than have our own,” Nguyen reflected.

“I would like to continue studying Vietnamese,” she added, “and so I hope that I can fulfill my language requirement and continue further as well.”

Ngan Chiem is a junior in the Politics Department pursuing a Certificate in Creative Writing. In her free time, if she’s not cooking Viet food, Ngan enjoys covering student activism on campus.

She can be reached at nchiem@princeton.edu and on Instagram @nganstop.

page 6

The Daily Princetonian

Friday September 24, 2021

Friday September 24, 2021

Al Dente

The Daily Princetonian

page 7

By Sarah Gemmell Staff Constructor

1 5 9 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 23 26 30 31 33 34 35 37 38

41 43 44 47

49

ACROSS

Museum Many an angsty one, 50 Situation where one stereotypically can’t move forward “Man ___ Mancha” 51 Position (oneself) (1965 musical) 53 Cleaning product Gb dangerously eaten in a certain internet Post-beach-day remedy challenge Mario and Luigi, e.g.

55 Item in “Mario Kart” that Mega makes drivers invincible Some 4th of July

for several seconds decorations that move 56 Not a jump nor a skip in the wind 57 Forearm bones near Group of Norse gods 37-Across Fashioned Org. with speeches that 60 Locks beneath a halo? are commonly assigned 65 Spoken equivalent to clapping or snapping for homework Golf course ballad sung 66 S, A, B, C, D, E, or F, in a popular ranking

by Zac Efron in “High system School Musical 2” 67 Jealousy Colander, e.g.

68 A “Wicked” complexion?

Classic 80’s hairstyle 69 Very Mesozoic, for one Parts of body that have 70 “The Good ___” hinge joints DOWN Boxer Muhammad 1 Dance style S.G., e.g., for the author 2 Ex-Giants QB Manning of this puzzle Forearm bones near 3 One billion years 4 Possible shopper at 57-Across Babies R Us Varieties of an Italian 5 Like a rule-abiding dog food staple … four of which can be found at 6 Start of many a

17-, 33-, 47-, and

subscription 60-Across 7 “Get a kick out of that Spanish for chicken text!”

Sierra ___ 8 Like some chocolate collections: Abbr.

How awesome you are on a scale of 1-10 (!)

9 Our Lady of ___ (title for “She” sells them by the the Virgin Mary) seashore, in a tongue 10 Open to change twister 11 Ones below captains: Princeton University ___ Abbr.

MINI #2

12 Singer Grande, to fans 13 Roofer’s substance 18 Chinese dynasty that invented paper 22 Before, to a poet 23 Chemical found in some plastics 24 Shocking fish?

25 One with two

wombmates 27 “Hamilton” song that seems to never end?

28 Hawaii beach that’s wonderful when spelled backwards?

29 Blog feed letters 32 On the ocean 35 Separation 36 Reasons for empty

grocery store shelves 39 Containing an indirect reference 40 Protagonist with some not-so-great traits

41 Letter addenda 42 “___ get it now!”

45 Remi’s critic in the 2007’s “Ratatouille” 46 Sign of approval 48 Princeton Junction, e.g., for short 50 Sibling’s son 52 Romantic Greek muse 54 Abbr. for U.S. currency 57 Late Supreme Court Justice, familiarly 58 Pirate’s grunt 59 Daniel ___ Kim of «Lost» fame

61 Biomedical goverment org.

62 Nickname for a young Darth Vader 63 Modern way to get

pregnant: Abbr.

64 Dense, grainy loaf

The Minis MINI #3

By Bryan Boyd Staff Constructor

Scan to check your answers and try more of our puzzles online!

ACROSS

ACROSS

1 Renewable energy source #2

1 Renewable energy source #3

5 Mount ___ Hospital

6 Human energy fields

6 Remove

7 “Saturday Night Live” bits

7 Turns into liquid

8 Little piggies

8 Without purpose

9 Conclusion

1 Tense

DOWN

1 Swiftness

DOWN

2 Collectively

2 Canadian territory

3 Gross

3 Like raisins

4 Passes

4 “Darn!”

5 Match preceding the final, colloquially

5 “Inglorious Basterds” org.

HANNAH MITTLEMAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Frosh Survey The Daily Princetonian

page 8

Friday September 24, 2021

W

elcome to The Daily Princetonian’s second annual survey of first-year students. The data and stories you’ll find within these pages, compiled and verified through months of planning, analysis, and outreach, represent the participation of hundreds of students in the Great Class of 2025 and the efforts of many ‘Prince’ staffers.

Our far-reaching project seeks to better understand the intricacies of the University’s diverse student body. Though Nassau Hall publicly reports some of this demographic and academic information, other data, such as respondents’ experiences with sex and alcohol, are difficult — if not impossible — to find.

Please visit our website to explore the rest of our findings on Demographics, Academics, Lifestyle, Views, and COVID-19!

Sexual Orientation

At 27.5 percent, over one-in-four survey respondents sexually identify as something other than straight, representing a five-point increase from last year’s survey.

This represents a considerable increase over the national population, as a recent Gallup poll found that 16 percent of people born between 1997 - 2002 identify as a gender or sexual minority.

Sex

Just 28 percent of survey respondents reported having had sex before — a stark contrast to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national data, which shows that more than half of U.S. teens have had sex by age 18. Recruited athletes were more than twice as likely as non-recruits to have had sex, the ‘Prince’ survey found, with respondents who are men, have significant others, or use Tinder on a regular basis also coming in above the overall average. Religious individuals reported less sexual experience than their secular peers.

Age of First Alcohol Consumption Just over half of respondents reported experience consuming a full alcoholic beverage in a non-religious context. The median age at surveyed individuals first did so was 11th grade, though over 10 percent had already imbibed by the time they entered high school.

Legacies and those who are not receiving need-based financial aid are more likely to have drank than their peers, as were those who had had sex. 80 percent of those who have had

Friday September 24, 2021

Marijuana Use

Mask Mandates

Cancel Culture

The Daily Princetonian

page 9

New Jersey’s recent legalization of recreational marijuana likely came as exciting news to the roughly 25 percent of respondents who said they had tried marijuana recreationally.

Just 11.7 percent had smoked cigarettes or another tobacco product, but 18.8 percent had used a vape or electronic smoking device. In this respect, the incoming class are not so different from their peers: numbers reported to the ‘Prince’ are in line with the national rate of electronic smoking device use among high school students.

In contrast with the vaccine mandate, there was no clear majority opinion on a University-wide mask mandate. Opinions varied, with 40.7 percent reporting unfavorable views and 36.8 percent reporting favorable views. The University announced its present mask mandate after the survey closed.

In recent years, the digital community has grown to hold its most notable members more ruthlessly accountable, “cancelling” musicians, YouTube personalities, influences, and more in the aftermath of actions deemed controversial or inappropriate. Commentators have coined the term ‘cancel culture’ to describe such situations. Some protest the label, insisting that celebrities and other powerful figures ought to be held accountable rather than just being labelled as ‘cancelled’, while others think the culture goes too far.

The Class of 2025 seems to think the latter; roughly two thirds of respondents had unfavorable views on cancel culture.

Friday September 24, 2021

Opinion

page 10

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

To Be Known and Shouted Over AG McGee and Zachary Shevin

Managing Editors

P

rinceton’s orientation programming is packed. First-years are sorted into various small group programs, participate in dozens of events, and attend several trainings designed to help them get their bearings as college students. This year featured a new addition to the traditional programming. First-years watched a recording of a virtual “roundtable” discussion which examined a gallery entitled “To Be Known and Be Heard: Systemic Racism and Princeton University.”

In the recording, professors examined documents concerning racist moments in Princeton’s history.

In response, University professors John Londregan and Sergiu Klainerman penned an article in the New York Post criticizing the mandatory event, dubbing it “one-sided.” As small group orientation leaders, we watched the video ourselves. After reading Londregan and Klainerman’s article, we are confused as to whether they watched the same recording.

Indeed, we find their critique both misplaced and dangerous.

Londregan and Klainerman appear concerned that the video is meant to indoctrinate students and represents a threat to our universal right to free speech, a University commitment they deem “fundamental.”

Yet, the professors who participated in the recorded discussion seem committed to free-flowing discourse as well.

Classics professor Danel Padilla Peralta neatly makes the point that faculty should help students to think critically — “not with a view to habituating them into a practice of assimilation or indoctrinating them in the belief that somehow this is the best damn place of all, but in order to supply them with the tools with which they can tear down this place and make it a better one.”

To us, it seems that Londregan, Klainerman, and

Peralta all actually agree: the University should not seek to indoctrinate students. It should instead provide them with the facts and tools they need to seek the truth. Perhaps the larger issue is that Londregan and Klainerman construe truthseeking differently than the rest of us.

Their primary concern is that the video was “one-sided.” We assume they believe that a video on the University’s ties with racism must also discuss “positive” aspects of the University.

They write that “yes, Princeton President John Witherspoon owned slaves, but he was also the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence, and he helped secure ratification of the Constitution and prevent the establishment of a national church.”

And, “Yes, there were Princeton graduates who fought and died on the side of the Confederates, but there were just as many who fought to preserve the Union.”

But truth-seeking is not about trying to morally justify a slaveholder by highlighting his historical accomplishments. And it certainly isn’t about “bothsidesing” the Civil War. We should understand free speech as a tool to ensure that a multitude of ideas can exist, even the ones we don’t like. We can write this op-ed, and Londregan and Klainerman can write theirs. However, we don’t need to treat every view as legitimate, or believe there must be two redeemable sides to every story.

The professors write that they do not oppose having a frank discussion about the University’s history, “with its faults, yes, but also its glories.” But, we ask, is a video on systemic racism at the University really the place to highlight unrelated “glories”?

Neither the video, nor the project at large, are by nature opinionated. Instead, they show first-years an important, fact-based account of the University that they don’t see in the rest of the exceedingly positive orientation experience: that Princeton is not perfect, or magical, or removed from the story of American racism. Londregan and Klainerman are upset that a video on racism was “utterly one-sided” — but maybe it has to be.

Londregan and Klainerman’s op-ed would be easy enough to dismiss and ignore. But we can’t help but notice how, over the past year, many have used the buzzword of “indoctrination” to prevent us from having open and honest conversations concerning race.

Capitalizing on manufactured outrage for the sake of a political talking point, multiple states have signed vague legislation banning “critical race theory,” a practice of interrogating race and racism in society, from public school classrooms.

This has led to confusion on how educators are able to discuss race in high school classrooms. And though most of the new laws apply to K-12 education, some fear they may also affect universities.

Our University recently faced national media attention for offering a course exploring the historical roots and growth of the Black Lives Matter movement — with a scare-quoteladen Fox News headline noting: “Princeton offering ‘Black Lives Matter’ course taught by professor with ‘commitment’ to ‘critical race theory.’” Even Sen. Ted Cruz ’92 expressed alarm, tweeting, “Very sad to see my alma mater’s woke indoctrination.”

Cruz’s outrage and the broader crusade against critical race theory fly in the face of the free speech and academic freedom that the Republican Party often claims to hold dear. They essentially say: “Speak and explore freely … unless discussing racial injustice.”

This contradiction eventually plays out into the same dishonest, “bothsidesing” tactics that Londregan and Klainerman employ in their writing.

Critical race theory opponents misrepresent the scholarly framework in one breath. In the next, they demand us to find something “good” to say about slavery — as one Louisiana lawmaker did last spring.

Such dishonesty, fear tactics, and misdirections directly undermine public faith in critical race theorists before the public ever hears their actual ideas.

And in this way, the free speech of critical race theorists is directly suppressed.

Here, it is important to note — as “To Be Known and Heard” points out — that free speech is a right that has never been bestowed

equally upon everyone.

Amid a history of injustice against minority students, many voices and memories have long been pushed out of public discourse. That is why conversations like the Class of 2025 orientation event are important, even if they aren’t all-encompassing.

They force us to remember the history left out of campus brochures and Orange Key guided tours. And it’s up to us to figure out what we need to do with that knowledge.

The title of the “To Be Known and Heard” gallery comes from Michelle Obama ’85. In her autobiography, Obama writes, “There’s a power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s a grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”

The exercise of free, authentic voices can be powerful. But that power only takes root when we are willing to listen and hear the voices at hand. When we refuse to give grace by listening fully to the voices of others, especially historically marginalized voices, we make the same mistake as Londregan and Klainerman. We shout over and misrepresent voices we dislike. We seek false equivalencies rather than truth.

Suppressing facts you don’t agree with — or shoving them into a box with buzzwords — is no way to become.

AG McGee is a senior in the philosophy department from Grand Rivers, KY and a Community Action leader.

AG works on the ‘Prince’ as a Managing Editor, serves on the editorial board, and can be reached at amcgee@princeton.edu.

Zachary Shevin is a senior in the economics department from Boca Raton, Fl and a Community Action leader.

Zachary works on the ‘Prince’ as a Managing Editor, serves on the editorial board, and can be reached at zshevin@princeton.edu.

Screenshot of the To Known and Be Heard website.

This piece reflects the views of Shevin and McGee alone.

Should we hope this ‘normal’ lasts?

W

e give ourselves to the future everyday. It is our hope that as the future inches closer, our masks will be enough, our vaccines will be enough, and our trust in each other will be enough. Now, Princeton is open. Friends pull in chairs to crowded tables, professors raise voices to quiet lecture halls, and music echoes throughout weekend nights. Yet the haunting fear remains. Will this “normal” last?

In the face of uncertainty, we should embrace critical hope. While we attend a university equipped to meet the current challenges of the pandemic, we must account for dangers that linger. Yet, these responsibilities do not have to keep us from experiencing the moments we missed.

For now, the “Orange Bubble” has not popped. Contract tracing reveals no on-campus transmission and the risk assessment for our community hangs at a level of “low-tomoderate.” These successes

exist against a backdrop of Princeton’s vaccine requirements, masking policies, and an immense testing regime.

But what works today may not work tomorrow. We are distressingly aware of new variants, breakthrough cases, and far-right politics that threaten public health.

It may just be that at some arbitrary point in the coming months, by a convergence of events predictable and not, our “new normal” will slip from our grasp.

Indeed, the fact that our lives may upend at any moment has always been true. It was true before that week in 2020 when the world seemed to end. This year saw the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 and the 10th anniversary of the year my four uncles suddenly passed. The fragility of our global community and personal lives remains an unfortunate reality, the reminders of which we dread.

To accept this “essential unknowability of the world,” as Solnit writes, is not an admission of despair. It is a component of critical hope.

Hope is “not the belief that everything was, is, or will be fine.” Instead, hope is realistic, forward-looking, and constructive. By accounting “for complexities and uncertainties,” hope “invites and demands” us to influence our own future.

So what does our future hold? Will this “normal” last? We cannot know. We can, however, hope. We can accept uncertainties and still dare to influence the future.

It is uncertain if classes will remain in person; it is uncertain if we will return home; it is uncertain how many of us will contract COVID-19. Yet we can and must influence these outcomes. The wellbeing of our community depends on it.

“Engage with our new normal responsibly,” writes Assistant Opinion Editor Genrietta Churbanova in a recent column. On campus, these responsibilities present the peculiar reminder that the pandemic exists. At times, some may feel these responsibilities are inconvenient.

Masks inside. Guest restric-

tions. Testing every week.

That frustration has real roots. We want more than the “new normal” — we want normal. But these responsibilities play a crucial role in maintaining the hope that our year proceeds as planned.

We have much to do. We returned to encounter a litany of things lost: a campus of people, clubs, and classes.

Yet ambivalence remains. To attend gatherings or not, to go off-campus or not, to stay inside or not at the slightest dry throat. Caught between

David Palomino

Columnist

possibility and anxiety, one wonders when to take chances.

Nobody can answer these questions for someone else.

But as this “new normal” continues to take its first tentative steps, we might find courage in vaccines, testing, and decreasing cases. It cannot be hard times forever.

At least, one can hope.

David Palomino is a junior in the politics department from Los Angeles, Calif. He can be reached at davidap@princeton.edu.

MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

A tree in full bloom in the courtyard of Pyne Hall.

Opinion

Friday September 24, 2021

page 11

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } vol. cxlv

editor-in-chief Emma Treadway ’22 business manager Louis Aaron ’23

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 second vice president David Baumgarten ’06 secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 assistant treasurer Kavita Saini ’09

trustees Francesca Barber Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Abigail Williams ’14 Tyler Woulfe ’07 trustees ex officio Emma Treadway ’22 Louis Aaron ’23

145TH MANAGING BOARD managing editors Harsimran Makkad ’22 AG McGee ’22 Kenny Peng ’22 Zachary Shevin ’22 content strategist Omar Farah ’23 Sections listed in alphabetical order. head cartoon editors Sydney Peng ’22 Akaneh Wang ’24 associate cartoon editors Inci Karaaslan ’24 Ambri Ma ’24 head copy editors Celia Buchband ’22 Isabel Rodrigues ’23 associate copy editors Catie Parker ’23 Cecilia Zubler ’23 digital news design editor Anika Maskara ’23 associate digital news design editor Brian Tieu ’23 graphics editor Ashley Chung ’23 instagram design editor Helen So ’22 print design editor Abby Nishiwaki ’23 newsletter editor Rooya Rahin ’23 head features editor Alex Gjaja ’23 Rachel Sturley ’23 associate features editors Annabelle Duval ’23 Ellen Li ’22 Tanvi Nibhanupudi ’23 multimedia liason Mark Dodici ’22 head photo editor Candace Do ’24 head podcast editor Isabel Rodrigues ’23

associate podcast editors Jack Anderson ’23 Francesca Block ’22 Katie Heinzer ’22 head video editor Mindy Burton ’23 associte video editors Uanne Chang ’24 Daniel Drake ’24 Marko Petrovic ’24 head news editors Evelyn Doskoch ’23 Caitlin Limestahl ’23 associte news editors Bharvi Chavre ’23 Naomi Hess ’22 Marissa Michaels ’22 head opinion editor Shannon Chaffers ’22 associte opinion editors Won-Jae Chang ’24 Kristal Grant ’24 Mollika Singh ’24 head prospect editors Cameron Lee ’22 Auhjanae McGee ’23 associte prospect editors José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Aster Zhang ’24 head puzzles editors Gabriel Robare ’24 Owen Travis ’24 head sports editor Emily Philippides ’22 associte sports editors Ben Burns ’23 Sreesha Ghosh ’23

145TH BUSINESS BOARD chief technology officer Pranav Avva ’24 assistant business manager Benjamin Cai ’24 business directors Gloria Wang ’24 Shirley Ren ’24 Samantha Lee ’24 David Akpokiere ’24 lead software engineer, system architect Areeq Hasan ’24 project manager Ananya Parashar ’24 business-tech liason Anika Agarwal ’25

software engineers Rishi Mago ’23 Joanna Tang ’24 Dwaipayan Saha ’24 Roma Bhattacharjee ’25 Giao Vu Dinh ’24 Eugenie Choi ’24 Daniel Hu ’25 Kohei Sanno ’25 business associates Jasmine Zhang ’24 Jonathan Lee ’24 Caroline Zhao ’25 Chief Technology Officer Emeritus Anthony Hein ’22

Princeton must invest in more resources for trans*, queer, and femme students Kristal Grant

Associate Opinion Editor

Content Warning: This article contains mention of homophobic and misogynistic language.

I

t seems that at least once a semester, Princeton’s campus is plagued by the same conservative Christian group that has links to the Key of David Christian Center. Following last Thursday’s “demonstration,” the Pride Alliance, Princeton’s only queer advocacy student group on campus, held a reflection space.

Several students (many of whom were first-years) expressed the fear, loneliness, and grief they experienced after witnessing this hate group spout homophobic and misogynistic language, including slurs and insults.

In response to the news that several students, specifically queer and femme students, were referred to as “homos,” “whores,” and “sinners,” University Spokesperson Ben Chang explained to the ‘Prince’ that the University’s response included ensuring that Public Safety officers and “free speech facilitators” were present at the demonstration, in addition to contacting those who may have been targeted during the “demonstration” to provide them with information regarding resources. Chang also explained that in the future, the Department of Public Safety at Princeton would coordinate with the Princeton town police “in order to minimize the risk to those who have to traverse the area where the demonstration took place.”

The University decided how to proceed seemingly without input from the targeted community, and Chang never explicitly explained the “number of immediate steps” the University would be taking to support trans*, queer, and femme students during this time. This response demonstrates how the University administration remains within its bubble, releasing what amounts to useless information about its actions that have little meaningful impact.

We at the Pride Alliance are also frustrated by the University’s emphasis on “free expression” in responding to this demonstration, as highlighted by their explanation that “free expression facilitators” were present. This emphasis runs parallel to President Eisgruber’s notion of free speech, which he has used as an excuse not

to take meaningful action in past instances of racist and bigoted speech by community members. We have learned from Eisgruber’s justifications that this “freedom of speech” which the University often champions simply functions as a disguise for the protection of hate speech.

After being reminded that there are those who believe in our lack of humanity, it is heartbreaking that our University — which should be a safe space for students — supports this invalidation of our identity, by donning this cloak of “free speech.”

So what response do we want to see from the University instead? The Pride Alliance believes in an anticarceral approach to dealing with the ramifications of the “demonstration” from the conservative Christian group in the future: we do not want PSAFE or Princeton town police on campus. Policing has no place in supporting queer students, disabled students, and students of color, particularly Black students.

A more meaningful response — one that would demonstrate that “hatred expressed to any member of our community is an affront to our entire community,” as Chang stated — would be to provide queer and minority students with more resources.

Thus, the Pride Alliance demands that the University immediately prioritize the mental health and well-being of its queer and trans* students, women and femme students, and Black and Indigenous students of color. This includes but is not limited to: Hiring more therapists for queer and trans* students, women and femme students, and Black and Indigenous students of color. Having Jess Joseph — a counselor who works primarily with the Carl A. Fields Center and the Gender and Sexuality Research Center — do the amazing work they do alone, work that requires an entire staff, is exploitative, Hiring a licensed therapist specifically for the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, and Hiring a licensed therapist specifically for the Carl A. Fields Center.

The Pride Alliance demands that the University provide more funding to the understaffed and under-resourced centers and programs that already support marginalized students on campus. This includes but is not limited to: Directing more funding

to, and hiring more staff for, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, including staff explicitly dedicated to supporting trans* and non-binary students at Princeton, Directing more funding to and hiring more staff for all centers supporting minority students, including the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, the Carl A. Fields Center, and the Office of Religious Life, Expanding the Gender & Sexuality Studies program to a concentration, which includes hiring more faculty, and Expanding the Dialogue and Difference in Action orientation program.

The Pride Alliance demands that the University enact policies to make the University more inclusive of its trans*, non-binary, and genderqueer students.

This includes but is not limited to: Creating gender-inclusive restrooms on every floor of every University building and Expanding the Student Health Plan (SHP) to cover medical bills for trans* and non-binary students who may be undergoing gender affirmation surgery.

The Pride Alliance demands that the University create an emergency fund specifically for trans* and queer students or directly contribute to the Bisexual, Trans, Gay, and Lesbian Alumni Association (BTGALA) Emergency Fund.

With the unethical amount of money Princeton possesses and the unethical means by which it acquired that money, there is no reason for queer alumni to be the primary group of people donating to an emergency fund that specifically supports queer students.

The Pride Alliance would like to extend a cordial invitation to meet with University President Christopher Eisgruber at the earliest opportunity to discuss the swift implementation of our demands.

Until liberation, The Alliance.

This article was written

by Associate Opinion Editor Kristal Grant with the help of Max Jakobsen ’24 on behalf of the Pride Alliance, a student group centered around advocacy and community-building for LGBTQIA+ people at Princeton. Kristal can be reached at khgrant@princeton.edu. The views expressed by the Pride Alliance do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire LGBTQIA+ community at Princeton.

THIS PRINT ISSUE WAS DESIGNED BY Abby Nishiwaki ’23 Juliana Wojtenko ’23 Thanya Begum ’23 Dimitar Chakarov ’23 Esha Mittal ’23 Jessica Cui ’24

AND COPIED BY Isabel Rodrigues ’23

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Photo Courtesy of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center website.

Friday September 24, 2021

Opinion

page 12

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Dillion Gallagher Columnist

A

mid an international reckoning over racial justice in the summer of 2020, several hundred Princeton faculty signed a letter delineating University-wide changes. One professor offered criticism of the letter, faced serious condemnation, and then published a piece about “[surviving] cancellation at Princeton.” Without dredging up the original debate, the events surrounding the letter certainly showcase a high-profile instance of “cancel culture” on our campus.

In the wake of our return to campus this semester, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Princetonian Emma Treadway directed each of us to rethink our campus culture.

In light of this directive, cancel culture seems the ideal tradition to tear down.

We have to recognize cancel culture for how corrosive it is and understand the constructive principles that can replace it. Then, we can commit ourselves to pursuing them, despite how difficult it might be.

Although there are many understandings of the term “cancel culture,” for the purposes of this piece, it is defined as building consensus around the idea that an individual should be shamed or their reputation — professional or personal — attacked for what is perceived as offensive behavior. Cancel culture has engulfed big names in American society, from entertainment to literature, and it has become particularly salient to the nation’s political discourse.

With a working definition, it is now important to dispel some myths about the efficacy of cancel culture.

Starting with the discourse just mentioned, those on the

F*ck cancel culture

political left have to listen up: Stop thinking that cancelling people holds them accountable.

Cancel culture directly undermines both the message of tolerance you rightly uphold and the transformative policies you champion, which need broad-based support. Far from holding those it cancels accountable, cancel culture enables those conservatives who lack principle or policy to spew overtly offensive language and then decry legitimate criticism as just another failed cancellation by the politically correct left.

Cancel culture is not a substitute for accountability, mainly because it doesn’t carry any weight for those supposedly being held accountable. The reputations we build with and among our peers, friends, and colleagues are our first real contribution to Princeton.

If someone’s cancellation is successful, it rids them of that contribution and, therefore, any real stake in our community.

Employing cancel culture also creates another victim, real or imagined: the victim of cancellation, who might think their fall from grace was due to views they did not fully understand or opinions they had not fully formed (of which, no doubt, some readers will accuse this writer).

Moreover, if they happen to “survive” their cancellation and its aftereffects, they reap the (sometimes material) benefits.

At their core, these myths represent different degrees of the same problem: a lack of ownership in this community. Building a new Princeton requires cultivating this ownership again.

We have to take ownership in ourselves. Real accountability means taking responsibility for past failings in two ways. First, we have to recognize when we screw

Cartoon

up and determine if those mistakes were intentional or accidental. Second, we have to understand that the failures of others are often a reflection of our own (a famous verse about splinters and beams comes to mind).

When thinking about someone else’s behavior, we need to offer them the space to fail and the grace to heal. This is difficult but not impossible. We can validate what someone thinks or does, if not totally, insofar as it is based on a valid life experience or opinion, not on some arbitrary intention to offend us. If they have intentionally offended us, we have to lean on imperfect institutions to get justice, which only become more legitimate when we build on them.

This leads to the second level of ownership: ownership in one another. Being willing to help others understand where they’ve failed, especially when it is difficult, requires us to identify the principle which will have to guide our relationships going forward: restorative justice. We have to bring victim and offender together to effectively repair the harm done and build a path forward in what are always going to be complex and painful situations.

The final level of ownership, ownership in our community, is only possible after the first two are firmly entrenched. Cancel culture creates an ambiguous environment wherein people are afraid of anecdotal instances of unjust cancellation and so stif le honest questions and not entirely objectionable opinions. Moreover, those who have been cancelled might either throw their hands up and leave this community or mischaracterize legitimate standards as oppression or censorship, neither of which will move the campus forward.

JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

East Pyne Hall.

At this point, one might think this piece ignores or mischaracterizes the truly horrible things people have done to get themselves cancelled. The urge is powerful to throw someone under the bus for crossing the line.

But this doesn’t mean cancellation is the right way to deal with these sometimes dangerous viewpoints or the people that espouse them.

Freedom of expression does not and should not mean a freedom from consequence, even if the extent of those consequences is social or relational. If you swear at the dinner table, don’t expect Mom and Dad to be happy; but Mom and Dad don’t kick you out of the house either.

This piece is also not some naive attempt to just get everyone talking again. There are real problems on this campus and in this country that have to be addressed head on. The norms of inclusivity we’ve built here at Princeton are paramount to our community and need to be respected. I simply argue that these norms should be extended to those viewpoints that make us most uncomfortable because viewpoints in general should not

Free Food Listserv

By Sandy Lee, Staff Cartoonist

Complexities of the Mind

By Sierra Stern, Staff Cartoonist

decide our comfort. We are made comfortable by building a loving community that effectively distinguishes between a painful albeit honest mistake and threatening, careless behavior. Furthermore, we get to negotiate and set the standards for the distinctions between these two things — after we can be sure we will take each other and our community seriously.

Moving cancel culture off our campus may seem trivial to some, nearly impossible to others. Regardless, it is essential. Reuniting and reinvigorating Princeton will send a clear message that the divisions in communities around our country are not final. Only eight months since domestic terrorists stormed the Capitol, as sitting members of Congress hint at rigged elections and civil war, it is clear that we need to learn how to fight and make up again.

So f*ck cancel culture, or let the fighting begin.

Dillion Gallagher is a junior concentrating in the School of Public and International Affairs. He can be reached at dilliong@princeton.edu.

Friday September 24, 2021

The Daily Princetonian

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By Paige Min, Staff Cartoonist

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Friday September 24, 2021

ARTS & CULTURE

Only human: Reflections from a pre-med in a pandemic

By Anika Buch | Assistant News Editor

The following is a guest contribution. If you would like to see your piece published by The Prospect, please write to us at prospect@dailyprincetonian.com.

Long before COVID-19, I knew I wanted to be a doctor.

I always cherished the idea of serving others, and practicing medicine seemed — and still seems — like the most human and empathetic of all means of service. It relies so profoundly on human connection, an understanding of the human condition, and a commitment to alleviating human suffering.

This notion was illuminated for me in March 2020 as I watched doctors become much more than the healers in white coats providing diagnoses. I watched as they became the last masked faces many saw, the last muffled voices many heard, and the last gloved hands many held. Here were doctors moved to tears by the horrific sights before them. I had always seen doctors as pillars of science and logic, front and center, but now I saw them as people moved to tears by the sights before their eyes. Here were doctors, and they were just as human, just as mortal, as the rest of us. They were people. People who braved their fears to come to work every day and risk their lives in the endeavor of possibly saving one.

To say I was in awe would be the understatement of the year. And it was then — speaking to doctors, watching the news constantly — that I understood the true humanity of medicine. Behind every masked face is a comforting smile, that every trembling gloved hand is a hand to hold, that inside every lab coat is a beating heart, that within each scrub cap is a mind racing with thoughts of “What more can I do?”

It’s tempting to look at medicine and immediately think of anatomy and physiology. COVID-19 spreads due to respiratory droplets. Symptoms, if symptomatic, include a loss of smell and taste, a fever, fatigue, dif-

ficulty breathing, and more. The hypothalamus cannot regulate body temperature leading to fever. The lungs fill with fluid, making it difficult to breathe.

What this look at medicine misses is also what is so intrinsic to its nature: empathy. In April 2020, I would turn on CNN and listen to health professionals speaking after a 24- or 48-hour shift in the ER. “What was it like?” I would ask myself, “to be the last hand a patient holds? To be the last masked face they see? To hold so many hands in a day and return home only to risk everything again the next day?” I found myself choking up as I asked myself these questions, much like those I was watching.

I vividly recall watching a nurse break down on national television while answering these exact questions. I sat on my couch, feeling so utterly helpless. I

kept the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker open and watched as the red dots increased in size and magnitude.

But what the red dots on the tracker would never capture was what I was watching before my eyes. And in doing so, I understood that case counts and mortality rates — numbers — only take us so far in understanding a situation. I hold a deep appreciation for journalism during the pandemic for telling the stories that numbers can never tell. The story of a doctor being forced to choose which life to save, the story of a doctor being petrified of bringing COVID-19 back to those they love, the story of a doctor doing all they could and nothing being enough. These are stories that numbers and graphs can never tell, and yet, stories that are so intrinsic to an understanding of our shared humanity.

When I tell people I want to be a doctor, most of the responses I get focus on the clinical and scientific aspects of the job. I’m keenly aware of the fact that I’m viewed as one of those pillars of science and logic: someone who is simply providing the next diagnosis, seeing the next patient, and filling out the next chart. But as I’ve learned from this pandemic, it is the resilience, dedication, and paramount concern for the greater good that keeps that pillar standing strong.

I admire the vulnerability doctors show as I have learned to synonymize such vulnerability with great strength. It’s not easy to lose patients day after day due to the same malady, bereft of a cure. It’s even harder to keep going, to keep fighting the good fight in the name of possibly saving a life. Doctors are only human. But amid all that they are, that’s the most important thing they can possibly be.

Anika Buch is a sophomore concentrating in molecular biology. She can be reached at ambuch@princeton.edu. Buch is also an Assistant News Editor for the ‘Prince’.

INCI KARAASLAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

My night at Terrace watching Sam Spector ’24 and the Degenerates

By Gabriel Robare | Senior Writer

Written live as Sam Spector ’24 performed during one of the first nights out open to all students. Story edited lightly for clarity.

9:50 p.m. — We arrive early — embarrassingly early. Doors open at 10. We’re stranded outside with a feeling of not belonging. A bouncer with a cigar stands outside. The crowd collects. Suspicious onlookers peer down from Terrace Club’s second-floor window. They drink something from a mug. The opening is moved to 10:30 p.m. The news spreads through

the throng. The smell of marijuana is palpable.

10:05 p.m. — Cigarettes mingle with the weed as shouting from upstairs begins.

I’m not sure what they yell at us, but they’re yelling something.

10:17 p.m. — We enter — 10:30 was a lie, too. We line up to have our PUIDs checked.

The bouncers seem confused. Drums bang inside.

10:21 p.m. — Punk rock sounds like it always has: loud, sweaty, mean, but a little

hopeful. The band starts its soundcheck with what sounds like a cover, but I can’t be sure. Spector’s hair falls over her face, covering everything but the microphone — the only mask in the joint.

10:25 p.m. — Nina Mae Green ’23, the bassist, sports what looks like a sweet Fender Jazz Bass, looking every bit like 2021’s Jaco Pastorious. The guitarist, Jeremy Yun ’25, plays what seems to be a Gibson with massive pickups that he’s strumming gratuSee TERRACE page 15

HOPE PERRY / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Sam Spector and the Degenerates perform at Terrace Club.

Friday September 24, 2021

The Daily Princetonian

page 15

A diary of a night on the Street TERRACE

Continued from page 14

.............

itously. It’s screaming. The keyboardist, Ed Horan ’22, I recognize from my poetry seminar. He’s wearing socks and crocs and a fedora. This is college after all. He tries out a patch on his keyboard that sounds like Europe’s “The Final Countdown.” The drummer, Connor Belcastro ’24, looks like a frat boy’s frat boy. His hat’s on backwards, but his hands are precise and not too heavy.

10:36 p.m. — I use Terrace’s shockingly clean and empty bathroom. I round the corner back into the hall as the band is still soundchecking: I hear the opening strains of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Brutal.” They know their audience. It stops after three chords. Sound still isn’t checked.

10:44 p.m. — Still no music. Non-members are supposedly removed from Terrace at midnight. We’re still outsiders here, and it’s real hot. Doubts percolate.

10:48 p.m. — I look around at the walls: wood paneling and a fireplace once handsome have been painted over, generations of students trying to throw off the one before. Rainbows cover everything.

10:54 p.m. — The lights go off. People scream and pack in. Spector’s got a leather jacket now. The guitarist sips a San Pellegrino. He strums gratuitously — haven’t they been soundchecking for an hour? The band takes videos from the stage.

“I haven’t played in front of a crowd this big in two years,” Spector says. “As a musician, I’ve been doing this since I was fourteen. That’s pretty fucking weird. Can I take a selfie with you?” The drummer points two hands to the sky like he’s playing Live Aid. The first song, called “Scalding,” was written during quarantine. A drum fill opens it up. The song’s got all the keyboards of Eurythmics and the guitar of a Nirvana B-side cut. Spector’s yelling, playing the crowd and her bandmates.

She’s really trying. But something’s missing — we don’t feel comfortable yet, band or audience.

11:01 p.m. — “This next one’s called ‘Flames.’ It’s on my first EP that I wrote when I was a senior in high school. It’s about a stupid boy,” Spector says. This track is better: the band melds together, with timed hits and a killer key change.

Spector has one of those voices that, for one reason or another, you can’t stop listening to. It’s not opera, but you don’t see

Terrace fill up for “O mio babbino caro.”

11:04 p.m. — They begin “Dear Maria, Count Me In” by All Time Low. Damn it, you can’t help but dance. Spector’s voice matches Alex Gaskarth’s in the original: a calculated democratic rasp, a Midwest nasal twang. Near the stage, someone dumps a clear liquid in their mouth. You can smell the weed here — not as strong as it was outside, though. I’m slowly nudged back by people crowding the stage.

11:08 p.m. — Spector skillfully takes over on bass to begin “Personal.” The bassline tries real hard to be cool, to cut the line between Jack White and Gorillaz — it just barely splits the difference. The guitar solo is a delightful splash in the face, if a little canned. Someone holds up a crushed La Croix can near the stage.

11:12 p.m. — “Terrible Sunday” is slow rock pop. Spector’s shredding voice wasn’t built for ballads, but she’s making a valiant effort. The twangy piano recalls The Grateful Dead, but the bluesy twang of her voice lands it somewhere closer to country. The song’s an acoustic guitar away from really working. It’s certainly got three chords and the truth, though.

11:16 p.m. — I’m sweating in all sorts of places, and somehow the bassist’s makeup still shines. It’s a work of alchemy. Next is “Heather” by Conan Gray. They’re going emo for this one: their happy place. I haven’t heard Spector’s voice sound satisfied yet. She sounds mildly annoyed: Why’d you crash her party?

11:17 p.m. — I notice no phones. No one’s taking videos. Who’s here for clout? Your friends are all here too. No one’s here to show off. We’re just here.

11:19 p.m. — The band’s cover of “New Perspective” by Panic! at the Disco piles punk on punk. But its slower tempo and tonic bass makes it feel comfortable. We’re settled in. We belong here, for now, together. The guitar solo is adventurous, searching, confident. Comfortable, we branch to new places.

11:24 p.m. — They begin a tune called “Machiavelli” that sounds like a Pearl Jam track. It’s slow and sexy. When Eddie Vedder moans over heavy backing, it gets boring; when Spector does it, it thrillingly feels like she’s letting you in on a secret.

11:26 p.m. — The crowd’s thinned at the back, so I slide up the side. Closer up, I see the drummer shirtless and the guitarist dripping. The drummer is utilitarian and precise: he looks like a workhorse back there. The guitarist, at first glance, just

looks happy to be there. Looking at him further, it seems he’s the soul of the band.

Not only are these songs guitar-driven without exception — Yun controls the emotive force of the set. A longer guitar solo in this song lets him show off his expressive skills. This might be the best song so far. I slide far enough up that I’m next to an open window, and my sweat cools. I like it here.

11:30 p.m. — The band tears into “I’m Not Okay” by My Chemical Romance. Yun is finally allowed to do some complex rhythm work and excels. I dance. Two bold ones in the audience are on someone’s shoulders, looking tentative. Their nervous swaying seems to ask, “Are we allowed to do this?”

11:36 p.m. — I wanted a metaphor here: I wanted this to be the moment when it all felt back to “normal,” whatever that means. It doesn’t. We’re all in a club. The band is pretty good. The people are yelling. They have masks on their wrists. But there’s no metaphor here. There’s only a band, a night, a load of sweat. There’s nothing special about it. And that’s probably the most special part. There’s no new normal — there’s never been normal at all. Times change. But this — this is just tonight.

11:39 p.m. — The encore is “The Anthem”

by Good Charlotte. We’re once again back to the emo wheelhouse. The keyboardist shreds this one — they should’ve let him play around earlier. The drummer leans into his ride cymbal. The guitarist stays low: he’s our best friend we can always count on. The crowd yells out one more time. “I don’t ever wanna be like you / I don’t wanna do the things you do,” Spector screams. This is their best track — maybe because it’s their last. The set ends. We shuffle toward the door. Less than an hour felt like a lifetime. What was this?

12:21 a.m. — What happened between 11:39 p.m. and 12:21 a.m., well, I plead the fifth. Some fluids get dumped on me. It’s time to go. I emerge into the cool night.

Are we back? I’m not sure. But are we here?

I’ve never been more sure of anything. We are here, we are here, we are here.

Gabriel Robare is a Senior Writer for The Prospect, co-Head Editor of the Puzzles section, and a Contributing News Writer at the ‘Prince,’ who often covers literature and the self. He can be reached at grobare@princeton.edu, and on Instagram and Twitter at @gabrielrobare. He previously served as an Associate Sports Editor.

News.

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Sports.

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Friday September 24, 2021

Sports

page 16

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } FOOTBALL

Princeton football cruises against Lehigh, opening season with a 32–0 win

By Wilson Conn

Staff Sports Writer

In their first game since November 2019, Princeton football dominated defensively en route to a 32–0 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, PA. “We moved the ball as well as we ever moved it for a first game,” Head Coach Bob Surace told Princeton Athletics. “I also

love how the defense ran to the ball. It was the fastest we’ve played and best we’ve tackled for a first game in a long time.”

The Tigers started off the game strong, marching 75 yards down the field on their first drive, with senior running back Collin Eaddy scampering in from 13 yards out to pick up the first score of the game.

Princeton held Lehigh in

check offensively, and a 34-yard pass from senior quarterback Cole Smith to junior wide receiver Andrei Iosivas gave the Tigers a 13–0 lead at the end of quarter one.

Lehigh’s defense held strong in the second quarter, stopping Princeton from scoring touchdowns on multiple occasions. The Tigers led 16–0 at the half thanks to a field goal from first-year kicker Jeffrey Sexton.

In the third quarter, the offense got hot again, as 2019 All-Ivy second-team receiver senior Jacob Birmelin took a short pass from Smith and weaved through the Mountain Hawks’ defense for a 42-yard score. Smith then launched a 52-yard bomb to Iosivas for Iosivas’ second touchdown of the game.

After stopping Lehigh again defensively, the Tigers bit off

PRINCETONFTBL / INSTAGRAM

Senior Jacob Birmelin cruises into the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown.

big chunks of yardage moving down the field, but were again stopped in the red zone and were forced to kick a field goal.

At the end of three, the Tigers had doubled their halftime advantage, leading 32–0.

The game slowed down in the fourth quarter, with both teams threatening to score but neither doing so. The 32–0 win gives the Tigers a 1–0 start to their season. Lehigh drops to 0–3 in their season, now having lost nine games straight over the course of the last three seasons with their last win back in September 2019.

Statistical leaders for the Tigers included Smith, who went 30/41 for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Eaddy had 16 carries for 70 yards and a score, while Birmelin hauled in eight passes for 139 yards and a touchdown of his own. Iosivas had four catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

The game was the 61st alltime meeting between the schools. Princeton now leads the all-time series 42–17–2 against Lehigh.

This Saturday, the Tigers will return home to Powers Field for a matchup with the Stetson Hatters. Ivy League play will begin the following weekend when the Tigers host Columbia.

Wilson Conn is a staff writer for the ‘Prince’ sports section. He can be reached at wconn@princeton.edu or on twitter at @wilson_conn.

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