September 19, 2018

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Wednesday September 19, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 69

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STUDENT LIFE

ON CAMPUS

MARCIA BROWN :: PRINCETONIAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

An aerial view of Morrison Hall, where ODUS, the team behind Portfolium’s kickoff, is housed.

COURTESY OF WIKICOMMONS

Sir David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates has been selected as the architect for the new Princeton University Art Museum.

Portfolium piloted as student New art museum leadership profile program architect selected

By Albert Jiang Contributor

On Aug. 28, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students announced a partnership with Portfolium, a professional social networking platform that allows undergraduates to create an online co-curricular and extracurricular profile within the University community. The profiles were made available to all sophomores, juniors, and seniors the following day.

As of Monday afternoon, over 685 students have already registered and created an account.

The service will be rolled out to first-years sometime this week.

According to Claire Pinciaro

’13, the Leadership Program Coordinator at ODUS, this centralized digital platform can track co-curricular involvements and allow individuals to “reflect upon experiences outside of the classroom, and search and connect with other Princeton students to learn more about the myriad co-curricular opportunities that are available at Princeton.”

With the verified Princeton Leadership Profile to which all undergraduates are granted access, students will join a network where only currently enrolled University undergraduate students can view each other’s accounts. Through this, students will be able to certify and verify

updated lists of involvement in various student organizations.

“One of the best parts of Princeton is that there is a robust network as an undergraduate [and as] an alum,” said Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne.

“However, there is no organized way of knowing [all the people] in dance groups and ensembles,” he pointed out.

“There’s [more] than just the president and treasurer. We think that there is value within the network to learn more about [groups] and the people,” he said.

This online platform and directory has been something that students have expressed an See PORTFOLIUM page 5

STUDENT LIFE

By Isabel Ting Assistant News Editor

Sir David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates was chosen as the design architect for the new University Art Museum, the University announced in a statement on Tuesday. Adjaye will collaborate with architects from Cooper Robertson, an award-winning firm based in New York City, on the project.

The new museum will be located on the museum’s current site and will provide more space for the museum’s encyclopedic collections, special exhi-

bitions, and object-study classrooms, as well as office space for museum staff.

Erin Firestone, manager of marketing and public relations at the Art Museum, explained that the architect selection was made by a committee chaired by President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, which included broad University representation. University architect Ron McCoy GS ’80 and museum director James Steward led the selection process. “[Adjaye] is a very impressive architect that had See MUSEUM page 3

ON CAMPUS

Student veterans chosen for selective leadership conference

Pictured from left to right: Thaddeus Whelan, Brendan O’Hara, and Jake Sawtelle.

By Allie Spensley Associate News Editor

Student veterans Jake Sawtelle ’21 and Brendan O’Hara ’21 have been selected to attend the Student Veterans of America Leadership Institute at the Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. This honor is annually extended to 104 of the best chapter leaders of SVA, a nonprofit coalition of student

In Opinion

veteran groups on college campuses throughout the world.

“Student Veterans of America is the number one veteran advocacy program for students in higher education,” O’Hara explained. “They put on a bunch of different programs for advocacy and networking.”

Sawtelle and O’Hara will travel to D.C. on Sept. 20 for the three-day leadership immersion program, where they will

A guest contributor respond’s to assistant editor Sam Aftel’s free speech argument and assistant editor Dora Zhao addresses the problem with Princeton’s “race-tothe-bottom” environment.

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JOE KAWALEC :: PRINCETONIAN CONTRIBUTOR

The meadow grasses and flowering plants, now in place, define paths and provide a way to experience the seasons.

Firestone garden, named for Maclean House slave, opens

By Joe Kawalec Contributor

As renovations continue in Firestone Library, the construction of the Betsey Stockton Garden between Firestone and Nassau Street is the newest addition to the exterior of the University’s main library.

The garden was named in April 2018 after Betsey

Today on Campus 6:00 p.m.: Living the Gita - a contemporary Bhagavad Gita Study Group led by Vineet Chander, Hindu Chaplain.

Murray-Dodge 104

Stockton, a slave in Maclean House in the early 1800s, as part of a campus initiative to recognize and honor “individuals who would bring a more diverse presence to the campus.”

This garden is considered a “green roof” in the sense that it is above the subterranean B and See GARDEN page 2

WEATHER

COURTESY OF TYLER EDDY

receive mentorship and meet with guest speakers from top positions in government, higher education, veteran organizations, and business. The goal of the Institute is to prepare highachieving student veterans to engage with their communities and lead effectively through an increased understanding of their personal values.

Graduates of the Institute also gain ongoing support from a network of mentors and student veterans during the rest of their academic life and the beginning of their careers.

SVA Chapter leaders are selected to attend the Institute based on personal characteristics including a propensity for learning and a collaborative mentality. This year’s cohort is the most diverse in the Institute’s seven-year history: thirty percent are women, compared to twenty-six percent of all student veterans, and sixteen percent in the U.S. Armed Forces.

It is also the most academically successful, representing fields from business to astrophysics.

Sawtelle, from Lincoln, Nebraska, is a potential politics major and an army Explosive Ordinance Disposal veteran.

O’Hara, a Navy veteran from Somers Point, New Jersey, is also a prospective politics major.

See VETERANS page 3

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T HE DA ILY

Friedman: It looks like a great place to catch up with friends, meet, hang out GARDEN Continued from page 1

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Wednesday September 19, 2018

C floors of Firestone that have existed since 1971 and 1988, respectively. It is populated by a variety of plants, including cherry blossom trees, that in turn attract birds and pollinating insects. Adirondack chairs are interspersed throughout “nodes,” grass spaces which are meant for public use. “[The garden] is meant to be a new front door to the town from the University,” said Lorine Murray-Mechini, the current project manager of the Firestone Library Renovation Project. “I think it really encourages the community to come onto campus, and having the seating also encourages people to stay, relax, enjoy nature.”

Murray-Mechini is seeing the Firestone renovation through to its completion. She took over from Jim Wallace, a project manager for the Office of Capital Projects, back in March.

The comprehensive renovations included replacing the waterproofing systems above the B and C floors, which allowed the University landscaper to “rethink the landscape.”

“It was seen as an opportunity to enhance the landscape and encourage informal use of the area in ways that hadn’t been considered in the past,” Wallace said, referring to the transformation of the lawn cover into the public garden.

Compared to the mowed lawn cover, the meadow grasses and f lowering plants now in place define paths and provide a way to experience the seasons, Wallace explained.

Another important feature of the garden is a large sculpture by Louise Nevelson titled “Atmosphere and Environment X,” which was present before the renovations and had to be accommodated throughout the restoration process. It was moved to a temporary location for a year and then conserved and restored to its original

site.

The sculpture is part of the John B. Putnam, Jr. Memorial Collection. According to Wallace, its enhanced presentation was a priority.

“I think this is a nice addition, especially because it’s on Nassau and because it makes the University look a lot better than if there were simply fences around Firestone,” said David Friedman ’20.

“It used to be just a pit and piles of dirt and I didn’t even want to walk around here, but this makes it look a lot nicer.”

A white rope previously blocked the pathways into the public garden, in order to allow the lawn and meadow time to establish themselves before people entered the garden, Murray-Mechini explained.

Now, the rope is only blocking the native wildflowers and grasses growing in the soil on the sides of the path.

“It looks like a great place to catch up with friends, meet and hang out,” Friedman said.

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Wednesday September 19, 2018

Sawtelle: You can serve and help your community VETERANS Continued from page 1

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Sawtelle and O’Hara learned about the program from Keith Shaw, the University’s Director of Transfer, Veteran, and NonTraditional Student Programs.

To apply, they submitted resumes, essays, and a one-minute video about their military and college experience.

Both Sawtelle and O’Hara have been involved in veteran advocacy work, including working with three other undergraduate veterans to create the University’s SVA chapter last year. Through this volunteer organization, they perform community service off-campus and hope to create a resource for future generations of veterans at the University.

The University’s chapter had both a service and a social function, helping veteran students to connect on campus, O’Hara explained.

“We created it to continue the whole brotherhood thing,” Sawtelle said. “You still have a unit, you can also serve and help your community and have more of a purpose.”

This year, the SVA chap-

Firestone: Adjaye is an impressive architect that had a vision like no other MUSEUM Continued from page 1

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a vision like none of the other candidates,” Firestone said. “His background and most recent projects were at a level of expertise and success that matched with the project.”

Adjaye described the significance of the project in the University’s statement.

“Defining a powerful center of cultural gravity at the heart of one of the greatest universities in the world, the new Princeton University Art Museum building will engage with its campus and vibrant communities through a new synthesis of art, learning and social opportunities,” Adjaye said.

His recent projects include designing the central pavilion and main exhibition spaces for the 56th Venice Art Biennale.

In September of 2016, his largest project to date, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The New York Times called the museum’s inauguration was called “the cultural event of the year.”

Adjaye was knighted

by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017. The same year, he was recognized as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.

He also served a visiting professor at the University School of Architecture from 2008 to 2010.

According to Firestone, the University Art Museum will close for construction in 2020 for three years.

She explained that once a design is achieved, projections for the project deadlines will become clearer.

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ter includes six new transfer students, bringing the total group’s membership up to eleven, O’Hara said.

Last year, Sawtelle also represented the University at a conference for Service to School, an organization that helps veterans apply to higher education programs and transition from military to university life.

“It was for people who hadn’t applied to college yet or hadn’t applied to transfer yet,” Sawtelle explained. “I sat on a panel and answered questions about getting into Princeton.”

O’Hara added that his goal for his experience at the Institute is to learn as much as he can.

“I know they have leaders in both major parties coming to speak, they have large business partners like Prudential there to offer advice and help you establish yourself as a leader going forward,” he said.

Sawtelle and O’Hara both hope to implement lessons from the Institute into their work with SVA and other campus organizations that they are a part of, such as the rugby and wrestling teams.

The ‘Prince’ will continue coverage of Sawtelle and O’Hara’s experience.

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Opinion

Wednesday September 19, 2018

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Benefits of doing nothing work. We exalt our peers who can manage a fivecourse schedule all while being the president of four different clubs on campus.

On the other hand, it seems unfathomable for us to take a night off to relax or spend time with friends.

Instead, “hanging out” turns into study session at Firestone and genuine human interaction becomes condensed into grabbing meals between classes.

Not being busy equates to something being wrong, and the concept of taking time away from work can seem sinful.

Students are pressured by their peers to constantly be doing schoolwork, participating in extracurriculars, or applying for internships and jobs, just for the sake of seeming busy. This comes at the cost of time that could be taken for self-care.

Claiming to be overworked has become a cultural staple at Princeton.

It is indicative of a larger

Dora Zhao

Assistant Opinion Editor

B

eing at Princeton can feel like a race to the bottom. If you slept three hours last night, the person next to you hasn’t slept in two days. If you have two finals, someone else has four and a paper.

Peer institutions like Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania have problems with the duck syndrome or Penn Face, respectively — similar phenomena that encourage students to appear to be unstressed while actually grappling with a lot of work. The duck appears calm from the surface, but underwater, it is struggling to stay afloat. It makes small mistakes feel like big failures and discourages students from seeking out mental health resources when needed.

But Princeton students suffer the opposite. Rather than putting on a mask of nonchalance, it can be a constant competition to see who is the most stressed, the most strungout, or the most sleepdeprived. Even though the duck syndrome places strains on students, the opposite, Princeton’s problem, is not the solution either.

Of course, Princeton is difficult: academically, socially, and mentally.

However, the claims of being overworked come more from the glorification of the culture rather than reality. The constant need to aggrandize our stress can be just as detrimental for mental health.

This negative mentality encourages students to demonize any activities that fall outside the category of

Akhil Rajasekar

societal trend in which busyness has become a status symbol because work is equated with success and importance. To combat this problem, Princeton students need to take steps to shift the University’s culture.

While it would be impossible to convince students to stop doing their coursework and drop out of their extracurriculars, we need to start by prioritizing our own mental health just as much as we prioritize work.

Focusing more on mental health, specifically championing self-care, helps shift our attitudes around work because it is a positive selfish activity.

Instead of being externally motivated to be busy for the show of others, selfcare is solely for yourself.

Encouraging students to practice self-care creates a counter-narrative to the unhealthy association we have between being overworked and achieving.

Tashi Treadway ’19 ..................................................

Response to Aftel

Guest Contributor

I

n an op-ed yesterday, my fellow student Sam Aftel ’19 condemned the weaponization of campus free speech to sow what he perceives as hatred and division. Noble goals, to be sure, but I must dissent quite strongly from much of what he says.

For the purposes of this response, I leave aside the constitutional questions implicated by the sequence of Berkeley incidents that he cites. Instead, I will focus on the broader issue of campus speech at private universities like Princeton that are not legally or constitutionally bound to tolerate dissenting speech in quite the same manner as are public institutions like Berkeley.

I take significant issue with Aftel’s account on two fundamental points: his employment of the “cruelty and hatred” standard and the prescription he proffers to enforce it. Barring a few core issues, definitions of cruelty or hatred are politically motivated and ambiguous matters of mind.

How, precisely, is one to police the standard of hatred, bigotry, or cruelty or distinguish, in any meaningful capacity, between honest political dissent and speech that “targets people for…basic humanity”? By his standard of hate speech, which he offers but passingly, is it hate speech to debate whether the Constitution indeed grants

birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment?

What about views that strongly denounce family-based immigration, call for unprovoked war, condemn Roe v. Wade, or oppose universal, governmentsponsored healthcare, which many believe to be a matter of “basic humanity”? What of speeches that call on citizens to tear down their capitalist oppressors or those that insist on the “violence” of white privilege? It is easy to claim that these hotly contested political positions are non-substantive positions of hatred — harder, it is, to justify that Aftel’s standard of hatred has been applied objectively and from a politically detached, morally transcendent plane of reasoning.

In case it was not sufficiently clear, I will readily admit that I speak from a conservative vantage point. As one whose political view is outnumbered 30:1 at this university, I vigorously oppose arbitrary standards enforced by political mobs merely because they might construe a dissenting view as fundamentally driven by hatred or malicious intent.

That is simply an unsustainable environment in which to conduct a university education centered on free, fearless, and even uncomfortable inquiry.

Now, like many conservatives, I find Milo Yiannopoulos to be a vapid intellectual force who profits solely from the notoriety of his tedious personality. I understand this

and concur with Aftel on as much. But unlike Aftel, I never assume that I speak for more than myself and, if a group of students truly wants to hear him speak on campus, it is hardly practicable for me to satisfactorily apply my own standards of intellectuality or mens rea standards of malice.

As for the special concern of exposing undocumented students, a specifically tailored judicial enjoinment achieved through due process would alleviate most concerns in that department. Even accounting for constitutional and statutory provisions, a decent lawyer would have been able to make a good case to prevent Yiannopoulos from divulging the contents of that list — if indeed his claim of its existence was true and not merely a provocative device like the remainder of his work so clearly is.

I will not dwell on, but briefly point out, Aftel’s cherry picking instances of “campus free speech strife” to suit his narrative. Even by his fairly arbitrary standards, the events at Evergreen State University and Middlebury College hardly warranted the mob responses they received.

Finally, the question of what to do. I claim above that neither speech nor its contents ought to be subject to political approval, subjective and undefinable standards, or the ability to satisfy a local mob.

Instead, I offer this: the answer

To do this, there needs to be an emphasis on carving out chunks of time, whether it is twenty minutes or two hours, for selfcare. The definition of self-care varies between people depending on what relaxes them. Regardless of its form, it gives people the opportunity to step back from the pressures of Princeton.

Furthermore, this has to be done in a deliberate manner. The discourse around “self-care” tends to be nebulous. However, for it to be effective, it requires conscious choice on students’ end. This can mean physically blocking out time on the calendar or setting a strict bedtime each night.

This transition from constantly being busy to doing nothing is uncomfortable. But rather than viewing this as wasted time to do work, it should be framed as a valuable chance to recharge. The culture of busyness at Princeton can lead to students growing jaded and eventually burning out.

Subjects they once found intellectually stimulating and enjoyable are now only a source of stress. Breaks from work actually end up helping students become more productive.

Even though Princeton’s work culture seems ingrained into the school, it is possible to change it for the sake of the students’ mental health. Small adjustments that start on the individual level can affect positive change schoolwide. So, as the new semester begins and course loads begin to quickly overwhelm us, the most important thing is to take time to do nothing.

Dora Zhao is an Editorial Assistant and a sophomore from Newtown, Pa. She can be reached at dorothyzhao@ princeton.edu.

to undesirable speech is not censorship. It is more speech.

In other words, do not drown them out with screams — do so with ideas. Aftel presents the cancellation of provocative events as the best-case scenario. But is it really so? Pull their platforms today and they will find three more by daybreak. Worse still, they might come upon a stage with none to challenge them and all to follow. But destroy their ideas today in the public eye and their intellectual legitimacy will dissipate instantaneously.

If we wish to defeat what we believe to be hate speech and repugnant ideas in any manner of permanence, it is insufficient and counterproductive to merely prevent an espouser of such views from speaking here. We must draw them out to the public square and ensure that, once we are done with their ideas, they are left with nothing to say. So, don’t prevent them from taking the stage. Get on there with them.

Podiums and microphones are fairly unlimited resources in this country. Deeply-considered and well-defended positions, however, are in exceedingly short supply. Destroy and discredit their bad ideas today, and all the platforms in the world cannot save them.

I will end on a note of general agreement. I join Aftel in urging the Class of 2022 to “refrain from exploiting free speech as a mechanism of cruelty and hatred.” But, at the end of the

vol. cxlii

editor-in-chief

Marcia Brown ’19 business manager

Ryan Gizzie ’19

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 Kathleen Crown William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 John Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Kathleen Kiely ’77 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Lisa Belkin ‘82 Francesca Barber trustees emeriti Gregory L. Diskant ’70 Jerry Raymond ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Annalyn Swan ’73

142ND MANAGING BOARD managing editors Isabel Hsu ’19 Sam Parsons ’19 head news editor Claire Thornton ’19 associate news editors Allie Spensley ’20 Audrey Spensley ’20 Ariel Chen ’20 Ivy Truong ’21 associate news and film editor Sarah Warman Hirschfield ’20 head opinion editor Emily Erdos ’19 associate opinion editors Jon Ort ’21 Cy Watsky ’21 head sports editors David Xin ’19 Chris Murphy ’20 associate sports editors Miranda Hasty ’19 Jack Graham ’20 associate street editors Danielle Hoffman ’20 Lyric Perot ’20 digital operations manager Sarah Bowen ’20 chief copy editors Marina Latif ’19 Arthur Mateos ’19 Catherine Benedict ’20 head design editor Rachel Brill ’19 cartoons editor Tashi Treadway ’19 head photo editor Risa Gelles-Watnick ’21

NIGHT STAFF copy Kaitlyn Bolin ’21 design Quinn Donohue ’20 Ava Jiang ’21

day, the only legitimate judge in most matters of thought and speech is yourself. Never give in to hatred or the desire to meaninglessly incite. Speak well, speak freely, and speak substance. Strengthen your positions, not your provocations, and ensure that your ideas make their strongest case for themselves. Try to win people to your view, not enrage those all around. But, above all, never let intimidation or fear dictate to you the terms of your inquiry. Stand up for yourself but always stand up for what you believe is right.

Akhil Rajasekar is a sophomore from Bethel Park, Pa. He can be reached at akhilr@princeton. edu.

Wednesday September 19, 2018

Pinciaro: Leadership is not just about a title PORTFOLIUM Continued from page 1

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interest in as early as 2011. Although many other schools offer co-curricular and extracurricular transcripts, the University wanted something that fit specifically in its own co-curricular realm.

Several peer institutions use Portfolium as a platform primarily to communicate co-curricular activities to employers, but Dunne stressed that the University is the only school where the exact purpose of the platform is designed for internal use in leadership and not for job-seeking purposes.

Although Portfolium itself allows users and institutions to connect with employers, the exclusive network ensures that outside individuals do not have access to student profiles, a feature unique to Princeton.

“The idea is to have a closed network where students can search the profiles of one another [that is] not open to the larger Portfolium network,” explained Pinciaro.

Dunne explained that the University doesn’t want students to think about their co-curricular activities solely in a transactional way. The University chose to partner with an existing company instead of developing their own software because the latter would have been a much riskier, more cost and time-consuming process, according to Dunne.

Portfolium is intended to serve as an extension or enhancement

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of Tigerbook, the school’s online student directory.

“It’s similar to this, but [Portfolium] has more points of information that students can selfreport,” Dunne said. “When we were developing this project, we thought about the way students engage with Tigerbook, but with more than just baseline directory information and photos,” he said. All students are in control of what they choose to report in their profiles.

“We’re interested in leadership and also recognize that leadership is not just about a title,” added Pinciaro. “You can elaborate a bit more to broaden the scope of what exactly leadership means in your group, at Princeton, and more broadly,” he said.

This online platform also seeks to resolve the dearth of representation in the member lists of some groups that are submitted to ODUS. Often these lists are not regularly updated and do not necessarily reflect the dynamic nature of members entering and leaving throughout the year.

However, the University still wanted to avoid bureaucratically mandating an updated directory or roster, as some institutions require, and instead, emphasized this as an individual choice.

The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students is observing how students utilize and engage with the platform during the pilot year. By collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative feedback from students, the University plans to make adjustments and modifications as necessary.

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Wednesday September 19, 2018

Hunt: Rest is a verb. It’s the active concept of doing nothing.

INJURY

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technically an employee of UHS, but in her own words, she is a “service provided to athletics.” She is “in no way influenced by the athletic department,” she said. Many other trainers across the country are directly hired by the athletics program, which can impact the authenticity of the communication between coaches and trainers.

At other institutions, trainers may worry about trying to please the coaches, and would consider an athlete’s holistic health profile. But at Princeton, this is not the case. Nonetheless, the relationship between Hunt and Schneider is unique.

“I think our trainer is phenomenal,” said Hunt, about Schneider. “We see so much eye to eye on what it means to be a healthy woman distance runner.” Similarly, Schneider echoed Hunt’s remarks.

“Coach Hunt and I work very well together,” said Schneider. “It’s really helpful that we are both saying the same thing. He is unique amongst coaches. He’s always thinking long term,” she said.

The cross country team

also works in close conjunction with other professionals. Along with Schneider, the team works with sports nutritionist Alexa McDonald as well as sports psychologists and massage therapists. Additionally, last year, Jeremy Johnson was hired to take charge of strength training for the team.

Hunt demands a lot from his athletes, and challenges them with tough workouts and high expectations. But perhaps, Hunt’s most difficult expectation is that his athletes rest.

“Not training today is part of the plan. Rest is a verb. It’s the active concept of doing nothing. It is a key to sustainable success,” said Hunt.

Hunt gives his athletes an “off day” on Mondays. The choice of Monday is intentional — athletes can start their week feeling well-rested and on top of their school work. “It’s about finding the balance of the institution,” said Hunt. He also gives his team a whole weekend “off” during the middle of the season in the midst of competition season. This falls close to midterms, which Hunt recognizes as the “most demanding time on campus.”

It is noteworthy that wom-

en’s cross country maintains an outstanding team GPA (3.5); Delaney Miller graduated last year with the highest GPA among Princeton senior athletes. Getting athletes to rest “can be really difficult for them,“ Schneider explained. “Trying to get them to understand that more is not always more.”

Alongside Hunt’s conservative training plans, he places the onus on the athlete to take care of themselves.

“So many things within our control are directly related to variables that correlate to injury,” he explained.

Hunt pushes his athletes to be honest with themselves about how they are feeling.

First, apart from scheduling in time to “rest,” Hunt expects athletes to ask for an off day when they need it.

Hunt recruits athletes based on their habits: he said he asks recruits how many hours of sleep they get every night during the recruiting process and looks for “great healthy habits in their approach to academics, athletics, and life.” Hunt referenced how athletes don’t suddenly change their sleeping patterns when they get to college.

Perhaps most interesting of all is how Hunt has created a truly unique team culture to combat injury.

Schneider and Hunt both referenced the “distance runner mentality” that is often present in top cross country athletes. With the “distance runner mentality…. You learn very early to not listen to what your brain is saying. You’re rewarded by not listening to what your body is telling you,” said Schneider.

“Distance runners get comfortable being uncomfortable,” added Hunt. But, after working with women’s cross country for six years, Schneider has noticed a discernible shift in the culture of the team. “The biggest change is that the culture on the team is far healthier than it used to be,” said Schneider. “If someone is trying to run through pain, they’ll be called out for it. I give the team a lot of credit for that,” he said. Schneider also noted how the team is unafraid to talk about “taboo topics” such as menstruation concerns and body image. “The supportiveness of the team environment is what protects them.”

Despite all injury-preven-

tion measures: injuries still happen. “There’s always distance runners in the training room, and there always will be,” said Schneider. For these injured athletes, Hunt does not overlook the importance of the recovery process. Hunt referenced Elizabeth Bird ’17 and Katie Hanss ’17 as examples of athletes who experienced serious injuries during their time at Princeton, but rebounded to come back faster. Hunt encourages athletes to “embrace the rehabilitation” so that they can come out “stronger, healthier, and more durable … ideally having learned how they might tweak and adjust their approach.”

Take freshman Page Lester: a two-time Footlocker National Finalist, coming in 14th as a senior, and a triathlete competitor, Lester is one of the nation’s top recruits.

After Lester had committed to Princeton in 2017, she fractured her sacrum, and has been on the road to recovery since. She had anticipated a two to three month break from running, but had not anticipated a six to seven month layoff.

“Page is a great example of a tremendous elite level success … somebody who is motivated and driven. She’s an endurance athlete who is willing to persevere. She’s been so receptive to taking a step back, and learning about herself,” said Hunt.

Lester’s story of recovery mental growth is inspiring.

Imagining a year without competing in running, Lester considered taking a gap year.

“Without running, I just had this hole in my life. I don’t want to say I’m dependent on running, but it was such a release for me,” said Lester. Lester even considered giving up running altogether, thinking “I never want to run again… this shouldn’t happen to anyone.” She met with Coach Hunt in July to discuss her options. “After I came up and visited, we talked through everything and ultimately, I decided to come to school. I’m really glad I did,” said Lester.

Lester has used the opportunity for intense personal growth. She has also re-evaluated her training.

“It forced me to look back on other aspects of my life: nutrition, sleep and more.”

“Was all the training I was doing beneficial, or was I just training just to train?

It’s not just the amount you run — there are a lot of other factors that could lead to a stress fracture.” Lester is beginning to run again, and you can spot her cross-training on the bike, elliptical, and pool.

“I’m not really doing workouts yet, but I’ll get there,” she said. “It’s hard because I’d love to be racing, but at the same time, I feel confident for the first time I actually have a plan.

My training is more geared towards running and seeing everyone on the team makes me want to be healthy more than anything … and I know I can be at some point, I just have to be patient. Coach Hunt is amazing with all of it. He was really open to me doing what was best for me.”

But perhaps most inspiring of all is Lester’s teamfirst mentality surrounding her injury: Lester is fully invested in the team’s success.

“To anyone with injury — take a deep breath. It sucks, I know, it really sucks,” she said. “I really want my teammates to do well, and I’m really glad I feel that way.

That’s what’s so great about the team. It’s so cohesive, everyone wants everyone to do well but at the same time if someone is hurt or not feeling good — there are people that want to support you.”

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