The Borough: Time for student involvement

For all intents and purposes, things should not be this way. The population of Princeton Borough was roughly 13,400 at the last census. The University’s undergraduate population consisted of roughly 5,100 students. Undergraduates, in other words, account for more than a third of the Borough’s population. If all students voted in Princeton, the University would be a big deal, politically speaking. Even if students do not vote, one would assume that the needs and desires of the student body would still be a priority. The number of individuals attached to the University is doubled when including postgraduates and academic, administrative and support staff, although these additional people are also spread out across both Princeton Borough and Princeton Township.

From a cold, economic perspective, I suppose it makes sense that the Borough does not consider students. The Borough Council is elected by voters, and Princeton students tend to vote in other states if they vote at all. The Borough’s taxes are not paid by the student body, because students tend to file as dependents of parents living out of state. The Borough’s only incentives for involvement lie with avoiding bad press. Considering these facts, the Borough has no motivation to consider students’ needs when making decisions.

But ignoring students’ needs is still a dumb response that violates everything that moral, compassionate leaders would value.

The Borough is not completely uninterested in undergraduates’ lives, but they are definitely not concerned with thinking through their impact on those lives. Look at the dogged persistence with which the Borough maintains the boundaries of its jurisdiction, even when doing so would be a waste of the Borough’s time and would scare students from calling for help when necessary. The Borough’s concern is about getting what it wants from the University and about showing its relevance in the looming Borough-Township consolidation, not the health and safety of non-voting residents.

Despite Councilwoman Jo Butler’s rant in a Borough Council meeting about the danger of Borough residents owing “their soul to the company store in one way or another,” Princeton is a university town. It grew up around the University, much as the University grew up in response to demand for quality education for well-off families from New York. The Borough is not much different from the Township in demographics, culture, population or economics. The Borough’s distinguishing characteristics are Westminster Choir College and our side of Nassau Street. The Borough has always needed to give unique consideration to university students, because without the University, the Borough would have little reason to be the hole in the Township’s geographic donut

It does not have to be this way. Other university towns see students get elected to the town council. Mendy Fisch ’11 ran in the 2009 Borough Council elections. He lost, but eventually someone will have to represent us, the students, to the Borough Council. Eventually someone will have to listen to the Borough, explain to them what they are not seeing and make them consider the University as a group of people rather than a monolithic institution.

Eventually, the USG and the eating clubs will have to start meeting and working with the Borough in a systematic manner to create a better Princeton. We students must do this, because it has become clear that the Borough is unconcerned with our needs. We students must do this, because it is equally clear that the University does not represent the views of the student body. The Borough only wants to cover its bases, meaning that we students must start participating in our local government.

Christopher Troein is an economics major from Windsor, England. He can be reached at ctroein@princeton.edu.