An emergent social activism
Members of the current generation of Princeton undergraduates ? often deemed apathetic when compared to their predecessors in the tumultuous 1960s and '70s or with peers from other colleges ? have raised their voices in the last few years in a sometimes halting, sometimes hesitant but nonetheless audible chorus of activism and outrage.In 1999, the anti-sweatshop movement ? which seeks to guarantee that college apparel is not being produced by laborers working in sub-standard conditions ? caught fire on campus and seemed to herald a renewed spirit of Princetonian activism.Still, though the word "sweatshop" seemed to be everywhere last year ? on posters along McCosh Walk, on the pages of campus publications and even on the lips of Princeton's notoriously apathetic undergraduates ? the anti-sweatshop movement has faded on campus this year."There are a lot of ambivalent feelings about the campaign at this point," said Brian White '00, a member of Students for Progressive Education and Action, the group that led Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement.White was among the leaders of a February, 1999 rally in Firestone Plaza at which protesters demanded the University agree to labor standards for the manufacture of Princeton shirts, hats and other apparel.In White's eyes, the anti-sweatshop movement at Princeton lost momentum for a host of reasons, the most prominent of which was that the debate became more nuanced and difficult for students to follow."The issues were simpler back then," White said of last year.