The Commencement ceremony for the Class of 2018 will be held on Tuesday, June 5, where Lim will deliver the Latin salutary and Berlin will deliver the valedictory address.
After 40 years of campaigning by Asian-American students, alumni, faculty, and staff, the University officially approved a certificate program in Asian American Studies on April 2. The establishment of the certificate, received with delight and tentative hope by students, marks a historic achievement and important beginning for a longer journey of establishing a thriving Asian American studies field at the University.
After years of conversation, planning, advocacy, and hard work, the plan for a journalism certificate has finally materialized. The University faculty voted unanimously to approve the certificate. It will be open to students during the 2018–19 academic year on an application basis.
Asian-Americans must be intentional about understanding their history and experiences, said Helen Zia ’73, an Asian-American author, feminist and LGBTQ+ rights activist.
At about 12:05 p.m. on Apr. 24, a sprinkler system in the Forbes Annex was mistakenly activated, flooding three rooms and the surrounding hallway. “There was an inch of water on the ground,” said lead custodian Marva Perdriel.
Undergraduate Student Government President Rachel Yee ’19 agreed that the referendum will emphasize the importance of USG elections, since the USG will help arbitrate the review of the clerk or chair in the evaluation committee. “We will be working closely with the referendum to make sure it is implementable,” Yee said. “We will keep everyone informed on what the process looks like after we figure out how it will be implemented.”
In February 2004, the anti-cancer drug Alimta, developed by late chemistry Professor Emeritus Edward Taylor in collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, was approved by the FDA for the treatment of several forms of deadly lung cancer. “Collaboration between academia and industry is really a win-win situation for both sides,” Dean for Research Pablo Debenedetti said, recounting the story of Alimta.
“In response to the CDC warning, Campus Dining reviewed the sourcing of its romaine lettuce and determined it is not from the affected region,” said acting University spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss.
Associated Press photojournalist Burhan Ozbilici, winner of the World Press Photo of the Year in 2017 for his photograph of the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov by off-duty Turkish police officer Mevlüt Mert Altintas, spoke at the University on Tuesday about journalistic honesty and integrity, and the experience of photographing the assassination.
On Tuesday, a third federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s justification for ending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which protects undocumented immigrants who came to the country illegally as children, known as “dreamers.”
“When I think of segregation, I think of my own young life,” Diane Campbell said. “When I was six months old,” she continued, “my mother took me up in her lap and got on a bus and moved from South Carolina to Trenton, New Jersey. We had to ride at the back of the bus. When we got to the Mason-Dixon line my mother made a point of standing up and moving and, for the first time in her life, she rode in the front of the bus.”
The new calendar will move fall exams to December and include a “Wintersession,” a flexible two-week space in January for students to engage in internships or independent work. A majority of the faculty raised their hands and said “aye” to the motion, and the reform’s passage was met with vigorous applause.
Former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa spoke at the University on Monday on the subject of solidarity in the 21st century. He discussed his personal experiences as president and as leader of his labor union, Solidarity, and the United States’s place in global leadership.
On April 24, some University students will partake in a decades-old tradition, “Newman’s Day,” in which participants drink 24 beers in 24 hours. The tradition comes from an apocryphal quote attributed to actor Paul Newman: “24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not.”
Kyle Berlin and Katherine Lim have been selected as the valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, for the Class of 2018.
The University faculty has voted to approve calendar reform, changing the timing of first-semester final exams to before the December holiday break instead of after.
Nine seniors were selected as winners of the Spirit of Princeton award: Allison Berger ’18, Christina Onianwa ’18, Diego Negrón-Reichard ’18, Gaby Joseph ’18, Jordan Thomas ’18, Katie Tyler ’18, Maia Craver ’18, Soraya Morales Nuñez ’18, and Zoë Anne Toledo ’18.
The Undergraduate Student Government discussed the Board Plan Review Committee, USG office renovations, and USG Senate engagement during its weekly meeting on April 22. On the proposed board plan changes, Assistant Vice President of Campus Dining Smitha Haneef said, “We are hearing loud and clear that what’s on the draft does not fit what the majority preference would be.”
On April 18, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 joined 62 other university presidents and chancellors in affirming the value of free speech on college campuses at an Association of American Universities meeting in Washington, D.C. Eisgruber has been a vocal supporter of free speech during his presidency.
The fifth annual TruckFest food truck festival was held on Saturday, April 22 by the eating clubs and the Community Service Inter-Club Council. The mission of TruckFest is to combat food insecurity in the local area, according to CS-ICC Chair Alexandra Hanley ’18.
