Princeton University

The mission of Campus Life is to nurture a humane and collaborative environment that serves the educational mission of the University by encouraging, supporting and celebrating intellectual curiosity, active citizenship, ethical leadership and respect for our diverse community.

Promote soundness of mind, body and spirit

Facilitate individual growth

Balance freedom with responsibility and accountability

Advance the pursuit of excellence

In its mission statement, Princeton University affirms its aim “to be distinctive among research universities in its commitment to undergraduate teaching” and then adds the following:

It seeks to provide its students with academic, extracurricular and other resources--in a residential community committed to diversity in its student body, faculty and staff--that will permit them to attain the highest possible level of achievement in undergraduate education and prepare them for positions of leadership and lives of service in many fields of human endeavor.  

Because of the importance it attaches to the residential experience, Princeton requires all freshmen and sophomores to live on campus and provides housing for all juniors and seniors who wish to live on campus, as almost all do. Princeton provides a diverse array of extracurricular activities and organizations, athletic teams, opportunities to engage in cultural and artistic expression and the spiritual dimensions of life, and other resources that allow students to discover and develop their talents and interests. The residential experience is intended both to create a strong sense of community on campus and to encourage and support individual initiative and personal growth.  It provides opportunities for students to learn from and with each other, to develop capacities for collaboration and mutual respect, to learn how to lead healthy and fulfilling lives, and to practice the skills of citizenship and community.  

Through the undergraduate residential, academic and extracurricular experience, the University aims to develop such core values as honesty, integrity and fairness, and it seeks to encourage creativity, curiosity, resourcefulness, mutual respect, a capacity for leadership and a sense of responsibility for their own well-being and the well-being of others.