Student Interests

Organizations

The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students officially recognizes more than 250 organizations representing student interest in activities such as writing, theater and dance, music and art, politics and debate, sports and games, community service, and ethnic and cultural affairs. Students are encouraged to form new organizations if there is no existing group in their area of particular interest, and new ones are always being added to the list.

The University does not recognize fraternities and sororities and strongly discourages membership.

Student Participation in University Governance. Students participate in the governance of the University through the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC), 12 of whose 50 members are undergraduates. Among the standing CPUC committees are the Priorities Committee, which makes annual budget recommendations to the president of the University; the Rights and Rules Committee, which deals with regulations applying to all members of the University community; and the Governance Committee, which addresses matters of governance and participates in the annual selection of honorary degree recipients.

Student Agencies

Student agencies are student-operated enterprises that offer young entrepreneurs a chance to manage small on-campus businesses (under the supervision of the Student Agency Office). More than 250 students work for student agencies each year, providing various services and distributing useful products. For more information on any of the agencies, visit the Web at www.princeton.edu/~studage, or call the Student Agency Office at (609) 258-4906. Each agency can also be reached directly by e-mail.

Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)

United States Armed Services ROTC Programs. Princeton University students may participate in the Army or Air Force ROTC programs, described below. These programs are conducted by the United States Armed Services. Requirements for Armed Services ROTC programs with respect to sexual orientation are not consistent with the related nondiscrimination policies of the University that govern admission to the University’s academic and other programs. The University has repeatedly urged that the Armed Services policy be changed.

Army. Army ROTC is a nationally standardized program of precommissioning officer education and training. Military science courses complement all major areas of study by broadening the student’s basic education and helping prepare students for positions of leadership in the army. As students earn their academic degree, they also earn a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army (active duty, Army Reserve, or National Guard).

The focus of the ROTC program is leadership development. Cadets normally attend a noncredit military science elective course each semester and a five-week advanced camp in the summer following their junior year. The military science courses are taught by army instructors. Army ROTC sponsors a centralized training and development advanced camp conducted each summer at Fort Lewis, Washington. Successful completion of advanced camp is a prerequisite for commissioning.

Army ROTC offers merit-based scholarships that pay full tuition and fees. Scholarship cadets also receive monthly stipends ranging from $300 to $500 for the academic year and $450 per semester for books. High school students may apply for four-year scholarships, and Princeton students may apply for either three-year or two-year scholarships.

For information, please write or call the Director of the Army Officer Education Program, P.O. Box 2151, Princeton, NJ 08543-2151, or call (609) 258-4225. Additional information is available at www.princeton.edu/~armyrotc.

Air Force (AFROTC). Princeton students may enroll in the Air Force ROTC program via a cross-town school agreement with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. AFROTC is the largest and oldest source of commissioned officers for the Air Force. The program is designed to recruit, educate, and commission officer candidates through college programs based on Air Force requirements.

AFROTC offers separate one- to four- year programs open to most majors as well as graduate students. There is no military obligation until students enter the Professional Officer course (typically during their junior year) or accept a scholarship. This affords those who would like to try the program the opportunity to do so on a noncommittal basis.

Active duty Air Force officers teach weekly courses at Rutgers and may offer some courses at Princeton. In addition, a weekly leadership laboratory is held at either the Princeton or Rutgers campus, depending on the lesson objective. Some travel between campuses is required. AFROTC courses focus on leadership and prepare students for duties and responsibilities as officers in the active duty United States Air Force.

Scholarships and incentive money are available to graduating high school seniors as well as students who are already in college and are offered on a competitive basis. Scholarships range from partial to full tuition, pay a tax-free monthly allowance during school months (starting at $250/month), and offer money for registration fees and books. Special EXPRESS scholarship opportunities may be available to certain majors, depending on the student’s graduation year and the needs of the Air Force. EXPRESS scholarships are noncompetitive and are awarded directly to those who have declared a needed major and meet all AFROTC enrollment qualifications. Books and uniforms are provided by the Air Force to all enrolled students.

Upon graduation, students become commissioned officers at the rank of second lieutenant and serve four years of active duty (10 years for pilots). For more information, visit the AFROTC Web site at www.afrotc.com or the unit site at web.rutgers.edu/rotc485. Or, call the unit admissions officer at (732) 932-7706 or e-mail rotc485@rci.rutgers.edu.

Athletics

Princeton’s physical education program offers athletic instruction in nine core areas, which include aerobics, aquatics, dance, fitness, Nautilus, racquet sports, self-defense, special interest sports, and wellness.

Each year more than 1,200 students participate in inter-collegiate varsity and junior varsity sports. Men compete in baseball, basketball, heavyweight and lightweight crew, cross country, fencing, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, sprint football, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. Women’s sports include basketball, open crew, lightweight crew, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, volleyball, and water polo. Also, there are approximately 35 men’s, women’s, and coed club teams.

Many competitive team sports, individual tournaments, meets, and special events are offered within the intramural and recreational sports program. Competition is scheduled among residential colleges, eating clubs, and independent faculty/staff/student groups. Also, members of the University and local community participate in informal recreation using Princeton’s extensive athletic facilities. The Princeton Stadium, which seats 27,800 spectators, has hosted football games as well as soccer matches and lacrosse events. The University also has expanded and renovated its boathouse and crew facilities, which are now known as the Shea Rowing Center. Additionally, the Weaver Track and Field Stadium opened in May 1998. Caldwell Field House recently underwent an expansion of 16 locker rooms that provide dressing rooms and training quarters. Other facilities include the Class of 1952 Stadium (which has an artificial surface), two large gymnasiums, an ice rink, indoor and outdoor tracks, more than 50 acres of playing fields, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a crew course, an 18-hole golf course, and two swimming pools. One of these is the DeNunzio Pool, an Olympic-size facility with a 10-meter diving platform.

Religious Life

The Office of Religious Life (ORL) welcomes the presence of a vigorous and diverse religious community on campus, supports all religious traditions in the practice and expression of their faith, and strongly encourages interfaith dialogue and cooperation. Through its own programs and in collaboration with others, the ORL provides opportunities for community service, cross-cultural understanding, and constructive social action.

Murray-Dodge Hall houses the Religious Life offices, the Student Volunteers Council (Princeton University’s oldest community-service agency), the Murray-Dodge Café (offering good company every night in a non-alcoholic setting), the Muslim prayer room, an interfaith meditation room, and a number of campus ministry offices. Murray-Dodge is also a frequent meeting place for diverse student gatherings, informative and engaging programs, and a wide variety of worship services. Hallelujah!, which is sponsored by the Office of Religious Life, is an interdenominational clergy-and-student-led weekly worship service that draws deeply from the richness of the African-American church tradition. Among other ORL programs, the Religious Life Council provides students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of all religious faiths, to explore the connection between intellectual life and spiritual growth, and to encourage interfaith discussion of moral issues and life choices.

The University Chapel is open daily for prayer and meditation from 7 a.m.–11 p.m. Ecumenical services are offered in the chapel on Sunday mornings, with sermons preached by the deans of religious life and special guests, liturgical assistance provided by the student chapel deacons, and music provided by the 80-member strong Chapel Choir. Opening Exercises and the Baccalaureate Service also take place in the University Chapel.

The Center for Jewish Life offers programs and services for the Jewish community on campus.

ORL recognizes and works closely with the following campus chaplaincies: Aquinas Institute (Roman Catholic), Athletes in Action, Baptist Student Fellowship, Episcopal Church at Princeton, Hillel Foundation, Lutheran Campus Ministry, Manna Christian Fellowship, Orthodox Christian Fellowship, Princeton Evangelical Fellowship, Princeton Presbyterians, Unitarian Universalist Campus Community and Wesley Foundation (Methodist). Student groups include Baha’i Club, Baptist Student Fellowship, Princeton Buddhist Students’ Group, Christian Science Organization, Friends of Chabad, Gospel Ensemble, Impact, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-Day Saints, Muslim Students’ Association, Princeton Hindu Satsangam, Princeton Faith and Action, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Yavneh House.

For more information visit the Office of Religious Life Web site at www.web.princeton.edu/sites/chapel/.

top | July 2006