Princeton Profile

• Housing and Dining
• Campus Centers
• Athletics
• Healthier Princeton
• Student Activities
• Seniors’ Post-Graduation Plans
• Alumni

Freshmen and sophomores live in one of the University’s six residential colleges: Butler, Forbes, Mathey, Rockefeller, Whitman, or Wilson. Juniors and seniors have the option of living and/or dining in four-year residential colleges.

More than 98 percent of Princeton undergraduates live on campus. Approximately 70 percent of juniors and seniors take their meals at one of 10 private, coed eating clubs.

Some juniors and seniors cook their own meals in dormitory kitchens, dine in the residential colleges, join a cooperative, or make other arrangements. Students also may dine at the Frist Campus Center or Princeton’s Center for Jewish Life, which houses the University’s kosher dining facility. Students also have halal and kosher options in the residential colleges.

For many juniors and seniors, Princeton’s 10 historic coed eating clubs offer a hub for dining and social life. Financial aid includes funding for eating club meal costs.

The clubs, governed by student officers under the auspices of independent alumni boards, offer daily meals and a variety of social, athletic, and other events. Five clubs have a member selection process and five operate on a sign-in basis. The small number of students per club creates a family-like atmosphere.

Approximately 70 percent of graduate students live in University housing, taking advantage of dormitory and apartment options. Dormitories include historic and modern rooms in the Graduate College and rooms in converted homes, known as annexes. Another dormitory living option for graduate students is to apply to be a resident graduate student in one of the residential colleges. For students choosing apartment communities, there is a range of unit sizes in both high-rise and garden configurations. University residential life offers various academic, athletic, social, and cultural opportunities to graduate students and their families.

Graduate students gather for meals in Procter Hall at the Graduate College, in dining halls at the residential colleges, at Frist Campus Center, at Chancellor Green Cafe, and at the Center for Jewish Life.

• Frist Campus Center is a place where the entire campus community—students, faculty, staff, and alumni—as well as visitors, meet and interact, engaging in a variety of programs, events, and services that enrich campus life and the Princeton experience.
• Campus Club is a social facility for undergraduate and graduate students. The student-run club offers flexible spaces for casual relaxation and formal gatherings.
• The Center for Jewish Life provides cultural, social, religious, and informal educational activities of interest to Jewish students and the overall University community.
• The Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis ’30 International Center provides a full array of services and programs for international students and scholars, including advising on immigration and visa matters and consulting on intercultural issues. The center also serves as a central resource on questions related to international students and scholars, and hosts intercultural programs and events.
• The Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding focuses on exploring issues of diversity, equity, and cultural pluralism.
• The Women’s Center provides a supportive atmosphere for women students, and hosts an array of cultural and educational programs for the entire community.
• Princeton’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Center works to create a safe and supportive environment by providing educational opportunities and advocating for the needs and concerns of LGBT students.

The Princeton community is home to many religious denominations that welcome involvement by students, faculty, and staff. The Office of Religious Life supports the religious traditions that flourish on Princeton’s campus and encourages interfaith dialogue and cooperation. Through its own programs and in collaboration with others, the office provides opportunities for community service, cross-cultural understanding, and constructive social action. The University also supports 15 campus chaplaincies and numerous faith-based student organizations. Religious facilities at Princeton include the University Chapel, Center for Jewish Life, Muslim Prayer Room, and Interfaith Meditation Room.

Princeton sponsors 38 varsity intercollegiate teams (20 for men, 18 for women), with slightly more than 1,000 participants —about 20 percent of the undergraduate population. In addition, an estimated 1,000 students also participate in the University’s 35 club teams.

Varsity Sports. Princeton teams have won the Ivy League’s unofficial all-sports points championship each of the past 24 years, and Princeton has also had at least one team or individual national champion each of the past 39 years, including the men’s lightweight crew’s 2010 national championship. Since 2000, 31 of the 33 Princeton teams that compete in official Ivy League sports have won at least one league championship.

The 2009–10 athletic year saw Princeton win 12 Ivy titles, five more than the next highest total in the league. Princeton teams have combined to win 117 Ivy titles in the past 10 years, which is 40 more than the school with the next highest total.

Princeton had 30 of 38 teams finish in the top three in their league in 2009–10, including 25 of 33 that compete in sanctioned Ivy League sports.

Campus Recreation Program. Nearly 300 teams are active in the intramural program, which schedules competition among residential colleges, eating clubs, independent groups, and faculty and staff. Students can participate in the sport club program with 35 active clubs. Princeton’s group fitness and instructional program offers athletic instruction in nine core areas.

Athletic Facilities

• Roberts Stadium features two soccer fields, one natural grass (Myslik Field) and one FieldTurf (Plummer Field), as well as a press box, team rooms, seating on three sides, a lounge, and other amenities.
• Jadwin Gymnasium provides 250,000 square feet of indoor space for intercollegiate sports in addition to a practice area for outdoor field sports. Jadwin is the site of Pete Carril Court, the varsity basketball floor.
• Dillon Gymnasium has facilities for recreational sports. At the Stephens Fitness Center in Dillon, students can pursue personal health goals with trained supervision.
• DeNunzio Pool provides complete facilities for competitive swimming and diving.
• Princeton Stadium has a seating capacity of 27,800. The field at Princeton Stadium officially was named Powers Field at Princeton Stadium beginning with the 2007–08 season.
• Weaver Track and Field Stadium has an eight-lane Olympic track, and has hosted some of the nation’s premier college track and field events.
• The Class of 1952 Stadium is a lighted, artificial-surface facility that accommodates approximately 4,000 spectators for lacrosse and field hockey.
• The Shea Rowing Center is home to the crew program.
• Baker Rink, built in 1923, houses hockey and ice skating.
• Outdoor athletic facilities include more than two dozen tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, and more than 50 acres of fields for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, and rugby, as well as many intramural sports.

As an educational institution, residential community, and employer, Princeton seeks to provide a campus environment and a range of programs that sustain and enhance the physical, psychological, and emotional health of undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff, and that assist them in achieving an appropriate balance between work and personal/family life.

The Healthier Princeton program offers an integrated approach to health promotion and education, disease detection and prevention, and fitness and wellness services for the University community. Its initiatives are based on an assessment of the academic, cultural, physical, and social environments of the campus and their impact upon the health and well-being of all members of the University community. The Healthier Princeton board advises the offices responsible for this initiative and the senior officers of the University.

Student organizations are created and run by students with support from the University through the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, the Pace Center, and the Office of Religious Life. Some 300 organizations make it easy for students to engage their interests outside the classroom, in areas such as politics, civic engagement, publications, performing arts, multicultural groups, and religion.

Two Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs are open to men and women at Princeton. In both (Army and Air Force), participants may compete for scholarships. Participants in either program engage in noncredit courses and activities that, if successfully completed, lead to a commission as an officer.

• The Lewis Center for the Arts at 185 Nassau Street houses the programs in creative writing, dance, theater, and visual arts, which host art shows, theatrical productions, dance concerts, and poetry and fiction readings.
• The McCarter Theatre Center offers drama, music, dance, film, and events ranging from acrobatics to mime. The theater also hosts the annual show presented by student members of the Triangle Club. McCarter’s Berlind Theatre houses major productions of the Program in Theater and Program in Dance.
• Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall hosts musical, dramatic, and other performances, most open to the public, and most for a fee.
• Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall hosts campus musical groups throughout the year, which are sponsored by the Department of Music.
• Theatre Intime, a student-run facility, schedules dramatic productions, dance concerts, and comedy shows throughout the year at Murray-Dodge Hall.
• The Frist Campus Center Film/Performance Theater is a multipurpose performance space that hosts theatrical productions, musical and film events, and other performances throughout the year.

There were 1,166 graduates in the Class of 2010. Approximately 98.2 percent of the class (1,145 students) completed the annual Career Plans Survey in May, conducted by the Office of Career Services (which also offers services to graduate students and alumni).

In the coming year, 71.5 percent of the respondents plan to enter the work force, military, or participate in professional athletics. Approximately 13.5 percent of those planning employment accepted positions in extended internships that involve teaching, legal research, health and clinical research, scientific research, and/or service in domestic and international settings for a period of one to two years.

Of the 24.4 percent who plan to pursue further education, 23.9 percent accepted admission into doctoral programs and 27.1 percent in master’s programs; 15.4 percent accepted admission into medical school and 8.1 percent in law school. An additional 20 students were accepted into graduate and professional programs but chose to defer their enrollment for at least one year to pursue internships, fellowships, and employment.

The remaining 4.2 percent of the class decided to travel, follow other pursuits, or chose not to respond to this survey.

Princeton alumni contribute extensively to the life of the campus, with approximately 18,000 to 20,000 alumni and their families returning annually for Reunions.

There are approximately 84,000 living Princeton alumni, including 23,000 women and 24,000 Graduate School alumni. Princeton graduates live in all 50 states and 117 countries.

In a typical year, some 12,000 to 15,000 volunteers work for Princeton in class and regional association activities, fundraising, programs in the local schools, a career network and internship program, and community service. Many serve in University advisory and leadership roles. Currently, there are 160 Princeton regional associations throughout the world.