Parents Handbook

The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students officially recognizes about 300 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 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 500 students work for student agencies each year, providing various services and distributing useful products. For more information on any of the agencies, visit the website or call the Student Agency Office at (609) 258-4906. Each agency can also be reached directly by e-mail.

Princeton University sponsors 38 varsity intercollegiate athletic teams, 20 for men and 18 for women. The University’s teams have won the Ivy League’s unofficial all-sports points championship in each of the last 22 years, and the University has produced at least one team or individual national champion every year during that stretch as well. Princeton athletes regularly are honored as All-American, All-Ivy League and Academic All-America.

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.

Princeton Stadium, which seats 27,800 spectators, is primarily the home of the Tiger football team, though it has also hosted varsity soccer and lacrosse and served as a practice venue for almost all varsity, club and intramural sports. Other facilities include Roberts Stadium, a soccer complex that opened in 2008, 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 and boat house, 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.

Campus Recreation, situated in Dillon Gymnasium, offers the following programs: intramural and special events — for competition among residential colleges, eating clubs and independent students, faculty and staff members; sport club opportunities for those wishing to compete on student-run teams against other local and regional schools; an extensive instructional/group fitness program with more than 60 different classes in core areas such as fitness, wellness, dance, self-defense and spinning; and finally a facility that is home to four basketball courts, 15 squash courts, a six-lane pool, special rooms for dance, spinning, group fitness and martial arts, along with the Stephens Fitness Center, with more than 9,000 square feet of state-of-the-art fitness equipment.

Princeton's Bridge Year Program enables a select group of newly admitted undergraduates to spend a year of University-sponsored public service abroad prior to beginning their freshman year. In 2009, 20 students representing a broad cross-section of the admitted freshman class were selected to participate in Bridge Year programs in Ghana, India, Peru and Serbia.

Through Princeton's partner organizations overseas, Bridge Year volunteers engage in nine months of challenging, meaningful work in nongovernmental organizations, schools, clinics and other institutions serving the needs of local communities. In addition to contributing to the sustainable development of the communities served, the Bridge Year Program aims to provide participants with a greater international perspective and intercultural skills, an opportunity for personal growth and reflection, and a deeper appreciation for service in both a local and international context.

Students are invited to apply to the Bridge Year Program after they have accepted Princeton's offer of admission.

The Pace Center encourages and supports efforts by all members of the University community to identify and act on issues of public concern. The center is Princeton University’s central resource for civic engagement. It connects individuals and groups with opportunities to thoughtfully address civic problems and have an impact through civic action break trips, social entrepreneurship, political action, public service internships and fellowships, direct volunteer service, group community engagement projects, student leadership positions and a variety of other activities.

Breakout Princeton sponsors trips that are designed and led by students and combine service and learning about issues such as energy, immigration and humanitarian relief. Social entrepreneurship training enables students to explore ways to address public problems through the creation of new organizations or the reorientation of existing ones. Political engagement programs involve students in electoral politics in ways that deepen their understanding of issues, political processes and the roles citizens can play.

The Pace Center coordinates several internship programs that offer positions with government agencies and nonprofits. In addition, Pace helps students find positions and secure funding for summer public service internships. Graduating seniors and recent Princeton graduates gain valuable professional experience while exploring career possibilities during two-year fellowships with nonprofits coordinated by Pace.

The Pace Center includes Community House and the Student Volunteers Council (SVC), which provide opportunities for direct service to the community through ongoing volunteer activities. Community House works with underserved low-income minority children in the Princeton community, with the goal of narrowing the achievement gap that separates those students from their advantaged neighbors. The SVC is a student organization that sponsors more than 40 weekly volunteer projects.

The Community Action program organized by the SVC introduces freshmen to Princeton and the community through an immersive week of service before orientation begins. The goal is to instill and nurture an ethic of service as an integral part of the Princeton experience and, additionally, to create relationships that will lead students to continue their involvement through any of the dozens of sustained service opportunities that are available on campus.

Through group community engagement projects, the Pace Center supports groups of students, such as Engineers Without Borders–Princeton University, who work at home or abroad on projects that engage local partners and produce tangible and sustainable benefits to the community.

Many other civic engagement opportunities are available through individual student organizations, residential colleges and eating clubs. The Community-Based Learning Initiative (CBLI) provides opportunities for combining community involvement with academic work, and a number of departments and centers at the University examine the impact of public policy on real-life situations in communities around the world. Other organizations sponsor public service internships and fellowships for Princeton students and recent graduates.

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), Baptist Student Fellowship, Chabad, Episcopal Church at Princeton, Hillel Foundation, Hindu Chaplaincy, Lutheran Campus Ministry, Manna Christian Fellowship, Muslim Chaplaincy, Orthodox Christian Fellowship, Princeton Evangelical Fellowship, Princeton Presbyterians, Unitarian Universalist Campus Community and Wesley Foundation (Methodist). Student groups include Athletes in Action, Baha’i Club, Princeton Buddhist Students’ Group, Christian Science Organization, 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.

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 online.

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 campus programs based on Air Force requirements.

AFROTC offers separate two- 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 (up to $500/month), and offer $900 for 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 website or the unit site. Or, call the unit admissions officer at (732) 932-7706 or e-mail rotc485@rci.rutgers.edu.