Parents Handbook 2012-13

• Organizations
• Student Agencies
• Athletics 
• Civic Engagement 
• Princeton Bridge Year
• Religious Life
• Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)

The Undergraduate Student Government 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. Freshmen are prohibited from having any affiliation with a sorority or fraternity. No student may solicit the participation of freshmen in any sorority or fraternity activity. Violations of this policy are regarded as serious. For a full description of University policy, please see "Rights, Rules, Responsibilities." 

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 email.

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 25 years, and the University has produced at least one team or individual national champion each of the last 41 years. 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 and 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 the Roberts Stadium soccer complex; 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. In addition, there is the Class of 1952 Stadium, which houses Sherrerd Field, the home of Princeton lacrosse, and construction has begun on Bedford Field, which will be located adjacent to the Class of 1952 Stadium and be the new home for Princeton field hockey beginning in 2012.

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 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.

The Pace Center for Civic Engagement 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, public service internships and fellowships, direct volunteer service, social entrepreneurship, 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. The Pace Center coordinates several summer internship programs that offer positions with government agencies and nonprofits, including the Guggenheim Foundation internships in criminal justice and Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS), a summer internship initiative, founded and supported by alumni, that places students in internships, mentored by alumni, in areas ranging from group advocacy, legal services, public policy, health and social services, and education. Graduating seniors and recent Princeton graduates gain valuable professional experience while exploring career possibilities during Pace-coordinated two-year fellowships with nonprofits addressing issues related to the environment, sustainability and prisoner re-entry.

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 closing the achievement gap that separates those students from their advantaged peers. The SVC is a student-driven organization that sponsors more than 40 weekly volunteer projects.

The Community Action program introduces freshmen to Princeton and the community through an immersive week of service, learning and fun 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 civic engagement opportunities that are available on campus.

The Pace Center also 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 Princeton Bridge Year Program is an innovative, nine-month, tuition-free program that allows newly admitted undergraduates the opportunity to defer their enrollment for a year to engage in community service work in another country.

While abroad, Bridge Year participants volunteer in nongovernmental organizations, schools, clinics and other institutions serving the needs of local communities. Participants also study the local language, live with carefully selected families, and engage in a variety of cultural enrichment activities, all of which helps Bridge Year volunteers integrate more easily into the host culture. In addition to supporting the needs of local communities, Bridge Year aims to provide participants with a greater international perspective and broader intercultural skills, an opportunity for personal growth and reflection, and a deeper appreciation of 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. Bridge Year placements are currently offered in China, India, Peru and Senegal.

The Office of Religious Life 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 Office of Religious Life provides opportunities for community service, cross-cultural understanding and constructive social action.

Murray-Dodge Hall houses the religious life offices, 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 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. to 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.

The Office of Religious Life 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, Legacy, 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 Army or Air Force ROTC programs. The Army program is based at Princeton University, and the Air Force program is based at Rutgers University (see below). These programs are conducted by the United States Armed Services. Participants in either program engage in noncredit courses and activities that, if successfully completed, lead to a commission as an officer. 

Army. Army ROTC is a nationally standardized program of precommissioning officer education and training. Non-credit 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 U.S. 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.

For information, please write or call the director of the Army Officer Education Program, 294 Alexander Street, Princeton, NJ 08540, or call 609-258-4225.

Air Force (AFROTC). Princeton students may enroll in the Air Force ROTC program via a cross-town school agreement with Rutgers University. 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 three- to four-year programs open to most majors. 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. In addition, a weekly leadership laboratory is held on either the Princeton or Rutgers campus, depending on the lesson objective. Travel between campuses is required. AFROTC courses focus on leadership and prepare students for duties and responsibilities as officers in the active duty U.S. 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.

Upon graduation, students become commissioned officers with the rank of second lieutenant and serve four years on active duty (10 years for pilots). For more information, visit the AFROTC website or the unit site; or, reach the recruiting flight commander at 732-932-7706, ext. 19 or by email at rotc485@rci.rutgers.edu.