We are kicking off an academic year like no other. While the experience is not the same as years past, Tigers everywhere are adapting to find new ways to connect, teach and build community under these challenging circumstances.

A special virtual Outdoor Action Program was developed for the Class of 2024. The small-group orientation experience in August allowed the new undergraduates to get to know their classmates, learn about Princeton from their upperclass OA leaders, and experience a bit of “virtual adventure.”

On Sunday, Princetonians far and wide joined together virtually to welcome members of the new class with a series of events including President Eisgruber’s Welcome Message, a Pre-read Assembly with author Jill Lepore, and a virtual Step Sing.  

This academic year will indeed be one for the books, presenting us all with unique difficulties as we persist through the pandemic. But as President Eisgruber put it in his remarks to Princeton’s Great Class of 2024 during Sunday’s Opening Exercises: “You become Princeton Tigers not in easy times but in hard ones.”  Let us rise to this challenge together.   

Stay safe and healthy.

Michael Hotchkiss, Ayana Gibbs, Jess Fasano, and Ben Chang

Politics & Polls: With the rise of online and social media platforms, free speech and political discourse have taken on new complexities. While providing the opportunity to connect with large audiences, social media platforms have increasingly depersonalized discussions. Suzanne Nossel joins Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer to discuss censoring speech, freedom of expression during the Trump administration, and distrust in our public institutions.https://spia.princeton.edu/news/politics-polls-198-free-speech-call-out-culture-and-social-justice-featuring-suzanne-nossel

From Hypebeast: Notes the inclusion of Princeton’s 2020 valedictorian Nicholas Johnson in the video.https://hypebeast.com/2020/8/pharrell-jay-z-entrepreneur-music-video

From New Jersey Stage: Names Mary Oestereicher Hamill, curator at Princeton University’s Bernstein Gallery, as one of the artists developing the Art Against Racism living national archive. Among others, Hamill is joined by Cynthia Groya, who has volunteered with the Princeton University Art Museum.https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/2020/08/26/art-against-racism-memorialmonumentmovement-launches-nationwide-art-project-addressing-racial-justice/

Princeton’s #TellUsTigers Instagram series captures first-person stories that open up the diverse inner worlds of Princetonians. This year the series illuminated tales from across campus and around the globe, before and during the pandemic.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/08/25/tellustigers-2020-instagram-community-princetonians-without-borders

Janet Currie:They Beat Covid, But Debilitating Effects and Economic Costs May Linger for Years (Bloomberg) 
Ben Bramble: Challenge trials for a coronavirus vaccine are unethical – except for in one unlikely scenario (The Conversation)
Eddie Glaude:The bully pulpit: Trump pushes Washington, but virus resists (Associated Press) 
Anu Ramaswami: Home Gardening Promotes Mental Health during COVID-19 (Food Tank)
Corrine McConnaughy:It’s Women’s Equality Day. Here’s how woman suffrage activists cleared the hurdles. (The Washington Post) 
Frank von Hippel (Andrew Appel mentioned):Demonstrators Urge: “Save the Post Office,” “Protect the Vote” (Town Topics) 
Julian Zelizer:

• The enduring Trump mystery: What would Trump do in a second term? (Politico) 
• It’s a mistake for Democrats to brush impeachment under the rug (CNN) 
• Democrats fret over Biden’s lack of counterprogramming (The Hill) 
• How This Year’s RNC Compares To Past Conventions (WBUR)

Paul Frymer:Simmering Disputes Over Statehood Are About Politics And Race. They Always Have Been (NPR) 
Douglas Massey:Could an undercounted 2020 Census afflict a range of federal statistics? (PolitiFact)
Alan Blinder:Fed Seen Holding Rates at Zero for Five Years in New Policy (Bloomberg)
Michael Robbins:Sudan’s government seems to be shifting away from Islamic law. Not everyone supports these moves. (The Washington Post) 
Susanne Schwarz, PhD candidate: How rape culture shapes whether a survivor is believed (The Harvard Gazette) 

From Forbes: Cites research conducted by the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University with the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/08/26/where-protests-have-been-rocking-the-us-infographic/#1f38f9cc5a4e

From Synced: Princeton researchers Zachary Teed and Jia Deng were awarded Best Paper during the virtual 16th European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV). The award recognizes their work developing a new end-to-end trainable model for optical flow.  https://syncedreview.com/2020/08/24/eccv-2020-best-paper-award-goes-to-princeton-team/

Princeton climate modelers developed the world’s first coupled ocean-atmosphere model, using physical laws and present Earth conditions to develop mathematical algorithms that can predict how Earth’s climate will respond to different conditions in the future — and to understand what drove climate changes in the past. Funneling data into the models are Princeton oceanographers and field geologists who have fanned out across the globe to understand what oceans and ecosystems are doing today. And paleoclimatologists have been using fossils, pollen records, ice cores and other tools to study how the global climate has already changed in the planet’s long history.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/08/28/understand-past-understand-future-climate-science-princeton

How did Princeton develop strength in energy research? From the declassification of fusion and the establishment of PPPL to the creation of CEES in 1971 to the founding of the Andlinger Center, the history spans more than 50 years.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/08/21/tough-timely-and-team-driven-50-years-energy-research

Princeton University will have a major leadership role in a new Co-Design Center for Quantum Advantage, headquartered at Brookhaven National Laboratory and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The center will receive up to $115 million over five years to develop materials, devices, software and applications that will serve as a platform for the next generation of quantum computing capabilities. The goal is to overcome the limitations of today’s early stage quantum computers and propel the field forward to unlock new capabilities to tackle real-world challenges.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/08/26/princeton-plays-major-role-new-115-million-quantum-science-center

From Town Topics: Entries are open through this Sunday, August 30. Winners will be announced during the Museum’s Nassau Street Sampler Virtual Festival on Thursday, September 3. The Fest will include online lotería, trivia, art-making, chef videos, student performances, and a virtual dance party.http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2020/08/26/pu-art-museum-hosting-art-re-creation-challenge/

From Forbes: Princeton University is ranked as the ninth best employer in New Jersey out of the 75 listed. Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to pinpoint those organizations liked best by employees in its second annual ranking of America’s best employers by state.https://www.forbes.com/best-employers-by-state/#751345ff487a

From Money: Princeton is ranked third out of the 730 schools listed. Money weighed more than 20,000 data points, including tuition fees, family borrowing, and career earnings to come up with the rankings.https://money.com/best-colleges/

The Graduate Scholars Program, aimed at supporting underrepresented students in their graduate studies at Princeton University, welcomed 55 students from 28 academic departments this fall. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program held its opening retreat online, including a panel where advanced graduate students shared their experiences with incoming GSP scholars.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/08/28/graduate-scholars-program-aims-improve-graduate-experience-students

From ROI-NJ:

ROI-NJ presents its first ROI Influencers: Higher Education list to honor the best of the best with groupings that include presidents, deans and directors, association leaders, generous donors, service providers, and athletic overseers. President Eisgruber is listed under the category “College presidents: The head of the class.” Princeton’s Coleen Burrus, Sir Steven Cowley, and Rodney Priestley are listed under the category “Deans and directors.” 

ROI’s editors on President Eisgruber: 

We get it, with Princeton the No. 1-ranked school in the country for the past nine years, it’s easy to put Eisgruber among the leaders in the state. But, while we should honor Princeton’s glorious past, in this time of uncertainty and uneasiness, it’s essential that Eisgruber be cited for the present. Eisgruber handled the university’s decision to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from campus with an impressive level of transparency and self-reflection. And his thoughtfulness on how the university campus — and the nation itself — should handle the pandemic was a step above all others.https://www.roi-nj.com/2020/08/26/education/roi-nj-presents-our-first-roi-influencers-higher-education-list/

While this summer was not the one any of us expected at the start of 2020, Princetonians have used persistence and ingenuity to make the most of it – all while staying mindful of the public health practices necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19. Here are some examples:  

Virtual Internships: The University helped students pivot from their original plans to a wide variety of internships that are 100% digital. With assistance from Princeton’s vast alumni network, students have been able to participate in opportunities that spanned academic disciplines and service programs.  

Princeton Summer Journalism Program: Thirty-seven students from 20 U.S. states participated in the 2020 Princeton Summer Journalism Program, which was held virtually this year.  

Princeton University’s Materials Academy: The academy partnered with Mercer County Community College and Upward Bound, MCCC’s educational program for Trenton high school students, to teach students about developing their own apps.  

Summer Food and Nutrition Program: In collaboration with the Princeton Public Schools and three area nonprofits, Princeton University’s Summer Food and Nutrition Program has provided meals for local at-risk families, children and individuals throughout Mercer County. The program ran for six weeks, from July 7 through Aug. 16. 

Princeton University Preparatory Program: PUPP kicked off its 20th year in June. The seven-week program provides comprehensive college preparation to low-income, high-achieving students from five Mercer County high schools. Students are selected to become PUPP scholars through a competitive admissions process during ninth grade, and they participate in the program through high school graduation and their transition to college. 

Virtual events: Like so many other aspects of life, events at Princeton went virtual amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Such events included a panel on “Race in the COVID Era: What America’s History of Racism and Xenophobia Means for Today;” a conversation on the power of mentorship featuring Class of 2020 Valedictorian Nicholas Johnson; and a live edition of the “We Roar” podcast featuring Céline Gounder, M.D., Class of 1997, an infectious diseases specialist.  

Mentorship through basketball: Since the beginning of this summer, rising senior Jared Young and a group of friends have been mentoring kids in the York community through basketball. The group created a nonprofit called the See More Good Foundation. In addition to weekly basketball camps, the organization holds lessons about financial literacy.  

Keep reading for some of these and more stories on Tigers creating their own silver linings.  

Stay safe and healthy. 

Michael Hotchkiss, Ayana Gibbs, Jess Fasano, and Ben Chang 

Thirty-seven students from 20 U.S. states participated in the 2020 Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP), which was held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program, which is aimed at college-bound, low-income students, steeps them in rigorous journalistic practice, then guides them through the college admissions process during their senior year of high school. https://bit.ly/2Qi7e2M

How did Princeton develop strength in energy research? From the declassification of fusion and the establishment of PPPL to the creation of CEES in 1971 to the founding of the Andlinger Center, the history spans more than 50 years. https://bit.ly/34jZgi4