From Princeton Alumni Weekly: A new collective seeks to educate while also funding Black authors and booksellers. Turn The Page: A Movement to Lift Up Black-Owned Bookstores (TTP) is co-lead with others by Princeton alumni Edwin Rosales ’17 and Abigail Jean-Baptiste ’18. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/alumni-start-movement-lift-black-owned-bookstores

From Princeton Alumni Weekly: Princeton professors Carolyn M. Rouse and Paul Starr, and former Princeton trustee Randall L. Kennedy, discuss fundamental questions concerning social justice and free inquiry that get at the heart of any university’s mission. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/university-social-justice-and-free-inquiry

From Princeton Alumni Weekly: In his piece for the September 2020 Issue, President Eisgruber writes, “The COVID-19 pandemic confronts educators with an unrelenting stream of painful and unsatisfactory choices. On the one hand, personal engagement is important to teaching and learning. On the other hand, personal proximity enables the transmission of the COVID infection. That dilemma permeates nearly every imaginable aspect of college life, from classrooms, dining halls, and dormitories to gyms, theaters, and laboratories.”https://paw.princeton.edu/article/hard-decisions-about-uncertain-fall

From New Jersey Stage: Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, Department of French and Italian, and L’Avant-Scène will present the ninth annual Seuls en Scène French Theater Festival, this year taking place online from September 10 to 20. https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/2020/08/31/lewis-center-for-the-arts-to-present-seuls-en-scene-festival-online/
Related from Nj.com: C’est virtuel! Princeton French theater fest moves to online stage.

Since the launch of the Princeton Online Tutoring Network (POTN) in April, volunteer tutors from the University community have led more than 600 virtual tutoring sessions with K-12 students from underrepresented groups. Connecting with youth participants through partner organizations that offer academic help and enrichment, tutors have focused on subjects such as math, science and reading, as well as study skills and college preparation.The tutoring network is the brainchild of computer science professor Jaswinder Pal (JP) Singh, who hatched the idea together with his teenage son and daughter. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/09/04/princeton-online-tutoring-network-helps-bridge-educational-gaps-k-12-students

From The Daily Princetonian: As the world continues to battle the pandemic, applicants to the Class of 2025 will take part in an entirely virtual admissions cycle. https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/09/princeton-virtual-admissions-interviews-changes-writing-supplements

The ad hoc trustee-faculty-student-alumni committee is charged with developing general principles to govern questions about when and under what circumstances it might be appropriate for the University to remove or contextualize the names and representations of historical individuals honored on the Princeton campus.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/09/02/charge-ad-hoc-committee-principles-govern-renaming-and-changes-campus-iconography

On September 2, President Eisgruber updated the University on the Cabinet’s progress, emphasizing that addressing systemic racism means looking at Princeton as a whole, involving both scholarly initiatives and practical operations throughout the University. He noted that the Cabinet’s work on this vital topic “will continue throughout this year and beyond.”https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/09/02/update-and-overview-princeton-universitys-ongoing-efforts-combat-systemic-racism

More than 4,000 Princeton University students and employees approved to be on campus for the fall semester were tested during the first week of Princeton’s comprehensive asymptomatic COVID-19 testing protocol, which concluded Friday, Aug. 28. The testing, which is part of the University’s public health plan to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, is required for members of the University community who have been approved to be and are physically on campus for at least 8 hours per week. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/09/02/university-completes-first-week-asymptomatic-testing-protocol-reassuring-initial

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