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Even Princeton

By Emily Rutherford - Nov 21st, 2008 at 4:26 pm

When students from Princeton joined representatives from other universities in New York City for a major march against the Vietnam War, they carried a banner that read, “Even Princeton.” Princeton is known for its inordinate political apathy, and most everyone on campus can only point to a single political actio–the Frist filibuster of 2005–that anyone actually heard about.

Today, however, some Princeton students (full disclosure: I’m one of them) made it not only onto the front page of The Daily Princetonian, but as far as the Blue Jersey blog and Andrew Sullivan. Why? Because the sanctity of Princeton sidewalks is at stake!

A core group of “concerned students” have gathered over 350 signatures on a petition in support of “Princeton Proposition 8,” which would establish that “only sidewalk use by sophomore [sic], juniors, and seniors is valid or recognized in Princeton.” Assuring passersby that they’re not froshophobic and that some of their best friends are freshmen, but they’d just prefer that freshmen stay on the grass, the group has also begun to advocate for dialogue about the possible establishment of “civil froshwalks,” in order to provide an equivalent way for freshmen to get to class. Waving signs and singing songs, the demonstration is now in its second below-freezing day (believe me, it’s cold out there!) and is expected to continue next week.

If you’re thinking the wording of this initiative sounds a little familiar, you’re probably right. Although the Princeton Proposition 8 group has asserted that its apparent resemblance to California’s Proposition 8 is a bizarre coincidence… well, it might just be a little more than that. After all, California’s example of arbitrarily taking away the rights of minorities through a majority vote has set such an excellent precedent that those concerned about freshmen on Princeton sidewalks now see where their duty lies.

Pictures of Princetonians singing, distributing flyers, and sign-waving, courtesy of Princeton student Scott Weingart, after the jump.

Tags: campus, civil rights, photography, Proposition 8