Princeton University
Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall is the oldest building on campus. Begun in 1754 and completed in 1756,[16] it was the first seat of the New Jersey Legislature in 1776,[45] was involved in the battle of Princeton in 1777,[16] and was the seat of the Congress of the Confederation (and thus capitol of the United States) from June 30, 1783 to November 4, 1783.[46] It now houses the office of the university president and other administrative offices, and remains the symbolic center of the campus.[47] The front entrance is flanked by two bronze tigers, a gift of the Princeton Class of 1879.[16] Commencement is held on the front lawn of Nassau Hall in good weather.[48] In 1966, Nassau Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[49]
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[edit]Residential colleges
Princeton has six undergraduate residential colleges, each housing approximately 500 freshmen, sophomores, some juniors and seniors, and a handful of junior and senior resident advisers. Each college consists of a set of dormitories, a dining hall, a variety of other amenities—such as study spaces, libraries, performance spaces, and darkrooms—and a collection of administrators and associated faculty. Two colleges, Wilson College and Forbes College (formerly Princeton Inn College), date to the 1970s; three others, Rockefeller, Mathey, and Butler Colleges, were created in 1983 following the Committee on Undergraduate Residential Life (CURL) report, which suggested the institution of residential colleges as a solution to an allegedly fragmented campus social life. The construction of Whitman College, the university's sixth residential college, was completed in 2007.
Rockefeller and Mathey are located in the northwest corner of the campus; Princeton brochures often feature their Collegiate Gothic architecture. Like most of Princeton's Gothic buildings, they predate the residential college system and were fashioned into colleges from individual dormitories.
Wilson and Butler, located south of the center of the campus, were built in the 1960s. Wilson served as an early experiment in the establishment of the residential college system. Butler, like Rockefeller and Mathey, consisted of a collection of ordinary dorms (called the "New New Quad") before the addition of a dining hall made it a residential college. Widely disliked for their edgy modernist design, the dormitories on the Butler Quad were demolished in 2007. Butler is now reopened as a four year residential college, housing both under- and upperclassmen.
Forbes is located on the site of the historic Princeton Inn, a gracious hotel overlooking the Princeton golf course. The Princeton Inn, originally constructed in 1924, played regular host to important symposia and gatherings of renowned scholars from both the university and the nearby Institute for Advanced Study for many years.[50]Forbes currently houses over 400 undergraduates and a number of resident graduate students in its residential halls. Butler and most of Forbes are in a different municipality, Princeton Township, from the rest of the main campus, which is in Princeton Borough.
In 2003, Princeton broke ground for a sixth college named Whitman College after its principal sponsor, Meg Whitman, who graduated from Princeton in 1977. The new dormitories were constructed in the Collegiate Gothic architectural style and were designed by architect Demetri Porphyrios. Construction finished in 2007, and Whitman College was inaugurated as Princeton's sixth residential college that same year.
The precursor of the present college system in America was originally proposed by university president Woodrow Wilson in the early 20th century. For over 800 years, however, the collegiate system had already existed in Britain at Oxford University and Cambridge University. Wilson's model was much closer to Yale's present system, which features four-year colleges. Lacking the support of the trustees, the plan languished until 1968. That year, Wilson College was established to cap a series of alternatives to the eating clubs. Fierce debates raged before the present residential college system emerged. The plan was first attempted at Yale, but the administration was initially uninterested; an exasperated alum, Edward Harkness, finally paid to have the college system implemented at Harvard in the 1920s, leading to the oft-quoted aphorism that the college system is a Princeton idea that was executed at Harvard with funding from Yale.
Princeton has one graduate residential college, known simply as the Graduate College, located beyond Forbes College at the outskirts of campus. The far-flung location of the G.C. was the spoil of a squabble between Woodrow Wilson and then-Graduate School Dean Andrew Fleming West. Wilson preferred a central location for the College; West wanted the graduate students as far as possible from the campus. Ultimately, West prevailed.[50] The Graduate College is composed of a large Collegiate Gothic section crowned by Cleveland Tower, a local landmark that also houses a world-class carillon. The attached New Graduate College departs in its design from Collegiate Gothic; it is reminiscent of the former dormitories of Butler College, the newest of the five pre-Whitman residential colleges.
[edit]McCarter Theatre
Main article: McCarter Theatre
The Tony-award-winning[51] McCarter Theatre was built by the Princeton Triangle Club, a student performance group, using club profits and a gift from Princeton University alumnus Thomas McCarter. Today, the Triangle Club performs its annual freshmen revue and spring musicals in McCarter. McCarter is also recognized as one of the leading regional theaters in the United States.
[edit]Art Museum
Main article: Princeton University Art Museum
The Princeton University Art Museum was established in 1882 to give students direct, intimate, and sustained access to original works of art that complement and enrich instruction and research at the university. This continues to be a primary function, along with serving as a community resource and a destination for national and international visitors.
Numbering over 72,000 objects, the collections range from ancient to contemporary art and concentrate geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America. There is a collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, including ceramics, marbles, bronzes, and Roman mosaics from faculty excavations in Antioch. Medieval Europe is represented by sculpture, metalwork, and stained glass. The collection of Western European paintings includes examples from the early Renaissance through the 19th century, with masterpieces by Monet, Cézanne, and Van Gogh, and features a growing collection of 20th-century and contemporary art, including iconic paintings such as Andy Warhol's Blue Marilyn.
One of the best features of the museums is its collection of Chinese art, with important holdings in bronzes, tomb figurines, painting, and calligraphy. Its collection ofpre-Columbian art includes examples of Mayan art, and is commonly considered to be the most important collection of Pre-Columbian art outside of Latin America. The museum has collections of old master prints and drawings and a comprehensive collection of over 27,000 original photographs. African art and Northwest Coast Indian art are also represented. The Museum also oversees the outdoor Putnam Collection of Sculpture.
[edit]University Chapel
Main article: Princeton University Chapel
The Princeton University Chapel is located on the north side of campus, near Nassau Street. It was built between 1924 and 1928, at a cost of US$2.3 million,[52]approximately US$31.1 million in 2012 dollars. Ralph Adams Cram, the University's supervising architect, designed the Chapel, which he viewed as the crown jewel for the Collegiate Gothic motif he had championed for the campus.[53] At the time of its construction, it was the second largest university chapel in the world, after King's College Chapel, Cambridge.[54] It underwent a two-year, US$10 million restoration campaign between 2000 and 2002.[55]
Measured on the exterior, the Chapel is 277 feet (84 m) long, 76 feet (23 m) wide at its transepts, and 121 feet (37 m) high.[56] The exterior is Pennsylvania sandstone, with Indiana limestone used for the trim.[57] The interior is mostly limestone and Aquia Creek sandstone. The design evokes an English church of the Middle Ages.[58]The extensive iconography, in stained glass, stonework, and wood carvings, has the common theme of connecting religion and scholarship.[53]
The Chapel seats almost 2,000.[59] It hosts weekly ecumenical Christian services,[60] daily Roman Catholic mass,[61] and several annual special events.
[edit]Murray Dodge Hall
Murray Dodge Hall houses the Office of Religious Life (ORL), the Murray Dodge Theater, the Murray Dodge Cafe, the Muslim Prayer Room, and the Interfaith Prayer Room.[62] The ORL houses the office of the Dean of Religious Life, Alison Boden,[63] and a number of university chaplains, including the country's first Hindu chaplain, Vineet Chander; and one of the country's first Muslim chaplains, Sohaib Sultan.[64]
[edit]Apartment facilities
Princeton university has several apartment facilities for graduate students and their dependents. They are Butler Apartments, Lawrence Apartments, and Stanworth Apartments.[65]
[edit]Sustainability
Published in 2008, Princeton's Sustainability Plan highlights three priority areas for the University's Office of Sustainability: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; conservation of resources; and research, education, and civic engagement.[66] Princeton has committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 without the purchase of offsets.[67] The University published its first Sustainability Progress Report in November 2009.[68] The University has adopted a green purchasing policy and recycling program that focuses on paper products, construction materials, lightbulbs, furniture, and electronics.[69] Its dining halls have set a goal to purchase 20% sustainable food products.[70] The student organization "Greening Princeton" seeks to encourage the University administration to adopt environmentally friendly policies on campus.[71]
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