Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/1999/07/22/princeton_and_jewish_enrollment.php
Thursday, July 22, 1999
'He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton,' opens Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. 'No one had made him feel he was a Jew, and hence any different from anybody else, until he went to Princeton.'
The notion that Princeton is hostile to Jews has existed at least since Hemingway's Lost Generation. It recently resurfaced as the result of a four-article exposé by The Daily Princetonian. Chronicling the decline of Jewish students enrolled at Princeton, the articles raised eyebrows in the national media, earning coverage in The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
An anti-Semitic image has hounded Princeton for much of its history. The reputation was once deserved: until the 1950's Princeton employed admissions quotas that limited Jewish enrollment. In the 1980s, however, concerns about Princeton's past vanished when Jewish enrollment soared to about 18%.
Over the last ten years, however, the number of Jews at Princeton fell sharply. Since 1985, the Jewish population has declined by 40%, to 450 students in the class of 2002—approximately 10% of undergraduates.
Though the current percentage is consistent with schools like Dartmouth and Stanford—both have a Jewish population of 11%—it is far below Harvard and Yale, which feature Jewish undergraduate enrollments of 21% and 29%, respectively.
The disparity between Princeton and its peer institutions, which caused much controversy in the Princeton community—is forcing the campus to confront its past.
Princeton professor Stanley Katz recalls his decision to attend Harvard over Princeton: 'This was the last place in the Ivy League—except maybe Dartmouth—that was for me. It became clear to me that if not anti-Semitic, it wasn't congenial to Jews.'
Princeton endeavored to improve its image since Katz's day. Now, Katz heads Princeton's newly-inaugurated Center for Jewish Life.
The university's president, provost, and dean of students, moreover, are all Jewish.
Still, many at Princeton question the university's admissions policy in light of the slide in Jewish admissions. Some argue that the admissions office is targeting non-Jewish students, and specifically Asian-Americans, to achieve a desired proportion of students.
In an interview with The New York Times, Princeton Dean of Admissions Fred Hargadon (who has earned the nickname 'czar' from one professor) denied that any religious preferences exist in admissions. He also claimed that no preference is given to Asian-Americans.
Indeed, some Jewish schools are pleased with Princeton's effort to recruit their students. But others, such as Manhattan's Ramaz School, feel that Princeton purposefully neglects its top students.
'We just can't get access,' says Albert Gomez, the Ramaz School's college counselor.
Also in question is the admissions policy of geographic diversity, under which the university seeks a proportionate distribution of students from across the country. In an attempt to become more geographically diverse, Princeton seeks especially to attract and admit students from the South and Midwest. Since Jewish students tend to be concentrated in the Northeast and on the West Coast, the policy, some argue, has harmed Jewish enrollment.
A favoritism toward suburban applicants is also a possible reason for the decline, as many Jewish applicants are from urban areas.
There are other theories regarding the drop in Jewish admissions, named 'a slow pattern of attrition' by the Princetonian. Some feel that the decline is the result of a smaller number of Jewish applicants. Princeton's newfound athletic image may be unattractive to Jewish applicants. The university showcases several successful sports teams and has recently built a new football stadium worthy of an NFL team. Princeton recently placed 10th on Sports Illustrated's list of 'jock schools.'
Last fall, an Undergraduate Admissions Study Group recommended that Princeton increase its freshman class from 1,100 to as much as 1,250, and reserve the new spaces for 'academically excellent students.' This move toward a more intellectual student body could attract Jewish applicants.
Princeton may have a more serious image problem, however. The university has always been perceived as an aristocratic haven populated by the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, dominated by the pompous, uber-exclusive dining clubs. Even though the clubs' exclusivity has been largely deregulated, anti-Semitism ran rampant in the early and mid-1900's.
In 1958, for example, a disproportionate number of students rejected from acceptance in the clubs was Jewish. (Despite the history of these clubs, many Jews currently at Princeton are members and are strong proponents of the social system).
The whole debacle has left others wondering whether the Princetonian was simply manipulating statistics. The admissions office does not record student religious preferences, and many students choose not to disclose their religion.
One senior at Princeton refused to reveal that she is Jewish so that Jewish organizations, such as Hillel, would not shower her with unwanted paraphernalia.
'If you don't want to be solicited by campus organizations, then you're not going to fill out that sheet,' she told The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Many at Princeton reject the contention that Princeton's admissions policy is either intentionally or unintentionally anti-Semitic, and believe that the Princetonian's articles will only deter Jews from applying in the future.
Angered by suggestions that they are a mistreated demographic, many Jewish students defend Princeton.
'Maybe Princeton is labeled as a school Jews don't go to, but that's not true,' says junior Todd Rich, president of the Center for Jewish Life.
The Center, reports The New York Times, 'is a lively place, with a large kosher kitchen and a stream of events, from casino nights and swing dances to Talmud classes and Friday night services.'
A survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education found that Jewish enrollment at universities nationwide dropped from 16.8% in 1973 to 6.3% in 1998—making the drop at Princeton no extraordinary matter. Furthermore, Princeton's Jewish population, at 10%, is at least twice the percentage of the general population.
The decline of Jewish students may also be related to the departure of William Bowen, who left Princeton in 1988 after sixteen years as university president. He fought to bring Jewish students to Princeton and ensured that prospective students were aware that Princeton was not the anti-Semitic environment many perceived.
Jewish admissions dropped after Bowen left. Some say that the current president, Harold Shapiro, has not made the same effort to recruit Jewish students; they say that his own Jewish background makes it awkward for him to recruit students of his own religion.
Dartmouth College, too, has had a negative reputation among Jewish students. According to Alexandra Sheppard '92's senior thesis, the Dartmouth Class of 1935 was about 15-20% Jewish. Today, Jewish enrollment hovers around 10%.
'I have just been seething over the years that Dartmouth is perceived as anti-Semitic,' then-Dartmouth President James Freedman told The Los Angeles Times in February 1998. Rather than dispel the perception, however, Freedman often exacerbated the negative image by leveling charges of anti-Semitism at The Dartmouth Review and other campus groups.
At the same time, issues of religious accommodation, such Dartmouth's lack of a kosher dining hall or daily religious services, have detracted from Dartmouth's appeal among Jewish students. Dartmouth, too, is known to tinker with admissions policy.