Help save Princeton’s

On October 27th, Princeton announced that it is effectively cancelling all future Outdoor Action, Community Action, and DDA orientation trips for “budgetary considerations.” For more than 50 years, these small-group trips have welcomed students to Princeton and have been instrumental in building friendships, belonging, and a positive campus culture.

Moving trips to Fall Break & optional is an effective cancellation of the program. Don’t be fooled by “the programs are continuing.” Don’t let them convince you students were consulted and on board.

This is a shortsighted and out-of-touch budget cut. We are asking the University to reverse the decision.

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What changed

Starting in fall 2027, orientation shrinks from 12 days to 8, and the OA Frosh Trip, Community Action and DDA are no longer part of it. The University says the programs are continuing: they move to fall break, stay free and open to every student, and become optional. We think that is an ending in all but name. A trip two months into the semester, competing with midterms and plans to go home, will reach far fewer first-years, and it will no longer be how the class starts Princeton together. The stated reasons are “budgetary considerations” and feedback that orientation was too long.

What we’re asking for

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Take more action

Call President Eisgruber’s office

609-258-6100

Say something like this, in your own words:

Hi, my name is [your name], class of [year]. I’m calling about the recently announced changes to first-year Orientation, especially moving the OA Frosh Trip, Community Action and DDA to fall break. I think that this change will destroy one of the best programs at Princeton. Could you please pass along my concerns to President Eisgruber?

Staff will likely ask you to follow up by email.

Call Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun’s office

609-258-3056

Convey the same message: you’re concerned about the change, and you’d be happy to have a chance to explain why the OA Frosh Trip, CA or DDA matters to you.

Call AVP for Annual Giving Sue Walsh’s office

609-258-6207

Convey this decision changes how you think about AG, and you’re not alone.

Write to President Eisgruber and Vice President Calhoun

To: eisgruber@princeton.edu, rochelle.calhoun@princeton.edu
Cc: m.antonetti@princeton.edu

Please use your own words -- not our template or AI slop. Advocacy is most effective when it comes from a personal place. Some points you can consider when drafting:

Frosh Trip needs to be during orientation. OA Frosh Trip’s mission requires meeting students before they get into the rhythm of classes, athletics, and eating clubs. A trip two months into the semester will be a poorly attended backpacking club, not an orientation. The same is true of CA’s service trips and DDA’s dialogue groups: their value comes from reaching students in their first days, before routines set in.
The leader community will wither. OA Frosh Trip depends on continual replacement of the Leader cohort, and training those leaders requires institutional knowledge and culture. CA and DDA depend on their own student leaders in the same way. Stopping these programs for even a year or two will do irreparable harm.
Frosh Trip’s effectiveness is supported by evidence. Studies of the OA Frosh Trip and similar programs, while imperfect, link them to stronger social support and to more accurate beliefs about campus drinking. See the further reading.
Students seem not to have been consulted. A change this disruptive needs community feedback, and the budget rationale for cutting a volunteer-run program is hard to square with a record endowment.

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Send it to PAW or the Prince too

If you’re willing, share your thoughts publicly. This change needs to be communicated widely before it’s too late to fix it.

Princeton Alumni Weekly: email paw@princeton.edu. Up to 250 words for print, 500 for online.
The Daily Princetonian: email opinion@dailyprincetonian.com. Letters to the editor run 100 to 400 words.

Tell your classmates

Text or email your trip-mates, your leaders, the frosh you led, and anyone else from orientation you’re still in touch with. Having your friends hear it from you personally will help more than a social media post.