Changing Scenery: Glimpses of a Quieter Princeton

With undergraduates taking classes remotely, the Princeton campus looks quite different this fall. There were few bicycles on the racks at Firestone Library ahead of midterms week and no fresh flyers on the bulletin board outside McCosh Hall — just scraps and staples left over from the spring. Students got their meals in takeout containers from the dining halls and sat at safely distanced tables under tents outside.

Instead of hosting football games against Harvard and Yale, Princeton Stadium served as the home of the University’s asymptomatic COVID-19 testing program. Students, faculty, and staff who are on campus at least eight hours per week have been required to be tested regularly. (The University is moving toward decentralized testing, allowing some participants to pick up kits and return saliva samples to a drop box.) At building entrances, signs bear reminders from the Office of Environmental Health and Safety: “Wear a face covering inside” and “Training required for card access.” 

Despite the slower pace, life goes on at Princeton — in research labs and libraries, at construction sites, and alongside the local restaurants on Nassau and Witherspoon streets, which reopened in the summer with expanded outdoor seating. 

The images capture both the new sights and uncommon stillness of campus life this semester.