In Short: February 2026

Following the cancellation of Wintersession, the University is deciding whether to begin the spring semester earlier in future years, which would likely move up Reunions and Commencement. Dean of the College Michael Gordin announced the potential changes to the academic calendar at the December meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community on behalf of the Faculty Committee on Classrooms and Schedules, which he chairs. Faculty are expected to vote on the measure in the spring, but the calendar would not change until 2028 at the earliest. 

Under the proposal being considered, the spring semester would begin every year on the Tuesday after Jan. 16. Erika Knudson, associate vice president of advancement communications, told PAW via email: “The Office of Alumni Engagement has informed alumni volunteer leaders of the potential for a 2028 Reunions calendar change, and we look forward to working with the Committee on Reunions volunteers on communications and planning in 2027 if the faculty approves the new schedule.”

President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 received the Gold Honor Medal for distinguished service to society and humanity from the National Institute of Social Sciences on Dec. 9. Frederick Larsen ’82, the institute’s board president, presented the award. This year’s other honorees were Harvard labor economist Claudia Goldin, a Nobel laureate and former Princeton professor; and Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Students broadly supported a pair of Undergraduate Student Government referendums during the annual USG officers election held in late November. Of the students who voted, 95% backed a call for the University to either restore the “independent” dining status or give room-draw preference to students who are not in eating clubs and don’t have an unlimited meal plan. The other referendum, which urges Princeton to divest its holdings in PetroTiger I, an investment partnership that earns income from mineral rights, was backed by 76% of voters. When a referendum passes, the USG sends copies of it to relevant parties at the University.