In Short: March 2026

Linguistics will be offered as a Princeton major after a unanimous vote at the Feb. 3 faculty meeting. Currently, students can major in the subject through the independent major program, which 41 graduating students have done since the 2016-17 academic year, when a standardized concentration in linguistics was established. The Program in Linguistics, previously housed in the Council of the Humanities, became an independent academic unit in the fall. One senior and five juniors are majoring in linguistics this year. The program has four full-time faculty members and is hiring a fifth. 

Sukaina Shivji ’26 and Laura Zhang ’26 received one of Princeton’s highest honors, the Sachs Scholarship, named for Daniel Sachs ’60. Shivji, a molecular biology major from Staten Island, New York, will pursue a two-year degree through the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Public Health in Disasters. Zhang, a School of Public and International Affairs major from Sydney, Australia, plans to study at the University of Oxford in two master’s programs: criminology and criminal justice, and refugee and forced migration studies.

Brian Mhando ’26 was named one of 26 U.S. Gates Cambridge Scholars of the Class of 2026 and has received a full scholarship to pursue a postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge. Mhando, who is majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology and minoring in African studies, African American studies, and global health and policy, plans to study veterinary science and receive his M.Phil “in preparation for a career as an epidemiologist, with an initial focus on village health systems in East Africa,” according to a University announcement. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship aims “to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others,” according to its website. Approximately 50 international recipients will be announced in April.