We’re Back with a New Fellow and Other Changes

As the new academic year begins, there are several updates to share. First, we’re excited to welcome Lia Opperman ’25 as PAW’s reporting fellow. Lia joined us in July, just weeks after graduating with an A.B. from the School of Public and International Affairs and a minor in journalism.

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Lia Opperman ’25

Allison Sullivan

She succeeds Hope Perry ’24, who served as PAW’s inaugural fellow in a one-year position created to give a graduating student or recent Princeton graduate who is interested in journalism the opportunity to contribute to PAW while helping us better cover the Princeton community and student body. After a successful year, Hope is now working as an education reporter at the Evanston RoundTable in Illinois.

Lia, who grew up in southern New Jersey, is off to a fast start, with several articles appearing in this issue and at paw.princeton.edu. As a student, she worked at The Daily Princetonian, where she served as director of outreach and as an editor for the investigations and news sections. She also interned at C-SPAN, Washington City Paper, and the Princeton Summer Journalism Program.

“I hope to produce stories that reflect the depth and diversity of the Princeton community while continuing to grow as a reporter and storyteller,” she said. “I really want to build trust with different campus communities and strengthen my ability to cover complex issues empathetically and with nuance.”

In other news, the financial crunch facing the University has reached PAW.

In May, the University announced that departments should prepare for budget cuts of 5% to 10%, to be phased in over three years, in response to reduced federal research funding and an expected increase of the endowment tax.

Since our memorandum of understanding with the University was signed in October 2021, the University has set and funded PAW’s operating budget. Revenue from non-University advertising has been used to fund special projects, such as the reporting fellowship, and may be tapped to offset some of the budget cuts.

To adapt, we’re making several changes, including:

• Returning to nonrecycled paper this November. We made the switch to fully recycled stock two years ago, but the higher costs and uncertainty surrounding tariffs make it difficult to continue for now.
• Asking alumni outside of North America to opt in to receive the print edition. The policy was implemented in the spring, and we will make updates as readers respond.
• Reducing duplicate mailings. Starting with this issue, we’ll send one copy to households where we believe both spouses are alumni. We know this isn’t an exact science, so we’ve set up a page at paw.princeton.edu where readers — married, international, or otherwise — can update their preferences.

These changes to print distribution are not mandatory. If you prefer to continue receiving multiple copies, just let us know.

We are also making smaller, more subtle changes that will hopefully go unnoticed by readers. Rest assured that our mission remains the same: to produce high-quality journalism that informs, educates, and entertains the Princeton community.