Developing a Lake Campus

With more than 50 years of watching my Class Notes migrate in from the back page, perhaps I would be permitted a few comments regarding the planning for University expansion (On the Campus, Jan. 10). The particular charm of a college campus may derive from its pedestrian nature, i.e., the campus should be walkable. While mass transit can convey students, faculty, and staff from outlying locations to the campus, it should be possible that once there, everything is reasonably accessible on foot. (I say this even with the Olympic-level race from 48 University Place to the EQuad.) Expansion of classroom space and undergraduate dorms close to Lake Carnegie and beyond would be a very substantial change in the nature of the Princeton experience, at least at the undergraduate level.

As an aero engineering student, I recall the successful use of Forrestal for graduate education (and some undergraduate labs). Later, traffic on Route 1 became too difficult for aero faculty to sustain interest in Forrestal for teaching and office space. The MAE department then moved almost completely to campus. 

The land across Lake Carnegie can represent an opportunity to re-create the research park formerly a mile farther away at Forrestal, but without as much of a traffic problem. It could facilitate graduate education in science and engineering and might include conference and hotel space. The land could also be developed for graduate student (and junior staff) housing, addressing a critical issue for graduate-student life. All of this would not interfere with traditional Princeton campus life.