Exposing the Gaps in Princeton’s Facade of Economic Inclusivity

As I have come to learn through my conversations with low-income students, it is not a question of what can be changed at Princeton to make low-income students more comfortable (after all, what can we really ask for, but for Princeton to pretend to be something it will never be– a castle made for the poor).

Instead, it is about finding ways for each individual student to steel themselves to the realities of Princeton in the most sustainable way. Some students find friend groups with other low-income students, some students throw themselves into their studies, some students brave it with relentless motivation from their home life–the knowledge that they are their parent’s retirement plan.