Princeton University is changing the school’s signature pre-frosh welcome event — Princeton Preview — after officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ruled on Tuesday that a Drexel University student who died from bacterial meningitis was killed by the same strain that infected eight students at Princeton.
Similar to Bulldog Days, Princeton Preview was originally a two-day program where prospective members of Princeton’s incoming freshman class could stay with a student, sit in on classes and attend special workshops. This year, Princeton administrators have shortened the program by scrapping its overnight component and ensuring that no visiting pre-frosh can stay overnight.
Princeton’s Dean of Admissions Janet Rapelye told the Daily Princetonian that students requiring financial assistance will still be flown in and out by the school and will be housed in hotels in Newark and Philadelphia if necessary.
“We’re doing this in an abundance of caution to limit the social gatherings on campus where there could be additional risk,” Rapelye said. The announcement was first made in an email to all Princeton undergraduates on Thursday evening.
A similar letter explaining Princeton’s adjustment of Princeton Preview will also be sent out to admitted students, she said. After discussions with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Princeton administrators have decided to vaccinate all incoming students upon their arrival on campus in the fall.
Rapelye said it was difficult to predict how the changes to the prefrosh event and the press that has surrounded the meningitis outbreak at Princeton will affect the school’s yield rate.
“We are hopeful that students and families will understand that it is safe to be on this campus, that it is safe to sit next to someone in class, that this is not transmitted through the shaking of hands,” Rapelye said.
Princeton’s yield last year was 68.7 percent. Earlier this evening, Princeton and the seven other Ivy League schools released regular decision results — Princeton’s acceptance rate was an all-time low 7.28 percent, slightly lower than last year’s 7.29 percent.