Opinions

For an Affirming Affirmative Action: How An Attempt at Increasing Diversity Ironically Decreases It

          A while ago, I read an article called “Affirmative Action is Over. Should Applicants Still Mention Their Race?” A line in the article illustrated the...

Re-examining Lawrenceville Student Activism

          On a Tuesday in March, year 1229, students from the University of Paris entered a tavern in the quarter of Saint Marcel. After some rowdy...

Letter to the Editor: A response to “The Case for American Communism” published in Opinions on May 26, 2023

          Mr. Gupta’s article, “The Case For American Communism,” is a laudable exercise in scholarly debate and an opportunity for diversity of views. All high schools...

A Chance to Create

The last time the late-summer sun beat down on Lawrentians in formal attire, the Class of 2026 had only spent about a week on campus. At last year’s Convocation, fanning...

From Pariah to Palatable

On the first anniversary of Earth Day in 1971, the “Crying Indian” ad campaign from the environmental organization, Keep America Beautiful (KAB), showcased an indigenous man distressed by the amount...

The Intervention Dilemma

In the past year, the United States gave $75 billion of financial, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to support the country’s resistance to Russia’s invasion. While the vast majority...

Senior Reflection

When it comes to Lawrenceville, I’ve always been a cynic. For years, I’ve run from the Hype Squad and joked about this school’s various pitfalls; the term “hellville” is ingrained...

The Obesity Epidemic in America: Investigating the Causes and Solutions

Americans often view obesity as a personal issue that people must resolve for themselves. While it’s all too common nowadays to blame overweight individuals for their weight gain, obesity rates...

How to Combat Simmering School Spirit

This Wednesday, Lawrenceville hosted Community Day, a day designed to tackle the school’s cultural problems with our usual strategy: students gathered around Harkness tables, coming up with solutions in small,...

Mifepristone Ruling: American Women’s Temporary Win

On Friday May 2, the Supreme Court ruled that the abortion drug Mifepristone will remain available to the public. In light of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, some challenged...

Not Your Model: The Negative Effects of the Model Minority Myth

The month of May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the contributions of AAPI individuals in American history. It is important to understand...

When Lville Alumni Talk, Students Listen

Lawrenceville prizes its alumni network. Alumni events range from Hong Kong, London, New York City, San Francisco, and many other cities worldwide. The alumni magazine, The Lawrentian, is published on...

The Road Ahead: Weighing the Effects of President Biden's Electric Vehicle Goal

This month, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its plans to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) production to meet President Biden’s 2021 goal for 50 percent of vehicles sold in 2030 to...

Interim Interventions: How Revised Responses Promote Performativity Over Reflection

With interim comments coming out earlier this week, Lawrentians are reckoning both with how to respond to the last written feedback from their teachers each term and the new format...

Splash: The Winning Formula for Fun and Fund

Every spring, Lawrenceville buzzes with excitement as students prepare for Splash, a campus-wide game of ‘assassin’. For $8, students receive a target—another student they must squirt water on—and a plastic...

Sustaining Our Social Life: Managing Social Events Without Saturday Classes

Last August, Lawrenceville announced there would only be three Saturday classes during the Spring Term. Group chats buzzed with excitement and disbelief as arguably the most dreaded aspect of Lawrenceville...

Beyond Wellness Day: Continuing the Mental Health Discussion

At Lawrenceville, not only do students deal with the universal difficulties of teenhood such as stress, insecurities, and relationships, for many Lawrencians, the School’s demanding nature can introduce additional, unique...

Why “Raising Awareness” Isn’t Enough: Lessons on Advocacy

It’s Earth Month once again, so I thought I’d share the two most common mindsets at Lawrenceville (and beyond) whenever people discuss climate change: 1. Oh no, there’s no way...

Touch Some Grass: An Open Letter to Lawrenceville

Students with their necks craned downwards while scrolling across the bright blue lights of their cell phone screen is an all too familiar sight at Lawrenceville. At the tables of...

Don't Blame ByteDance

Whether it is through a new dance trend, skits, lip-syncing out-of-pocket audios, or Ice Spice dropping her latest banger, you’ve probably heard of the viral app TikTok, a social media...

Let's Talk About Climate Change: How Acknowledging out Views Can Let Us Proceed

Last weekend, I sat in my basement as pouring rain pounded on the roof and the sound of thunder and lightning echoed through the sky. Like many Lawrentians, I refreshed...

Written, Directed, and Produced by ChatGPT: How the Rise of Generative AI Will Change the Media Industry Forever

With the arrival of ChatGPT, several ethical and social concerns regarding generative AI—artificial intelligence that creates its own work—have surfaced. Rather than simply analyzing data or generating numbers, generative AI...

Devenir Lawrentienne

Over the past week, Lawrenceville hosted three Discovery Days, inviting 700 freshly admitted students and their families to experience an authentic slice of campus life. Incoming cars were engulfed by...

Revisiting Revisit Day: Transparency as the Key to Discovery on Discovery Day

“Wanna walk with me to hype squad tomorrow?” someone asks me. I shoot off a response as homework, upcoming assignments, and personal hang-ups swirl in my mind. It isn’t until...

Breaking News: Fake News is Out, Says New Jersey

Do Covid-19 vaccines contain injectable traceable microchips? Is Elvis still alive? Was Planet Nibiru headed straight for Earth? Social media has allowed questions like these to circulate unchecked, deceiving uninformed...

Closing the Chapter on Unequal Pay: On Dismantling the Pay Barrier for Latinas

In 2016, Olympic Soccer Gold Medalist and FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion Carli Lloyd said, “When I joined four teammates in filing a wage-discrimination complaint against U.S. Soccer late last...

Evaluating Our Evaluation System

As I walk around campus, I can’t help but overhear comments like “Man, I cannot believe the grade I just got on that test!” or “I need to get a...

A Farewell to Blasphemous Blades

One of my favorite shows is Downton Abbey, a British television series that follows the trials and tribulations of an English aristocratic family. What catches my eye in every episode...

The Colossal Caffeine Crisis

Early one morning, I was cramming for a geometry exam when I smelled something that could only be described as a mixture of grapefruit and battery acid. Turning toward the...

America: Episode MMXXII — The Donald Strikes Back

This November’s midterm elections are some of the most heated that we have seen in years. With all seats in the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the Senate, and...

Let's Get to the Root: Looking Beyond DeSantis's Immorality

On September 14, some 50 migrants exited two charter jets and stepped onto Martha’s Vineyard—a Massachusetts island renowned for its wealthy and politically well-connected residents, including the Obama family and...

Crossing The (Border) Line: DeSantis's Abuse of Power

On September 14, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flew 48 Venezuelan asylum-seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in a “political stunt” that has garnered national attention and exacerbated existing tensions...

Give Change a Chance: Why We Shouldn't Discount Tsai Just Because We Can't Find the Napkins

Tsai Commons, Lawrenceville’s long-anticipated new dining hall, made its grand debut last week. Within its sleek brick facade and iconic arched roof lies a brand new, modern facility with expansive...

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Housemates Closer

To the boys of the Raymond House:   Navigating the vast campus, adapting to Harkness-based learning, and abiding by rules that you’ve never followed in your life before (including, but...

Beyond Extremist Politics: Why It's Time for a Valid Third Party

Right now, we find ourselves in a political era like no other in our nation’s history.  Fueled by the influence of social media and the easy spread of misinformation, our...

Plastic, Plastic, Everywhere: Why New Jersey's Plastic Bag Ban is One Step Forward

Each of my grocery store visits this past summer seemed to always be accompanied by a now-familiar sight: an exasperated shopper standing by the check-out area looking at their groceries...

God Save the Queen... But Not Too Much

On Thursday, September 8, Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96. During her reign, she appointed 15 prime ministers, saw the dissolution of the British Empire, and...

Dear God, It's Really Not Your Place

God is not a fact. So I’ve always wondered: if we aren’t able to verify the existence of God, why is God always right? Are what we believe to be...

Don't Suffer Firearms and Fools Gladly

A mid-July Economist/YouGov poll found that six in 10 registered voters consider guns to be a “very important” issue in the upcoming elections. In response to these concerns, state governments...

Revamping Student Life at Lawrenceville: Placing Greater Emphasis on Lawrenceville's Mental Health Resources

Dear Lawrenceville,   I believe that I speak for many of us students when I say that we need help. Since my two years of being here, I’ve noticed that mental...

Lawrenceville Town Hall: A Long-awaited Precedent

This past Winter Term, a mysterious poem of unknown origin ignited a cold Lawrenceville campus, brewing heated discussions and bringing about a widespread sense of dissatisfaction that culminated in a...

Covid-19's Not Over Yet, So Why Are We Acting Like It Is?

The chatter in my D Period class continued as normal as we discussed the possibility of no longer wearing masks on campus anymore. “How does [the administration] decide if we...