“The work that The Standard does is inspiring and has been a beacon of light for my experience at Princeton.”
— Fedjine Victor ‘22, Member
Our Story
The Standard was created in Fall 2016 as an informal space for students who identify as Black women to come together (primarily over dinner) to connect with peers, culturally-conscious staff members, faculty members, administrators and alums who also identify as Black women. It is an equitable holding space to reflect upon individual and shared experiences, while challenging some of the normative thinking around Black woman-ness at Princeton. Past events have included, fall and spring group dinners facilitated and attended by Black women faculty, staff, and administrators. We have hosted documentary viewing events preceded and followed by group discussions, offered yoga sessions, group painting events, hosted “real” conversations about life after Princeton and so much more.
In addition to its community-building efforts, The Standard recognizes that as a society we have all been subjected to many traumatic events, some more recently relating to Covid-19, social isolation, and heightened political and racial tensions. These events have negatively impacted the mental health of many, but especially Black women.
Given the past silencing of Black girl and Black woman trauma, The Standard seeks to give voice especially for the Black women at Princeton. We do so by creating accessible healing communal spaces and promoting connection to both formal and informal mental health and wellness resources. Acknowledging that many Black women are left out of the discourse surrounding mental health and that such silencing is culturally reinforced through archetypes like the “strong Black woman,” we also attempt to disrupt those patterns by setting our own “standard” for self and group care. Our members utilize research-informed approaches to facilitate partnered wellness and community-building programming for Black women, and create avenues for students, alums, staff, faculty, and administrators alike to be vulnerable in shared space. While we do our best to introduce members to a range of positive coping strategies and self-care practices, we also acknowledge our limitations, and promote utilization of clinical resources when needed and holistic ways to support ourselves and each other within and beyond this group.
“The Standard is simply a collective of Black women affiliated with Princeton University (from alumni to students to faculty to staff members, etc.) who gather together to unwind, discuss, and just generally rejuvenate ourselves. The group was started at the beginning of my freshman year and now I’m a recently graduated alum, yay and hooray, so it’s been a while. We’re called The Standard because during our very first informal meeting with Dr. Andrews, I reflected on the underlying pressure to live up to the so-called Princeton standard and ideal, wanting to reject that ideal and instead choose to live up to my own standard. The motto stuck and during that meeting we decided to bask in the fact that we (Black women) are The Standard regardless of what the community, or society in general, says or does. Ever since then, The Standard has been a space where I feel the most authentic on campus and my feelings and worries are validated.”
— Mofopefoluwa Olarinmoye ‘20, Founding Member, Alumnae Advisory Board
“The Standard event that I attended in the fall was the first time I really felt at home at Princeton. It was amazing to be in environment with so many talented and wonderful women and Princeton and it was great to see some of the faculty I would be spending my four years with. I also was not expecting to find oxtail anywhere near Princeton so that was a welcome surprise that wouldn’t have happened without The Standard (thank you to everyone that organized the event, particularly the catering). Like [many others], I deal with imposter syndrome, especially in my STEM classes where there are not many, if any, other Black women. The Standard has been a great way for me to connect with other people at Princeton that share similar experiences with me and it was a great way for me to meet the upperclassmen that I now call friends.”
— Naomi Oke ‘23, Member
“At Princeton I’ve had many cases of imposter syndrome, so the idea of rejecting the ideals that tend to exclude us and instead redefining ourselves as setting the bar really resonates with me. in this community, I look forward to connecting with Black women on all levels of Princeton, especially since I didn’t have many other opportunities to bond with Black women who are staff/faculty/admin/alum in my first two years here. I also look forward to embracing myself as THE Standard and kicking imposter syndrome in the booty!”