Search

This thesis examines the impacts of changes in American undergraduate admissions practices through a study of the Admission "Crisis" at Princeton University from 1963 to 1971. By examining this historically important case, I highlight the processes the university went through to admit both undergraduate women and minority students, along with some of the backlash relating to those changes. During this period, Princeton Admissions personnel worked to reform admissions practices both at the university and nationally. John Osander, the Director of Admissions at Princeton, wanted to help preserve the university's elite status and genuinely believed in the benefits of diversity. He understood the institutional advantages that Princeton would gain from a more diverse student body and helped other university administrators understand that this change would strengthen Princeton. However, Osander struggled with change management and did not fully convince alumni that new admissions practices and procedures were important. As a result, a group of anti-change alumni banded together to try and discredit Osander's work. In the end, the Admission Office began admitting both women and minority students in larger numbers. However, Osander's vision for a Cooperative Project in College Admissions was not fully realized when he resigned from his job at Princeton in July of 1971. As he stepped down from his position tensions over the changes he had helped to create seemed to fade. While Osander left a career in admissions, the legacy of his work remained. The Cooperative Project limped along until 1975 when it reemerged as the Common Application. The enduring legacies of these events are a more diverse undergraduate population at Princeton and the establishment of the precursor to the modern Common Application.

The European Union (EU) policy of gender mainstreaming has been discussed at length in the context of embedding gender equality into the EU's internal market. The effectiveness of gender mainstreaming has been less analysed in other areas of EU competence. This PhD draws on feminist theory to explain the EU's gendered treatment of vulnerable women within the asylum system. Using a range of theories of gender equality, notably separate spheres, radical feminism, and intersectional feminism, the thesis analyses the relevant asylum legislation, judgements and guidelines in international law, EU law and the national legal systems of two EU member states: the United Kingdom and Ireland. These feminist theories provided a perspective which allowed this research to explain how the EU has failed to address significantly and meaningfully the gendered aspects of the asylum system in member states. Despite the EU's stated attempts to ensure through gender mainstreaming that the member states rely on a theory of gender equality which provides protection to women in the asylum system, this PhD found both that the EU has not sufficiently embodied an intersectional approach to gender and asylum and that member states are still more influenced by their national political culture and treatment of gender equality than that of the EU. This thesis uses that research to make recommendations at both an EU and national level to help the EU and its member states better incorporate gender mainstreaming in order to ensure human rights protection for vulnerable women. As the EU manages increasing refugee applications and increasing nationalist sentiment, this presents an opportunity to embed more thoroughly intersectional gender mainstreaming in both EU asylum policy and the EU's political culture.

Sea nettles (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) have become abundant in the estuaries of the Mid- Atlantic States. Their ample numbers are an indicator of a disturbed ecosystem. Various factors have been attributed to the rise in numbers of sea nettles including eutrophication, overfishing, global warming, construction and species introduction. Bamegat Bay is a highly eutrophic system with excess nitrogen and organic carbon arriving in the bay via runoff and watershed waste inputs. Many commercial fisheries in Bamegat Bay have ceased to exist and the remaining fisheries are dwindling. An overabundance of medusae and polyps will further impact fisheries since jellyfish compete with larval fish when young and prey on planktonic eggs and larvae as they mature. While observations of the medusa stage indicate a disproportionate abundance in the northern part of the bay, quantification of these differences has not taken place. Information about the life history of the Chrysaora quinquecirrha polyp in the field is limited. This research focused on undertaking a settlement survey of polyps from eight sites in Bamegat Bay. Results showed initial settlement in July with continued settlement observed until November. Of the eight sites monitored monthly, only two sites showed settlement and both of these occurred in the northern portion of the bay. Peak settlement was seen at Cattus Island during August with 1,528 polyps collected from that settling plate. Water quality assessment indicated that these sites had lower salinities than all of the other sites except Toms River. Previous research in the Chesapeake Bay has established that Chrysaora quinquecirrha polyps are only found in waters of 5-20ppt salinity. Polyp growth and strobilation will directly determine adult medusa populations. Therefore, the distributions of polyps and medusae are most likely linked and reflect differences in water quality. Other factors may also influence polyp populations including the other species found on the plates with the polyps. With continued research, a count of polyps could be used to predict future medusae populations. This study reports on the temporal and spatial patterns of polyp distribution in Bamegat Bay and the differences in physical characteristics and species composition at the sites where polyps were located.