For more than a century, Princeton University seniors have worn “beer jackets” to protect their clothing during reunions and graduation ceremonies. They are usually elaborately designed and chosen in a class-wide contest. With the selection process now marred by accusations of the use of generative AI, the Class of 2026 may carve a unique place in Princeton's history.
After two rounds of voting, the class jacket committee announced the winning design by Samuel Enriquez '26 last week. Almost immediately, members of the Class of 2026 accused the jacket, which featured a growling tiger surrounded by roses, to have been created by generative AI. By Saturday, that design had been replaced.
“[FreeFood] “AI slop bowl on Class of 2026 jacket,” read the subject line of a FreeFood listserv email from Derek Geng ’26 that the design was generated by AI about 40 minutes after the announcement, and the next day, Margaret Miao ’26 started a petition calling for transparency on whether the design was created with AI, which received more than 600 signatures.
“Our class jacket symbolizes the members of our class, but I don't think the generative AI program is a member of our class,” Miao said in an interview before the redesign.
One of her main motivations for starting the petition was to highlight the contest's rules prohibiting the use of AI, which were only made clear to the cover artists, including Miao. In the final round of ranked choice voting, artists were also asked to sign a form stating that their designs did not incorporate any AI-generated content.
An email from Class of 2026 Vice President Sol Choi ’26 said the design would “subject to AI detection” before being reviewed in the next round. It was unclear how the use of AI would be detected.
When asked if Enriquez's design passed AI detection, Choi referred to the email announcing the alternative design as a “prince” and said the Class of 2026 Graduation Council would not comment further.
The email announcing the new winning design by Xavier Foster '26 referred to his design as the “highest-ranked eligible jacket design,” suggesting Enriquez's design was disqualified. However, the email did not acknowledge the disqualification or explain why the original design was deemed ineligible.
“Prince” could not independently verify whether one or both of Enrique’s designs were created in part or in whole using generative AI. The original presentation included Enriquez's original design and a modified version created by Enriquez and the jacket committee. Some students pointed out visual artifacts characteristic of AI image generation programs, such as changes in the shape of the jacket and irregular colors. Enriquez did not respond to “The Prince” despite multiple requests for comment.
While most upperclassmen were happy with the design change, some students said communication from class council about the decision was opaque.
“While I feel pretty good about the design being changed after the initial design was disqualified, I think the situation was handled very improperly given the fact that there was no official statement,” wrote Jacob Jackson ’26.
Emma Jean Hermacinski ’26 also wrote that she was happy to see her original design disqualified following student protests.
“At a time when AI decline feels inevitable, it is reassuring to know that our voices matter,” she wrote.
Most seniors contacted by Prince also said they view the use of AI as problematic, regardless of whether their design won the initial competition.
“I think it’s important that the first design was created by AI because I’m sure AI would ruin other students’ entries that they spent hours and hours of hard work creating,” wrote Abigail Girma ’26. “I also think this speaks to the increasingly frightening tendency of the human eye to be unable to distinguish between man-made and non-artificial works of art.”
Olivia Lechner ’26 wrote that she was concerned about the impact that AI-generated designs would have on the class’s legacy.
“All alumni members talk about their seniors' jackets. It would have been pretty sad for the entire alumni network to find out we didn't even get our own design,” she wrote.
Miao said she is satisfied with the class committee's decision and looks forward to the impact it will have on future class committees.
“I hope this sets a precedent for transparency for years to come,” she said in an interview. “I'm happy to be able to create a design that I can confidently say was created by a member of my class.”
This is the first time that the Class Jacket Contest has clear rules governing the use of generative AI, but it remains to be seen how those rules will evolve as technology changes.
Class jackets will be distributed to seniors at senior checkout on Wednesday, April 29th and Thursday, April 30th.
Vitus LaRue is a senior news writer at Prince. He is originally from Pensacola, Florida, and typically covers community engagement, the state of higher education, and construction and architecture.
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