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Date: February 12, 1996 Contact: Mary Caffrey (609) 258-5748
The 250th Anniversary of Princeton University
Feb. 23 Ceremony to Mark Official Start of Campus Celebration
Princeton, N.J. -- Princeton University will officially begin its 250th anniversary celebration on Friday, Feb. 23, in a ceremony that will feature an address by President Emeritus Robert F. Goheen, Class of 1940. The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.
President Harold T. Shapiro, who received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1964, will give remarks. Astronaut Daniel T. Barry, who received his Princeton Ph.D. in 1980, will present an anniversary banner that flew with him on the recent mission of the space shuttle Endeavour.
Other highlights of the ceremony will be the premiere of a poem and a fanfare commissioned for the anniversary celebration. The poem, ``Taking the Air with James McCosh, Prospect Garden, February 1996,'' will be read by its author, Paul B. Muldoon, Director of the Creative Writing Program and Professor of the Council of the Humanities and Creative Writing. The fanfare, composed by Milton Babbitt, William Shubael Conant Professor of Music, Emeritus, will be performed by members of the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia.
Princeton University has scheduled dozens of events and commissioned several projects to mark its founding in 1746 as the College of New Jersey. Although the institution was organized by educationally-minded Presbyterians, the charter issued Oct. 22, 1746, guaranteed equal access to any person, regardless of religion. This distinguished The College of New Jersey from its Colonial peers.
Originally modeled on Oxford and Cambridge of the 16th and 17th centuries, Princeton adopted the idea of training an elite for public service, which included assuming responsibility for the moral training of undergraduates. Around 1900 Princeton borrowed its preceptorial system from the elite British institutions. From the 19th-century German model, Princeton borrowed the concept of the graduate school and the pursuit of pure research. Many other changes were to come, including the decision to admit women undergraduates in 1969.
Today, Princeton students are a diverse group. They come from all 50 states and from more than 50 foreign countries. Minority students represent 23 percent of the undergraduate student body, and 46 percent of Princeton undergraduates are women. In the 1995-96 academic year, 43 percent of the student body will receive financial aid, the highest percentage in Princeton's history. The University makes its admissions decisions without regard to applicants' financial circumstances, and it provides financial aid to all who need it.
Princeton alumni have an extraordinary record of public service. The university has not been without a member in the U.S. Congress since that body began meeting in 1789. Two Princeton alumni, James Madison and Woodrow Wilson, have been President of the United States. Wilson served as the University's 13th president and is one of 11 Princetonians to serve as governor of New Jersey. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Wilson's famous oration, ``Princeton in the Nation's Service,'' which today is often expanded to include, ``In the Service of all Nations.'' The year 1996 also marks the 100th anniversary of the decision to change the college's name to Princeton University.
A lecture series examining many aspects of Princeton's history began in September 1995 and continues through Oct. 24, 1996. The lectures cover the development of various academic disciplines as well as the rise of intercollegiate athletics and the University's relationship with its host municipalities.
In addition to the lecture series, Princeton's yearlong celebration includes special events scheduled for the spring. A March 21-23 conference on higher education will be hosted by President Shapiro and President Emeritus William G. Bowen, who received his Princeton Ph.D. in 1958. Bowen is now president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Academic departments organizing spring conferences include architecture, astrophysics and mathematics. More conferences are planned for the fall. A dance concert is scheduled for April 11 at McCarter Theater, featuring prominent alumni choreographers who include David Rousseve and Jose Mateo.
Projects marking the occasion include a book, Princeton University: The First 250 Years, written by journalist Donald Oberdorfer, Class of 1952, and illustrated by J.T. Miller, Class of 1970 (Princeton University Press, 1995). To order the book, call 1-800-777-4726. A multi-dimensional, interactive computer tour of the campus is accessible on the World Wide Web.
The Feb. 23 ceremony comes on the eve of Alumni Day, which will feature speeches by the 1996 winners of Princeton's highest alumni honors. Oberdorfer will receive the Woodrow Wilson Medal, and Cornel R. West, who received his Princeton Ph.D. in 1980, will receive the James Madison Medal. Both will speak Saturday, Feb. 24.