Today is the first day of classes at Princeton University, so it’s time to talk about #Princethen!
Last year, we all had fun with the first #Princethen game on Twitter. You sent us on quite the scavenger hunt through Mudd’s collections! This year, we are trying a new version of the game. Instead of us going on a scavenger hunt, we’re sending you on a scavenger hunt. Departments across Princeton University have already agreed to participate, but anyone with a Twitter account can play along. This game is open to staff, faculty, students, and the general community.
Jamie Saxon, Humanities writer in the Office of Communications (@JamieSaxonArts), will show you how it’s done. I sent her this photo of Deborah Porter *89 studying in Gest Library in 1985 and she responded with a photo of Ragy Morkos ’18 studying in Gest Library in 2016:
Don’t worry if this seems like too much of a challenge; there are a few easier ones to set up, too. We had this fun exchange with Vincent Stanley in the Andlinger Center for the Humanities. This is our photo of the Chancellor Green Rotunda from 1889 alongside his from 2016:
Here are a few more details on what to expect. Between September 19 and September 23, @MuddLibrary will tweet out a photo of Princeton from the past using the hashtag #Princethen. Your job is to tweet back showing us what the same thing looks like now. Make sure it’s your own photography—no cheating stealing photos off the internet! If you are sending us photos of people, make sure those people are in on the game, too.
Sometimes we’ll give you a bit of direction; sometimes we’ll ask you to guess what we’ve shown you. At the conclusion of #Princethen, we’ll compile an album on Facebook with our favorite entries. We hope you’ll play along with us.