By April C. Armstrong *14

In this week’s installment in our recurring series, stolen lasagna is a topic of widespread discussion, students donate to a charity to combat yellow fever, and more.

November 12, 1975—An investigative report in the Daily Princetonian details widespread corruption and theft in the Department of Food Services. Although there are many more serious allegations, much of the concern centers on repeated thefts of multiple pans of lasagna. Emido Federico, the Wilcox cook making lasagnas, is said to be particularly skilled at his craft. The center of the scandal, General Manager for Facilities Thomas P. Root, is quoted: “When he cooks lasagna, the world needs to take lasagna. I guess it’s stupid.”

November 14, 1994—A panel of faculty members discusses a controversial new book, The Bell Curve, in McCosh 10. They disagree with Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein, the book’s authors, who claim that intelligence inherently varies by ethnicity. Politics professor Alan Ryan says, “I strain myself to be as objective as possible, but I find myself noting that this is a completely shabby piece of work.”

November 16, 1957—Charles Price writes in the Saturday Evening Post,

In Princeton, snobbery works in reverse. It is considered vulgar, for example, to refer to a man as “professor” or “doctor,” since one would suppose that his probably one or the other, anyway, if not both. Distinction of a sort can thus be gained by not going to college at all.

November 17, 1798—The Committee for the Relief of the Sick and Infirm Poor in the City and the Suburbs of Philadelphia receives $100 as a donation from the students of Princeton, forwarded by Jesse A. Pearson, Class of 1796, the Philadelphia Gazette will report. Yellow fever is an ongoing concern, given the recent outbreak in New York. With an enrollment of around 100, the average student donation is about $1. ($100 in 1798 will be about $2,500 in 2024 dollars.)

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

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