By April C. Armstrong *14

In this week’s installment in our recurring series, a football game continues to provoke controversy months after the fact, students oppose social security pensions, and more.

January 8, 1901—The Trenton Evening Times comments on a new development in athletic programming:

At last Princeton students have decided to organize a basketball team. This action was taken simply because all of the other colleges have teams and the game is rapidly becoming the greatest of all indoor winter sports, notwithstanding the reports of the “sore head” sporting editor of the Philadelphia Ledger to the contrary.

January 9, 1885—Controversies related to the result being ruled a scoreless tie between Princeton and Yale’s football teams in the Thanksgiving Day football game are ongoing.

January 10, 1936—Of students polled, 59% oppose old age pensions. No students polled support the Townsend Plan, which proposes to give $200 per week to each citizen over the age of 60. Students have a general consensus that the appropriate retirement age is 65.

January 11, 1988—In an interview published in the Daily Princetonian, Ralph Nader ’55 reflects on his time as a student.

Like, a major act of student rebellion would be not to wear white buck shoes. Everybody wore white buck shoes. The minute you walked into the first day of classes—the first day at class—they would take you down to the clothing store on Nassau Street and you’d walk in and they said those were what you wear.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

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