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This Week in Princeton University History for March 30-April 5

By April C. Armstrong *14

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a mid-spring Commencement confers a few dozen degrees, students are expressing concern about a campus chaplain, and more.

March 30, 1978—Barbara Schottenfeld ‘78’s “A Woman Suspended” opens at the Princeton Inn Theatre. She wrote and directed the play as her senior thesis project.

Poster with text: Princeton Inn College Theatre presents a new musical A WOMAN SUSPENDED by Barbara Schottenfeld March 30–April 2 and April 6–9 at 8 pm Call 452–6094 weekdays; 452–6449 eves. Image on poster: Stylized line drawing of a woman holding a peacock feather; she appears to have a tiny umbrella on her face
Poster for “A Woman Suspended,” 1978. General Princeton Theater Collection, Box 2.

April 3, 1888—Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle claims, erroneously, that Princeton students glued clothing to a statue on campus in advance of Anthony Comstock’s lecture to the Philadelphian Society.

April 4, 1944—At a Commencement ceremony in the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall, Princeton University confers 36 undergraduate degrees.

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY Princeton, New Jersey To Candidates for the Bachelor’s Degree at the end of the present term: Princeton University’s Commencement Exercises for undergraduates who complete the requirements for the bachelor’s degree at the end of the current term will be held in the Faculty Room, Nassau Hall, 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 4. The comparatively small number of candidates will make it possible for the President of the University to present to each candidate his own diploma. In order to assure an orderly procedure for presentation of diplomas it will be necessary before the Commencement Exercises to know who will and who will not be present. Please, therefore, kindly sign the enclosed post card, whether, if you successfully qualify for your degree, you will attend the Exercises, and return the card at your earliest convenience. Candidates who are in the armed forces will wear uniforms; all others will wear academic cap, gown, and hood. Academic costume may be rented from the University Store, and orders should be placed at once. There will be ample space in the Faculty Room for all families and friends of candidates who wish to attend the Exercises. Tickets will not be required for admission. Alexander Leitch Secretary of the University March 16, 1944.
Instructions provided to students graduating from Princeton University on April 4, 1944. Princeton University Commencement Records (AC115), Box 10.

April 5, 1990—Students express concern about a campus chaplain, Father John McCloskey, trying to persuade them not to take certain courses if they’re taught “by an anti-Christian.” McCloskey has distributed leaflets to students discouraging them from reading books deemed “against the Catholic faith.” Saying that his role is a position of trust, they assert, “The Opus Dei priest has violated that trust and has thus destroyed his credibility and has no place on the chaplaincy of a free and open university.”

MERCER HOUSE (illustration of a house) ACTIVITIES OF OPUS DEI IN PRINCETON
Pamphlet for Opus Dei’s Mercer House in Princeton, New Jersey, ca. 1989. Office of the Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel Records (AC144), Box S-000893.

Did you read the previous installment in this series?

Fact check: We always strive for accuracy, but if you believe you see an error, please contact us.

April C. Armstrong *14

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