-
This Week in Princeton History for March 4-10
In this week’s installment in our recurring series, a student is disciplined for attempting to woo a woman dishonestly, the proposed new chapel design is controversial, and more.
-
“I Am Concerned Over Discrimination…In High and Unnatural Places”: The Weekend Martin Luther King, Jr. Preached in Princeton University Chapel, Part I
In 1958, the Dean of Princeton University Chapel, Ernest Gordon, invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to its pulpit.
-
This Week in Princeton University History for May 8-14
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a speaker urges students to refuse to support war in their jobs, a senior’s mustache is admired, and more. May 8, 1964—The Committee on Student Life votes to recommend to the Board of Trustees that mandatory chapel attendance (known as the “chapel rule”) be abolished for Princeton…
-
This Week in Princeton History for June 24-30
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the sophomores conduct their annual end-of-year book burning ritual, women are enrolled in a course for the first time, and more. June 25, 1980—Ernest Gordon, Dean of the Chapel since 1955, retires.
-
This Week in Princeton History for May 29-June 4
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the University Chapel is dedicated, a professor spirits a Chinese dissident to safety, and more. May 30, 1928—The University Chapel, which replaces the destroyed Marquand Chapel, is dedicated in a Sunday morning service. It…
-
This Week in Princeton History for April 11-17
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Swedish royalty visit campus, mysterious postcards from Boston arrive, and more. April 11, 1935—Compulsory chapel attendance is abolished for juniors and seniors; it will be abolished for sophomores in 1960 and freshmen in 1964.
-
“This Ceremony Was Not Sanctioned”: Gay Marriage at Princeton
With the policy that young lovers of the same sex may no longer sign the marriage register and that Michael Beer and Jason Rudy will have a retractory asterisk placed by their entry, neither side of the aisle gets what it wants. … No one who has attended ours, the most pragmatic of all universities,…
-
Interview with Dean Ernest Gordon and tour of University Chapel, 1977
Today’s post is written by Rev. Frederick Borsch ’57, former Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel 1981-1988. “A sermon in stone” is a familiar description of the Princeton University Chapel, and it is used to introduce this 1977 film tour of the Chapel’s architecture and windows through an interview with its then Dean Ernest…
This blog includes text and images drawn from historical sources that may contain material that is offensive or harmful. We strive to accurately represent the past while being sensitive to the needs and concerns of our audience. If you have any feedback to share on this topic, please either comment on a relevant post, or use our Ask Us form to contact us.