Iran Entanglements Ignite Two Rallies, In Town and at P.U.

By Donald Gilpin

American politics continues to interweave and often clash with Iranian politics, and last week those entanglements precipitated two rallies in Princeton.

The first took place in Hinds Plaza on Wednesday to protest against President Trump’s announcement that the United States would be withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran; and the second was held on Friday evening at Princeton University outside Frist Campus Center to show support and solidarity for Xiyue Wang, a Princeton graduate student who has been imprisoned in Iran for almost two years. more

US Sen. Cory Booker Selected as 2018 Class Day Speaker at Princeton University

United States Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has been selected to deliver the keynote address at the University’s Class Day ceremony on Monday, June 4.

Written by Princeton University’s Office of Communications

Class Day, which takes place the day before Commencement and is held on historic Cannon Green, is being organized by members of the graduating class and is one of Princeton’s oldest traditions. The ceremony also includes remarks by class members, the recognition of seniors for their accomplishments, and the induction of honorary class members. more

Fund for Irish Studies at Princeton University presents “John Redmond and Edward Carson: Bloodshed, Borders and the Union State”

Alvin Jackson, the Sir Richard Lodge Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh. (Photo by Johnny Bambury)

A lecture by Alvin Jackson, the Sir Richard Lodge Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh

Acclaimed Irish historian and scholar Alvin Jackson will conclude the spring 2018 Fund for Irish Studies series by giving a lecture, entitled “John Redmond and Edward Carson: Bloodshed, Borders and the Union State,” on Friday, April 27 at 4:30 p.m. in East Pyne Room 010 on the Princeton University campus.  The lecture is free and open to the public. more

Patrick Kennedy is at Home in New Jersey

By Taylor Smith 

Photography by Tom Grimes

The youngest son of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Virginia Joan Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy has put down roots in Brigantine, New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and four children, Harper, Owen, Nora, and Nell. Amy is expecting their fifth child in May. A New Jersey native, Amy has more than 15 years’ experience working in New Jersey public schools and is the education director of The Kennedy Forum. Patrick lovingly refers to Amy as his “Jersey girl,” who grew up in a neighboring shore town. Located on the bayside of the Jersey Shore, a stone’s throw from Atlantic City, the Kennedy’s waterfront home is centered around family and the beauty of the natural setting. On the day of Princeton Magazine’s visit, seagulls were dive-bombing around Patrick’s boat and fine grains of sand blew across the roadway. more

Fueled by Disappointing Finish at NCAAs in 2017, Tiger Open Crew Driven to Succeed This Spring

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: The Princeton University open women’s varsity eight shows its form in a recent race. The Tiger had a mixed result last Saturday, topping Yale to retain the Eisenberg Cup but falling to Iowa in the three-boat race. Princeton, now 10-1, returns to action when it heads south to face the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on April 21. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

By Bill Alden

After rolling through the regular season last spring with an 11-0 and winning the Ivy League Championships, the Princeton University open women’s varsity eight hit a roadblock at the NCAA championships. more

HHH in ’68

 

 

Heather Howard’s Journey in Politics and Policy

By Donald Gilpin

Images courtesy of Heather Howard

Readers old enough to have been politically aware in 1968 will probably recognize the slogan “HHH in ’68!”  Hubert H. Humphrey lost his bid for the presidency that year to Richard Nixon. But Humphrey was not the only triple H political figure on the scene then. Princeton Councilwoman Heather Harding Howard, lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, faculty affiliate of the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and director of State Health and Value Strategies, was born that year. And she owns a couple of “HHH in ’68” posters to commemorate that fact. more

Spring Awakening: How Does Your Garden Grow?

Brian Sullivan, NYBG’s vice president for landscape and glasshouses, teaches a horticulture class in the native plant garden. (Photo courtesy of New York Botanical Garden)

Classes online and on-site offer an array of horticultural help

By Wendy Greenberg

The air is warmer and daylight lingers longer. Lime green leaves are painting roadside landscapes.  So often spring awakens an urge to seek greener thumbs, or greener yards.  After all, it is the Garden State.

If you are so inspired, you are in luck. A bounty of classes and programs beckons to help would-be plant whisperers find their voices. Some of the area’s most respected and scenic public gardens are at your service with on-site and online courses, ranging from landscape design to wellness and therapy, to native flora, and some unusual offerings. more

The Power Of Music And Dance

The Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins Centennials

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Legendary American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) once said, “I can’t live one day without hearing music, playing it, studying it, or thinking about it.” Audiences and museum visitors are having multiple opportunities this year to hear Bernstein’s music and think about it. In March, Princeton University’s Richardson Chamber Players presented “Bernstein and Friends: A Centennial Celebration.” Institutions such as Symphony Space and the National Museum of American Jewish History also will celebrate the maestro’s centennial. Aficionados of the work of choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) will have similar opportunities. more

Birds in Your Worlds

Princeton’s Institute Woods is among the best places to view spring migrators

By Ilene Dube

Photo-Illustrations by Jeffrey E. Tryon

Birds by Maria Stezhko (shutterstock.com) 

At this writing—a cold gray winter day—it’s hard to imagine that in May, the skies will fill with migrating birds, bringing color, song, and beauty to the treetops.

“Spring warbler watching is not just birding. It is a social phenomenon, a ritual, a happening like maple sugaring in Vermont or the opening day of trout season in Pennsylvania,” writes eminent ornithologist Pete Dunne. “People who never lift binoculars at any other time of year X out their Saturday mornings in May and join thousands of kindred souls searching for treasure in the treetops.”  more

The Princeton Baby Lab: Big Research From Small Subjects

By Wendy Greenberg // Photography by Fotobuddy Photography 

Where in Princeton can parents take their babies and older siblings to play in a bright space with books, toys, and engaging staff?

Playgroup? Toddler gym? Wrong. Welcome to the Princeton Baby Lab, run by a research group in Princeton University’s psychology department. more

The Road to Freedom

344 Nassau Street, known in the 19th Century as the “Robert Horner House”

TRACING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN NEW JERSEY

By Doug Wallack // Photographs Courtesy of The Historical Society of Princeton

The Underground Railroad has long captivated the American popular imagination; as a nation in turmoil struggled to reckon with its moral realities, this network of safe houses and volunteers conveying fugitive slaves to free states and Canada was a beacon of grassroots resistance, an instance of interracial cooperation, and the setting of countless tales of individual and collective courage. more

A Home Away From Home: Finding The Right Camp For Those With Different Needs

By Wendy Greenberg 

Princeton University freshman Jack Aiello credits a special New Jersey camp for giving him the confidence to climb the Himalayas with the challenges associated with type 1 diabetes.

Despite the unpredictable effect elevation can have on metabolism, his blood sugar numbers stayed under control. In a blog on the camp website he wrote, “Eight summers of living with peers and counselors who have diabetes have given me a tremendous amount of knowledge and confidence in managing diabetes…Camp gave me counselors who spent weeks camping in the wilderness, friends who cycled thousands of miles competitively, and dozens of role models and friends who always kept their diabetes under control—not the other way around.”  more

Uniquely Distinguished Boarding Schools

By Taylor Smith

The boarding school experience is unique to each individual student and school. For some, the setting or architecture may be a defining feature — encouraging students, faculty, and alumni to dream big. For other institutions, traditions hold a special place in the heart of each graduate — a perpetuation of history, pride, and scholarly achievements. While some of the schools described here believe in the importance of a single-sex high school education, all of them hope to instill in their students a passion for collaboration. Perhaps one of these high schools is well-suited to your family. more

How Sweet It Is

By Ilene Dube

“A sap run is the sweet goodbye of winter. It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost.” — John Burroughs

Maine and Vermont may lure visitors with excursions to sugar shacks, and their tourist centers delight children of all ages with boxes of maple leaf-shaped sugary treats, but the joys of maple sugaring can be had without leaving the Garden State.  more

Robert P. Langlands Is Awarded the Abel Prize, a Top Math Honor

Photo Credit: Dan Komoda/Institute for Advanced Study

In 1967, Robert P. Langlands set out a road map to prove a “grand unified theory” that would tie together disparate areas of mathematics.

The conjectures of Dr. Langlands, now 81 and an emeritus professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., have proven fertile ground for mathematical advances in the past half-century.  more

Furniture Designer Mira Nakashima at D&R Greenway

Mira Nakashima

D&R Greenway Land Trust presents a special evening with renowned furniture designer Mira Nakashima on Thursday, March 22 (doors open 6:30 p.m., talk begins at 7 p.m.) at the Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place, Princeton. Admission costs $10 person.

Mira Nakashima, the daughter of legendary furniture sculptor George Nakashima, will tell the story of the family’s woodworking legacy, followed by a signing of her book, Nature, Form, and Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima. Nakashima pieces will be displayed and available for purchase, including a three-legged stool, candle holders, pencil holders, and bread boards. more

Tracy K. Smith Named as Chair of Lewis Center for the Arts

Takes Over Helm from Current Chair Michael Cadden, July 2019

Princeton University has named Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and current U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, Director of Princeton’s Program in Creative Writing, as the new chair of the University’s Lewis Center for the Arts.  Smith succeeds theater scholar Michael Cadden, Senior Lecturer in the Program in Theater, who has served as chair of the Center since 2012.  Smith will begin her new duties as chair on July 1, 2019. more

Singer, Fiddler, and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon. Photo by Denis Applewhite. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon will present a reading from his recent poetry collections joined by acclaimed singer Iarla Ó Lionáird and composer Dan Trueman, in celebration of Muldoon’s latest volume Lamenations and the three artists’ collaboration with Eighth Blackbird, Olagón: A Cantata in Doublespeak. The reading, presented by Princeton University’s Fund for Irish Studies, will take on place on Friday, February 23 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wallace Theater located at the Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton campus. This event is free and open to the public. Performances of Olagón are being presented on February 22 through 24. more

President Eisgruber Issues Annual ‘State of the University’ Letter to Community

Written by Princeton University’s Office of Communications

Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber sent his second annual “State of the University” letter to faculty, students and staff Wednesday, Feb. 7, recounting advances over the past year and focusing on priorities for the year ahead.

Eisgruber will summarize the letter and invite questions at open meetings this month: the annual Town Hall meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb. 12 in 101 Friend Center, and a town hall for University staff from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Feb. 20 at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall. more

PHS Boys’ Track Produces Historic Effort, Winning First-Ever Indoor County Crown

CELEBRATING HISTORY: Members of the Princeton High boys’ track team celebrate last Sunday after they placed first at the Mercer County Track Indoor Championships in the Lavino Field House at the Lawrenceville School. It was the first-ever indoor county crown for the program, which last earned the outdoor county title in 1982.

By Bill Alden

Even though the Princeton High boys’ track team appeared to have the pieces in place to win the Mercer County Track Indoor Championships last Sunday, Ben Samara knew nothing was guaranteed.

“We knew we were the favorites going in, but as I said to the guys on the bus, that doesn’t really matter because we were the favorites indoors and outdoors last year too,” said PHS boys’ head coach Samara, noting that PHS had never won the indoor county title and last earned the outdoor crown in 1982. “You have to get the job done and that is the bottom line.” more