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December 20, 2000: From the Editor
But while Princeton has
produced many ornaments of the state, here at the turn of the 21st
century it’s hard to believe that many alumni would be interested
in becoming ministers of the gospel. Mandatory chapel for upperclassmen
was eliminated in 1935, for sophomores in 1960, and finally for
freshmen, in 1964. Today’s Princeton -- which is made up of
students of nearly every conceivable faith -- is decidedly secular,
with many graduates entering the twin temples of Wall Street and
law school. Yet it turns out that
plenty of alumni still are pursuing careers in the sacred world.
One Princeton alumnus, Michael Roach ’75, is among the leaders
of Tibetan Buddhism in the United States. Another, Rizwan Arastu
’98, is in Iran studying Islamic law. In addition, there are
scores of alumni serving as pastors in Christian churches and rabbis
in Jewish synagogues. And so, while we often
pay attention to alumni who represent Princeton’s unofficial
motto of In the Nation’s Service, it seems fitting at this
holiday time to take a look at a few of the alumni who represent
Princeton’s official motto: Dei sub numine viget. (That’s
“Under God’s power she flourishes,” not “On
the eighth day God created Princeton,” for those of you rusty
with your Latin.) Our story on five Princetonians who answered a
higher call begins on page 14. In the spirit of the
seasons -- that is to say, holiday and basketball -- I’ll leave
you with a paraphrase from a 1990 cartoon by Henry Martin ’48:
“I want to wish you a Happy Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas, and
‘Beat Penn’!”
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The
very first class of Princetonians met in the Elizabeth parsonage
of Jonathan Dickinson, a Presbyterian minister and the College of
New Jersey’s first president. The college had been organized
by a group of seven Presbyterians for the express purpose of training
Presbyterian clergymen, as one of the founders wrote in an early
letter: “Our great intention was to erect a seminary for educating
Ministers of the Gospel.” (Although he also noted that “we
hope it will be useful in other learned professions -- Ornaments
of the State as well as the Church.”) More than a hundred years
after that first college gathering, the Class of 1896 reported in
a 1901 class notes column that 16 percent of its graduates studied
theology, “most of whom are now actively engaged in ministerial
work in various parts of the world.”
