Overheard
on Alumni Day 2008 For those alumni who were unable to return to campus Feb.
23 for Alumni Day, here’s a sampling of what the speakers
had to say:
College admissions
“ ‘Where is the nearest nail salon, because I wear
tips?’ is not a good question.” – Anita
Harris ’73, chairwoman of the Princeton Schools Committee,
who gave a talk on how high school students should prepare for an
interview with an alum. She spoke in a session with Dean of Admission
Janet Rapelye, in a session called “Navigating the College
Admission Process.”
“Parents, support your children. Remember that they are
applying to college, not to heaven.” – Dean of Admission
Janet Rapelye.
“This is not about re-creating your experience.”
– Dean Rapelye.
“Don’t tell us about the absolute worst thing that
ever happened to you. We call these ‘Oprah essays.’
… We want to know what is good and strong and powerful about
you” – Dean Rapelye.
Faculty panels
“When one looks at the entire spectrum of Islamist organizations,
one realizes that there is in fact a great deal of variety, of diversity,
in their politics and in the sorts of activities they undertake.”
– Muhammad Qasim Zaman, professor of Near Eastern studies
and religion, speaking on “What Is Islamism?”
“Prejudices are more complicated, more automatic, more ambiguous,
and many of them are more ambivalent than people normally consider
them to be.” – Psychology professor Susan T. Fiske,
speaking on “Perils of Prejudice: Universal Biases in Brain,
Mind, and Culture.”
The future of the autonomous vehicle project
“The next thing is, we’d like to apply for a New
Jersey state driver’s license.” – Alain Kornhauser *71, adviser
to undergraduates who have built an “autonomous urban vehicle”
– a driverless truck.
Campus life
“We could have left it alone, and everyone would have been
happy. But we felt it was our responsibility as educators to make
more discriminating judgments. Even the best students don’t
do their best work in every course.” – Dean of the College
Nancy Malkiel, responding to a question from a parent about the
University’s grading policy, adopted three years ago to combat
grade inflation.
“It’s really hard for a student to fall though the
cracks here … if a faculty member reports to the dean’s
office that he or she is worried about a student, it gets followed
up on.” Dean Malkiel, asked about campus safety in the wake
of the Virginia Tech shootings.