October 11, 2006: From the Editor

If the campus needed any signal that the the energy of September had returned, that signal came exactly eight days after Opening Exercises. On Sept. 18, President Tilghman announced two major initiatives that are bound to be watched closely by Princeton’s peer institutions.

First, the University launched a new center for teaching and research in African-American studies, a field that includes some of the nation’s best-known public intellectuals. A few hours later, Tilghman announced that Princeton would end early admission, beginning with the class that enters in September 2008. Both developments were applauded enthusiastically at an unusually well-attended faculty meeting — particularly the action in admissions, which came about a week after Harvard announced that it was ending its own early-admission program. PAW reports on both developments in Notebook, including an interview with Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye, beginning on page 10.

Our feature offerings will introduce you to alumni who have strayed from what many consider the typical post-Princeton path. PAW associate editor Katherine Federici Greenwood recently spent four days in the home of Elizabeth Stevenson Green ’84, who, with her husband, Howard, has built a loving and unusual family of 14. The Greens’ large home in upstate New York also serves as a one-room schoolhouse, with Liz Green home-schooling all 12 children. Greenwood’s report on life with the Greens begins on page 16.

The alumni featured in associate editor Brett Tomlinson’s article also are teaching children, in elementary and secondary classrooms around the country. These alumni, who became certified teachers through Princeton’s Program in Teacher Preparation, have salaries that are well below the average earned by classmates in other professions. They lament that they often must “explain” their career choice to those who wonder why a Princeton grad would choose to spend every day in a classroom. But none of the alumni who spoke with Tomlinson regretted the decision to enter what must be one of the toughest — but potentially most satisfying — jobs in the world. As national attention centers on accountability and standards for public and private schools, Princeton’s teacher preparation program — and the alumni it trained — are taking leadership roles.

Faithful readers of Class Notes will note that a familiar name is missing from atop the column for the Class of 1943. Jack Laflin ’43, who has chronicled his classmates’ activities for the last 27 years, has stepped down for health reasons. Laflin is one of a handful of secretaries who have stayed on the job for a generation or more. Along with his classmates, PAW offers thanks and wishes him well.

Marilyn H. Marks *86
mmarks@princeton.edu