Princeton University Podcasts

The Class Day ceremony is planned and presented by the members of the senior class. Although it varies from year to year, the event traditionally gives seniors an opportunity to acknowledge publicly achievements and contributions of members of the class and University community. The program includes the awarding of various prizes to classmates, student speeches, honorary class member inductions, a review of the class history, and remarks by President Shirley M. Tilghman. Class Day ends with the singing of “Old Nassau.”

Commencement activities start on Sunday with the Baccalaureate ceremony in the University Chapel. This University convocation begins with an academic procession of faculty, trustees, administrators and undergraduate degree candidates. The interfaith program, which lasts approximately one hour, includes music, prayers and readings from a variety of religious traditions, as well as an address by a guest speaker. This year's speaker is Jeff Bezos '86, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com

Commencement activities start on Sunday with the Baccalaureate ceremony in the University Chapel. This University convocation begins with an academic procession of faculty, trustees, administrators and undergraduate degree candidates. The interfaith program, which lasts approximately one hour, includes music, prayers and readings from a variety of religious traditions, as well as an address by a guest speaker. This year's speaker is Jeff Bezos '86, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com

Francis J. Mirabello ’75 P07, a partner and the manager of the Personal Law Practice of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Philadelphia, presented a practical discussion to Princeton alumni on how to ensure their estate plans achieved their goals for family and philanthropy, particularly in light of changing federal estate and transfer tax laws under consideration in Congress.

The Iron Tiger Throwdown, the Fristfest Culinary competition featuring ultimate chicken wings, was contested recently at the Frist Campus Center. Six teams of two representing the residential dining halls and the Frist Campus Center dining venues competed for two prestigious awards: the Iron Tiger Culinary Cup and the People's Choice Award. Judging the competition were a trio of Tom's; Tom Myers from Frist and University Scheduling, Tom Parker from Mail Services and Tom Quirk from Development Events in the Office of Development. Each judge had the arduous task of sampling six Ultimate Wing recipes. Stu Orefice, Director of Dining Services and Chef Rob Harbison provided blow by blow commentary as the event unfolded.. At competition’s end the highly coveted Iron Tiger Culinary Cup was awarded to Emily Capunpon and James Sims of Team Butler/Wilson Dining. The judges’ favorite recipe, Sticky Hot Wings, was prepared with a pomegranate hotsauce, finished with banana slices tossed in sauce and accompanied by a cool carrot celery slaw. The People’s Choice Award went to Chad Rovner and Valeria Sykes from Team Rockefeller/Mathey Dining. Their recipe for Zesty-Tangy-Sweet-Wings was voted crowd favorite by fans viewing the event from the gallery. Made with housemade hot sauce and local honey, this ultimate wing recipe was accompanied with jimica slaw.

Matthew Taibbi, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and Gillian Tett, the U.S. managing editor of Financial Times, will talk about the causes and possible outcomes of the current financial crisis. Taibbi, a 1991 graduate of Bard College who finished his studies at Leningrad Polytechnical University, has worked as a freelance reporter in the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan. In 1997 he and writer Mark Ames founded a Moscow-based, English-language newspaper, the Exile, which reported on corruption in the Russian government and in American aid organizations. Returning to the United States in 2002 he founded a Buffalo newspaper, The Beast, before leaving to work for the New York Press, and then Rolling Stone. He is the author of The Great Derangement (Spiegel and Grau, 2008) about corruption and absurdity in modern American politics, and two collections of essays. The recipient of the 2008 National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary, he was named in 2004 by the New York Observer one of the most influential young New Yorkers. More recently he has received attention for a March 2009 article in Rolling Stone, “The Big Takeover,” in which he examines the close connections between Washington lawmakers and Wall Street. Tett is the author of Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (Simon and Schuster, 2009), which won the Spear’s Book Award for the financial book of 2009. Tett joined the Financial Times in 1993 after receiving a Ph.D. in social anthropology from Cambridge University. Before her appointment as U.S. managing editor in 2010 she served as assistant editor for the FT’s markets coverage as well as capital markets editor, deputy editor of the Lex column, Tokyo bureau chief and correspondent, the London-based economics reporter, and a reporter in Russia and Brussels. British Press Awards named her Journalist of the Year in 2009 and Business Journalist of the Year in 2008. In addition to Fool’s Gold, she is the author of Saving the Sun: A Wall Street Gamble to Rescue Japan from Its Trillion Dollar Meltdown (Harper Collins, 2003).

Matthew Taibbi, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and Gillian Tett, the U.S. managing editor of Financial Times, will talk about the causes and possible outcomes of the current financial crisis. Taibbi, a 1991 graduate of Bard College who finished his studies at Leningrad Polytechnical University, has worked as a freelance reporter in the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan. In 1997 he and writer Mark Ames founded a Moscow-based, English-language newspaper, the Exile, which reported on corruption in the Russian government and in American aid organizations. Returning to the United States in 2002 he founded a Buffalo newspaper, The Beast, before leaving to work for the New York Press, and then Rolling Stone. He is the author of The Great Derangement (Spiegel and Grau, 2008) about corruption and absurdity in modern American politics, and two collections of essays. The recipient of the 2008 National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary, he was named in 2004 by the New York Observer one of the most influential young New Yorkers. More recently he has received attention for a March 2009 article in Rolling Stone, “The Big Takeover,” in which he examines the close connections between Washington lawmakers and Wall Street. Tett is the author of Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (Simon and Schuster, 2009), which won the Spear’s Book Award for the financial book of 2009. Tett joined the Financial Times in 1993 after receiving a Ph.D. in social anthropology from Cambridge University. Before her appointment as U.S. managing editor in 2010 she served as assistant editor for the FT’s markets coverage as well as capital markets editor, deputy editor of the Lex column, Tokyo bureau chief and correspondent, the London-based economics reporter, and a reporter in Russia and Brussels. British Press Awards named her Journalist of the Year in 2009 and Business Journalist of the Year in 2008. In addition to Fool’s Gold, she is the author of Saving the Sun: A Wall Street Gamble to Rescue Japan from Its Trillion Dollar Meltdown (Harper Collins, 2003).

April 19, 2010. Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture

April 19, 2010. Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture

A conversation was held on March 29, 2010 between Dr. Sherman Jackson and Dr. Cornel West in which they offered perspectives on the historical and contemporary problem of suffering from a Christina and Muslim lens. Dr. Jackson is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the author of "Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering." Dr. West is the celebrated professor of religion and race at Princeton University.