In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Jewish students get their own space, the campus reels from discovering the true identity of a student, and more.

February 23, 1883—The Princetonian calls for coeducation in an editorial that asserts, “The time has now come … when the onward march of learning demands for woman the same attention as is bestowed upon men.” An added plus, the editorial says, will be an improvement in the morals of the male students. In order to ensure this, it proposes that female students be required to sign the following pledge: “We, the undersigned, solemnly promise, while connected with this institution, to receive no attention from any gentlemen who use tobacco or intoxicating liquors.” Princeton will actually become coeducational 86 years later, without requiring such a pledge from any student.

Nineteenth-century drawing, Princeton Artwork Collection (AC376), Box 2.

February 25, 1978—In protest of Princeton University’s decision not to join a boycott of J.P. Stevens Co., a textile company repeatedly ruled to be in violation of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (which protects the right to form unions), 225 students picket outside the Alumni Day luncheon. Inside, away from the sounds of the chanting, attendees eat from tables covered in J.P. Stevens Co. tablecloths.

Alumni Day protest, 1978. Photo from Princeton Weekly Bulletin.

February 26, 1993—The newly constructed Center for Jewish Life opens for student use with a celebratory Shabbat dinner.

Architect’s drawing of proposed Center for Jewish Life, Princeton University, ca. 1987. Historical Subject Files Collection (AC109), Box 358, Folder 3.

February 27, 1991—James Arthur Hogue is transferred to Mercer County Detention Center following his arrest for breaking parole in Utah as the campus continues reeling from the news that Hogue, whom they had known as Alexi Indris-Santana ’93, is a fraud. Approximately five years later, he will be arrested at Princeton again for passing himself off as Jim MacAuthor, a geology student.

Clipping from Daily Princetonian.

For last week’s installment in this series, click here.

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