The Weekly Blog: 2/28/07

NOTE: This post was originally published at princetonalumniweekly.blogspot.com/

Coles *66, Sarbanes ’54 honored at Alumni Day

“I feel like I’m really back home with a family,” Africare president Julius Coles *66, pictured at the Richardson Auditorium podium, said in the preface to his lecture on Alumni Day. “Princeton is truly a family to me.”

Coles, a Woodrow Wilson School graduate who went on to work in international development and in academia, was on hand to receive the James Madison Medal, the University’s highest honor for graduate alumni. The gathering had the feel of a family reunion, with both honorees – Coles and former Sen. Paul Sarbanes ’54, the Woodrow Wilson Award winner – supported by members of their extended families and classmates from Princeton.

After receiving his award from President Tilghman at the Alumni Day luncheon, Sarbanes recounted a story about his father, Spyros, a Greek immigrant who with Sarbanes’ mother, Matina, operated a restaurant on Maryland’s eastern shore. For his first visit to campus, Spyros Sarbanes baked a ham for then-President Harold Dodds *14 as a token of thanks. He delivered it to Prospect House, Dodds’ residence, and a member of the kitchen staff, after receiving the ham, located Dodds and mentioned that a parent of one of the students had come to visit. Dodds invited the elder Sarbanes inside, and the two discussed Greek philosophers over tea. On subsequent visits, Spyros Sarbanes would often stop by to check in with his friend, Mr. Dodds.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to President Dodds for that enormous courtesy to my father,” Sarbanes said. “I think it reflects Princeton.”

At Baker Rink, a baker’s dozen

With wins against Clarkson and St. Lawrence Feb. 23 and 24, Princeton men’s hockey completed the regular season with 13 wins and entered the postseason playing some of its best hockey, according to head coach Guy Gadowsky. “But you certainly can’t rest on that,” he added. “We want to get better this week.”

For the first time since 1999, the Tigers will have home ice in the quarterfinal round of the ECAC Hockey League playoffs. They will face Brown March 2, 3, and 4 (if necessary) in a best-of-three set. Both of this year’s meetings between the Tigers and Bears went into overtime, with Princeton winning 3-2 Jan. 12 and settling for a 1-1 tie Feb. 2.