First college: Wilson

While there may have been many highlights to retiring Dean Nancy Weiss Malkiel’s tenure, one of them was not the “opening of the first four-year residential colleges” as stated in PAW (Campus Notebook, Oct. 13). That happened prior to the dean’s arrival at Princeton. In the summer of 1968, the members of the incoming Class of 1972 were invited by then-Master Julian Jaynes to consider joining Wilson College, which was opening for the first time to freshmen. Having seen Commons firsthand during visits, I eagerly applied, and was delighted to join some four dozen other lucky members of the class who settled into 1915 and Gauss halls.

A center of diversity, a positive welcome to the advent of women, a very south-campus location, our own dining hall, and fine masters in Professor Jaynes and then Professor John Fleming *63 made Princeton’s first residential college a distinct and pleasant choice. To this day, the friendships formed there remain central to my Princeton experience. Cheers for Wilson College!