More Tigers in love

I have read with interest the letter dedicated to “Tigers in Love” (April 7), and heartily congratulate the Wilheims ’75 on the blissful longevity of their Princeton-Princeton marriage. At the same time, I must mention that my wife and I have laid claim to the distinction of being the first Princeton-Princeton undergraduate marriage, realizing, however, that this claim might be scrutinized and questioned on technical grounds.  

My bride, Tamara Turkevich Skvir (Douglas ’66), was in 1964-65 one of 10 women classified as “Critters” — critical-langage students who were full-time, fully recognized undergraduates at Princeton for their junior year in a program that in many ways was the experimental precursor of coeducation at the University. As such, while my spouse is not a Princeton graduate, I believe she does qualify as an alumna. (Many may also recognize her Princeton lineage: Her father, John Turkevich, was a prominent member of the chemistry department for many decades, and her mother, Ludmilla B. Turkevich, was the first woman to teach full time at Princeton, spending 17 years in the Romance languages and then Slavic languages departments.)

We were married in 1967, a year after graduation, and have enjoyed a wonderful 43 years together and certainly consider ourselves “Tigers in Love” with each other and with our University!