The Life-Altering Potential of Distribution Requirements

When I entered Princeton in the fall of 1957, I was a pre-med student. When asked by my faculty adviser at the end of my sophomore year what I planned as my major, I said, “Chemistry.” He asked me, “Why chemistry?” I answered, “Because I am a pre-med student.” He said, “We don’t teach medicine at Princeton. You will learn that when you enter medical school.” He asked, “Do you have another area that you might like to choose as your major?” I answered, “I am enjoying my religion courses.” He said, “Have you ever considered majoring in religion?” My reply was, “That never occurred to me.” He replied, “Think about it, and speak to your parents.” I did, and my mother and father were completely open-minded about it. I majored in religion.

And so in my senior year at Princeton I applied to Harvard Medical School and to Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. I was surprisingly accepted at both. I went to Harvard GRAS and earned an MA and a Ph.D. in history and philosophy of religion with a specialty in New Testament studies. I had already had four years of Latin at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn.

I went on to teach religion at Wells College in Aurora, New York, for 38 years and have had 10 books in biblical studies published.

The Princeton requirement of humanities courses changed my life. Princeton’s liberal arts requirements took me to a totally different world.