An Educated Man

DEAR SIR:

Although my own memories of the idyll that is Princeton are already gathering dust, I, like so many others, would tend to react instinctively to change at Princeton with displeasure. But the barrage of hysterical mail that has appeared in PAW from fearful old curmudgeons has convinced me that all that has taken place of late was well done.

These men seem to feel that if Princeton changes from the way they remember it, their own identity will be threatened. What nonsense! The Princeton of our own revery rests intact forever; the actions of those who come after us cannot alter our own nostalgic recollections. Why then should we presume to dictate that our juniors do exactly as we did? Are we to conclude that perfection was reached in our own time and that there is no hope for progress?

President Goheen told our class at its graduation that the mark of an educated man was his ability to change his old ideas when they are obsolete and retain them when they are still valid. The valid idea about Princeton is that it must continue to try to tum out men who think, who think superbly, and who apply their thoughts to their times. Judging from the prunish carping seen in these pages week after week, Princeton has often failed in the past; thank God she gets a new chance every year.

JOHN J. SECONDI ’66

Nashville, Tenn.