Denise Applewhite/Office of Communications

ROBERT J. RIVERS ’53 and President Eisgruber ’83, above, discuss a portrait of Rivers that was unveiled during a Sept. 20 ceremony in Chancellor Green. Rivers, one of the first African American students admitted to Princeton and the first African American member of the Board of Trustees, was one of four people honored with portraits that will be prominently displayed on campus as part of an initiative to highlight exceptional individuals and the diversity of the Princeton community. “My portrait, with my story, is a part of Princeton University’s story, and I enjoy the changes that have taken place during my long Princeton journey,” Rivers said. 

The other unveiled portraits are of DENNY CHIN ’75, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a teacher, and an author; ALAN TURING *38, whose doctoral thesis has been called “one of the key documents in the history of mathematics and computer science” and whom Eisgruber described as “an icon in the history of LGBT rights”; and CARL A. FIELDS, Princeton’s first African American administrator, whose efforts Eisgruber said “changed the face of this University and created a lasting legacy.”


Hundreds of students, faculty, and community members took part in the PRINCETON CLIMATE STRIKE Sept. 20, gathering at the Princeton Public Library and marching to the Frist Campus Center with a clear message: The time to act is now. “We are here today to make these [climate] issues heard, to refuse to settle, to disrupt the status quo,” said Pranav Iyer ’22, a speaker at the rally. About 80 Princeton faculty members released a statement in support of the strike. 


Author GEORGE WILL *68’s Sept. 17 talk on “Is Constitution Day Unconstitutional?” filled McCosh 50, but there were no signs of the student protest that marked his Baccalaureate address in the Chapel June 2. Then, more than 100 seniors stood with their backs to Will to protest views he expressed in a 2014 column on sexual misconduct. In contrast, Will’s Constitution Day lecture received hearty applause from the audience.


EDMUND WHITE, professor emeritus of creative writing who is best known for his portrayals of gay American life in fiction and nonfiction works, will receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation next month. The annual award recognizes a lifetime of literary achievement.


The Rev. Gabriel Zeis, the University’s Catholic chaplain, resigned Sept. 11 following an ALLEGATION OF SEXUAL ABUSE of a minor in 1975. The Diocese of Trenton said Zeis denied the allegation. A Princeton spokesman said, “Father Zeis was not a University employee, and the University had no role in his resignation.” The University said resources were available for students seeking support.