princeton reunites
i'm off to my brother's graduation this weekend, conveniently coincidental with princeton reunions, which claims the following distinction:
"The top three events every year in terms of barrels of beer consumed are the Kentucky Derby, Princeton's Reunion, and the Indianapolis 500." (wikipedia)
fun facts:
- reunions has its own website, which is separate from the regular princeton site (the trustees are happy about that one...). also see this photo-essay.
- the event has been memorialized on wikipedia.
- you can even buy vintage princeton reunion budweiser beer cans on ebay for the next few days.
reunions is a testament to princeton's sense of community... by which, of course, i mean, it's an embarrasment to any sense of decency, propriety, and social conscience. most alums, utterly sloshed, demonstrate annually just how elusive such decency can be (last year, a girl right in front of me pulled her skirt to her ankles and, without the slightest inhibition, started peeing on some ivy... oh the symbolism). often, at the infamous "fifth year", the downtrodden, world-beaten, still-single, workaholics find the men and women they'll hastily and drunkenly marry (and even more hastily divorce). and at the "ten year" and up, ceo's, vc's, proballers, and trustfund babies all compete to see who can donate the most cash to old nassau. i've heard princeton makes more in a night of reunions than all year from tuition.
but there are redeeming moments to the event. ralph nader and his class of 55, fed up with the irresponsible bacchanalia, used the time to start the hugely successful class of 55 social justice projects and funding. and tons of other alums use the time to catch up, 'network'...whatever that means, and work for good. i'll have a full report when i get back.
when it's all said and done, though, what i'm most excited about, of course, is my bro, Andrew, a philosophy phenom who'll be teaching english in malaysia next year. i'm so proud of him.
"The top three events every year in terms of barrels of beer consumed are the Kentucky Derby, Princeton's Reunion, and the Indianapolis 500." (wikipedia)
fun facts:
- reunions has its own website, which is separate from the regular princeton site (the trustees are happy about that one...). also see this photo-essay.
- the event has been memorialized on wikipedia.
- you can even buy vintage princeton reunion budweiser beer cans on ebay for the next few days.
reunions is a testament to princeton's sense of community... by which, of course, i mean, it's an embarrasment to any sense of decency, propriety, and social conscience. most alums, utterly sloshed, demonstrate annually just how elusive such decency can be (last year, a girl right in front of me pulled her skirt to her ankles and, without the slightest inhibition, started peeing on some ivy... oh the symbolism). often, at the infamous "fifth year", the downtrodden, world-beaten, still-single, workaholics find the men and women they'll hastily and drunkenly marry (and even more hastily divorce). and at the "ten year" and up, ceo's, vc's, proballers, and trustfund babies all compete to see who can donate the most cash to old nassau. i've heard princeton makes more in a night of reunions than all year from tuition.
but there are redeeming moments to the event. ralph nader and his class of 55, fed up with the irresponsible bacchanalia, used the time to start the hugely successful class of 55 social justice projects and funding. and tons of other alums use the time to catch up, 'network'...whatever that means, and work for good. i'll have a full report when i get back.
when it's all said and done, though, what i'm most excited about, of course, is my bro, Andrew, a philosophy phenom who'll be teaching english in malaysia next year. i'm so proud of him.
posted by dave at 9:44 PM
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