Princeton Tiger spirit was extra strong on campus as Reunions weekend kicked off amid celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Alumni Association. Nearly 25,000 alumni, family, guests, faculty, staff and Class of 2026 members are expected to attend the annual gathering, running through Sunday, May 24.
On Friday morning, undergraduate and graduate alumni filled the campus wearing orange and black from head to toe, from fuzzy tiger-striped headbands to bright orange Chuck Taylors. Class of 2011 graduates Ana Gonzalez Leyva and David Leyva of San Francisco walked along Firestone Plaza with their three young children, who wore matching Tiger outfits.
Gonzalez Leyva reminisced about how the couple first met during orientation. “We were both first-generation college students and coming to Princeton changed our whole lives,” she said. “Every time I come back, it’s such a dream. Princeton is not a four-year experience; it’s a lifelong one. I love how alumni stay connected to this place.”
Jeopardy! legend Jamie Ding, Class of 2013 — a well-known fan of orange — amiably took photos with students and alumni who came up to congratulate him on his recent 31-game winning streak.
“It was a happy coincidence that orange was my favorite color long before I studied here,” Ding said.
“I love coming back to Reunions every year to see my old friends,” he added, noting that thanks to his newfound fame, he’s also making plenty of new ones.
On Cannon Green, hundreds of alumni wore commemorative glasses shaped like the number 200 for a photo celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Alumni Association. The milestone is also being marked with alumni service projects and regional gatherings throughout the year. At Reunions, volunteers filled care packages alongside high school students from HomeWorks Trenton, a nonprofit founded by Natalie Tung, Class of 2018, while she was a Princeton undergraduate.
Nearby on Alexander Beach, alumni and guests were excited to “Stand Up for Princeton and Higher Education,” donning buttons and holding placards in support of the University’s Stand Up initiative.
President Eisgruber’s talk with alumni
Alumni from across the decades gathered in Richardson Auditorium on Friday afternoon to hear President Christopher L. Eisgruber, Class of 1983, address how the University has changed in the last 10 years, its challenges and opportunities, as well as the University’s continuing commitment to its research, teaching and service missions. He was joined in conversation by Hilary Parker, Class of 2001, the University’s vice president and secretary.
When Parker asked him to reflect how the University’s growth over the past decade has been shaped by the 2016 Strategic Framework, Eisgruber noted a range of new buildings as well as continued enhancements to the University’s financial aid program. But he said the true impact of the framework can be found in the expansion of the undergraduate student body. “There are 500 more students who wouldn’t be here if not for what we did in that strategic framework,” he said.
Eisgruber also took questions from the audience on topics including campus safety, grading and the influence of artificial intelligence on campus.
Alumni Faculty Forums on free speech, AI, innovation and more
Alumni Faculty Forums and panel conversations fostered insightful discussions of topics including free speech and academic freedom, artificial intelligence, public service, sustainability, public health and international relations.
Participants on the panel «The Campus and the Constitution: Free Speech, Civil Discourse and Academic Freedom” stressed the importance of programs and policies that teach and foster respectful dialogue among people who disagree.
“There are core principles that we all share in higher education and when people don’t understand them or they are under attack, that’s when I think clarity is important,” said Alysa Christmas Rollock, Class of 1981, vice president for ethics and compliance at Purdue University.
Princeton Provost Jennifer Rexford, Class of 1991, detailed how Princeton supports academic freedom and free speech, including the annual first-year Orientation session on free speech led by Eisgruber.
At the Griswold Center talk “The AI Revolution,” a standing-room-only audience in McCosh 50 came to hear from the man whom economics professor Alan Blinder, Class of 1967, introduced as “somebody who is unusually good at looking at the environment today and seeing the future.”
Eric Schmidt, Class of 1976, the chair and CEO of Relativity Space and previously the CEO and chairman of Google, shared the incredible promise and looming challenges of the artificial intelligence revolution, which is, he admitted, “happening much too fast for everybody — including me.”
On the positive side, he estimated that some of our most serious global problems — human disease and the climate and energy dilemma — could be solved in the next 15 years with exponential advances in artificial “super” intelligence.
Blinder, the Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, posed concerns that the net gains of AI will not be equally distributed across society.
At the Princeton Innovation Conference, more than 400 alumni, investors and entrepreneurs networked and traded ideas at the Friend Center at the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
The conference included breakout sessions where attendees discussed developments in and strategies for AI, financial technology, medical and biotechnology, commercializing deep tech and other forms of innovation.
A morning panel discussion explored how networks linking India and the United States underscore the global nature of innovation. Speakers were Anu Ramaswami, director of Princeton’s M.S. Chadha Center for Contemporary Global India, Chadha Center Coordinator Alisha Aggarwal and Sashank Rishyasringa, Class of 2006, co-founder of the Indian credit and finance platform axio.
Other events throughout the weekend
Reunions was also an opportunity for alumni to visit the new Princeton University Art Museum, which hosted tours, curatorial talks and hands-on creative projects throughout the weekend. Alumni also were able to visit two Princeton University Library exhibits connected with America’s 250th anniversary on view at Firestone Library and Mudd Library.
Reunions festivities continue Saturday with the P-rade through campus starting at 2 p.m. and the fireworks show at 9 p.m. Any weather-related changes to Reunions events or venues, should they be needed, will be noted on the Reunions website, the Reunions app and Princeton Alumni social channels.
Alumni can engage with Princeton Reunions social media by using the hashtag #PrincetonReunions and tagging @PrincetonAlumni. Also watch Princeton Reunions unfold online via Facebook and Instagram.
Dan Day from the Office of Innovation and Jeffrey Labrecque from Advancement Communications contributed to this story.
James Steward (center), the Nancy A. Nasher–David J. Haemisegger, Class of 1976, Director of the Princeton University Art Museum, leads an alumni tour of the new museum building.
