Black students and alumni discuss changing campus life

Correction appended

When Morgan Kennedy '07's father saw pictures of her at Houseparties, he teared up.

Kennedy, a panelist last night at "Then and Now: Being a Black Student at Princeton," said that her dad, a member of the Class of 1970, was glad to see her take part in the tradition because when he was at the University, black students didn't "do the club thing or go to Houseparties."

Kennedy, who serves as business manager of The Daily Princetonian, was joined at the panel by five other students and alumni. The group discussed topics ranging from college admissions to the eating clubs.

Jim Floyd '69 described the 13 fellow black members of his class of 821 as "a successful experiment."

"At the time I applied, President [Bob] Goheen ['40] was very interested in starting to have a few so-called minority students here," Floyd said.

Linda Blackburn '71, who said she was one of the first 12 black women to attend Princeton, also saw her career at the University as an experiment. "One of the big issues on campus was, 'Are women really equal to men? Can they make it at a serious university?' "

Recent graduates also shared mostly positive experiences with the almost exclusively minority audience.

Anthony Turner '05 said it took him until his sophomore year to realize that "I was really going somewhere and doing something special."

Turner, who is the first of his siblings not to drop out of college, said he chose the University without visiting it or knowing anyone who had gone here. "Everything I perceived about here was absolutely right, and absolutely wrong," he said.

All members of the panel agreed that black students faced a wide range of experiences at the eating clubs.

"I found some clubs more accepting [of black students] than others," said Jonathan Beauford '05, who chose not to join a club.

"If you weren't a member, you got a hard time, and if you weren't white, you got an even harder time," Beauford added, without elaborating.

Floyd, who joined Tower Club while at Princeton and said he served on its graduate board, described the club as "on the lesser end of elitism."

Blackburn, on the other hand, couldn't join an eating club because women weren't allowed, so she went independent instead. "It was so funny. They had dorms just for women, and they put kitchenettes in them," she said.

Turner, who was a member of Cap and Gown Club, said he was sometimes turned away from other clubs and told they were members only, only to watch a group of white nonmembers be allowed in. He said that "most black people have had that experience."

Kennedy, a member of Tower, said her father ate at Ivy Club once, but was put off at the time by the "master-servant" relationship between the then all-white club members and the all-black waiters.

"Racism, that's not going any place," Blackburn told the audience. "I guess it's good to face it every once in a while to keep you in touch with reality. It happens, and it can make you strong."

Correction

Jonathan Beauford '05 was misidentified in the original version of this article.