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Michelle Obama '85 to return to Princeton area for fundraiser next month
Published: Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
First Lady Michelle Obama ’85 will return to the Princeton area for a mid-level fundraiser for her husband’s reelection campaign next month, her first public return to the Orange Bubble in a number of years, the campaign announced.
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Of course she will, no pride in her alma mater until her husband, panderer-in-chief, needs votes. What phonies.
What exactly is Mrs. Obama supposed to do show her pride in her alma mater? Come to campus everyday? Is it now compulsory for every alum to make regular pilgrimages to Old Nassau as a sign of pride? Former President George W. Bush had a notoriously testy relationship with Yale University, his alma mater. Nobody condemned him for that. Mrs. Obama, like all of us, ought to be able to decide on what sort of relationship she would have with Princeton University without it becoming a partisan political cudgel. With folks like you around any wonder she is staying away. Shame!
So Princeton wasn't good enough to merit a 25th Reunion visit, but perhaps it's convenient to return now that the campaign is burning through money. But don't expect her at any Reunions in the future!
Shall we now condemn every alumnus who can not attend a 25th Reunion, particularly if they are in politics? It is convenient for the media and others to perpetuate the myth that the First Lady has a rocky relationship with her alma mater based on a thesis written in her youth. Do most who have a rocky relationship volunteer to be on their department's alumni board? Have we forgotten that she worked at the University of Chicago before she went to the White House? Should we start condemning her for not visiting that campus regularly too? Mrs. Obama has hosted Princetonians in her house -- the White House -- and her husband has made sure plenty have been employed by and via the Administration. That's the kind of loyalty I like to see.
no one commended george bush for not liking yale because no one likes yale
MO might consider how much she might do by coming back to the the University to counter those conditions that injured her at the University and has stained her memory of those days up to now. I seem to recall she wrote her Thesis on racism at Princeton. Perhaps hers is an openly available one at Mudd.
@jale
Yale is a fine school. Its just that I didn't find New Haven to be a place I wanted to spend four years in. Cambridge(Harvard Square)was also just a bit too frenetic for my taste. Does that place ever calm down at any hour of the day? One look at Princeton was all I needed! Interestingly my two kids came back from their visits feeling the same way. Washington University(St. Louis)did tempt my son but he's also found a home at Princeton. But is this experience common to all who eventually decide to attend Princeton?
If we truly believe in treating others as we would have others treat us then we ought to give Mrs. Obama and others who may have had a less than ideal experience at Princeton, the benefit of the doubt. Even though Princeton was and remains "perfect" for my family, I doubt that life in the Orange Bubble is perfect for everyone who passes through the gate. Some would like to pretend that Princeton suits everyone but that is not true as people do leave or transfer out.
I would also like to believe that our Princeton education prepares us to be a bit more empathic instead of giving ourselves over to ad hominems born of partisan stridency. Lets try to walk the proverbial mile in the others' shoes before we resort to categorical assertions about their lives. Just a thought.
Michelle Obama became proud of being an American, for the first time, only after her husband won the presidency. Before that, one presumes she was ashamed or resentful of being an American.
Same with Princeton; she will probably feel good about being a Princetonian for the first time only after Princeton gives her an honorary doctorate. Which Shirley just might!
At some point you would expect the first lady might grow up. I am sure she encountered difficulties as a black student at the University. She was a scholarship student who received her education as a result of a generation of earlier students who paid it forward. The first lady has never given to annual giving. She has not paid it forward at Princeton. As a minority student, I find this deeply disturbing. She is not a roll model for me.
What most people don't realize is that having an Ivy League degree is good for your image, but constantly mentioning your Ivy League degree has the opposite effect - it gives off an image of elitism that's sure to cost you votes. That's why the President never goes back to Harvard, why Bush never mentioned Yale and why Mrs. Obama won't "take pride" in going to Princeton.
I wish that American politics were at a place where education wasn't dismissed as "elitist." Unfortunately, we're not there yet. So everyone here should chill out and consider the political implications of a Princeton visit before condemning anyone.