A glory day

Everyone knows Princeton is cracking down on grade inflation and academic standards these days. But one visiting professor is so tough that he wouldn't let any auditors — not even one who was born in the U.S.A. — enroll in his American studies seminar without doing all the reading.

Professor Greil Marcus, who teaches AMS 308: Prophecy and the American Voice refused to allow Bruce Springsteen to audit his class earlier this year. But the rock star was born to run, and he made an appearance in the class Monday, much to surprise of the students — who had certainly not seen any better days.

Springsteen — who is known for his songs about distinctly American themes and troubles — had been interested in the topic of the class, according to Joel Conkling '01, who takes the course.

Chris McParland '01 also said Springsteen had been interested in taking the class for the entire semester, but was held back by concerns about keeping a low profile on campus.

Springsteen asked Marcus if the rock star could enroll for the entire semester. But Marcus insisted that if the rock icon was going to play, he had to pay — and do all of the assigned reading, Conkling said.

But that didn't stop Springsteen from dropping in for one class earlier this week.

Sara Isani '01, another student in the seminar, wasn't too surprised to see Springsteen — who is one of the few celebrities whom virtually all New Jersey residents are proud to claim as their own — in a third-floor Frist classroom Monday afternoon.

"It was more surprising that I was able to get over my extra flabbergasted-ness. My knees were buckling so bad," said Isani — a New Jersey native who said Springsteen is a member of her "musical trifecta" along with Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel.

Isani had the honor of walking Springsteen to the Frist convenience store, where he bought a Power Bar and a bottle of water.

Springsteen was just a normal guy, said Isani, who gave The Boss an abbreviated tour of the campus center. "He actually found it really cool that I was telling him about Frist," she added. "I was like, 'You think that's cool, I'm talking to you right now!' "

For a man whose upcoming two-day gig sold out in less than one hour, Springsteen kept a surprisingly low profile on campus, according to seminar students.

"He looked like a construction worker," Isani said. Even more surprisingly, one of her friends asked her Monday night who the "scruffy-looking guy" walking with Marcus was.

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Springsteen was truly a rich man in a poor man's shirt, dressed in a thermal undershirt, jeans and work boots.

After their initial jitters, most students treated Springsteen as just another student, Conkling said.

On the surface, everyone in the class was very professional, said McParland, referring to the visitor as "Mr. Springsteen" and welcoming him into the discussion. "But at the end of class, we all broke down and asked for autographs," he admitted.

But one person dared not say his name.

"One person was like, 'Is that, is that, is that, is that?' " Conkling said. But Springsteen soon put everyone at ease, he added.

Springsteen, the man who wrote the lyrics, "We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school," seemed genuinely interested in the subject matter, according to seminar students.

"He's really, really smart," Isani said, "which didn't surprise me really."

Professor Sean Wilentz, director of the Program in American Studies, said Springsteen doesn't shy away from serious intellectual work.

"I get the impression he's a very serious reader, especially on things American," he said. "Springsteen takes the life of the mind very seriously."

On Monday, the seminar was discussing Alan Ginsberg's 1966 poem "Wichita Vortex Sutra."

"He was very passionate about America and democracy and about Allen Ginsberg," Isani said.

"[Springsteen] said Ginsberg's tone was ecstatic," Conkling explained. "I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that."

Though New Jersey claims Springsteen as its native son, he has ventured far beyond its borders, even naming his 1982 album "Nebraska."

And while Springsteen may not have had to travel far to get to the University, "Springsteen's New Jersey and Princeton's New Jersey . . . are very different parts of New Jersey," said Wilentz, who also happens to be a Springsteen fan.

Springsteen chose a good day to come to class, Wilentz added. Ginsberg, who was a visiting fellow at the University in 1996, read a selection from his poem "Wichita Vortex Sutra" while at Princeton. And then, four years later, Springsteen showed up to discuss that very poem.

It was all part of the intellectual wonderland that is the Princeton experience, or, as Wilentz terms it, "the circularity of life."

Though Springsteen is a rock-and-roll star who has been compared to Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, it was the photograph of his rear encased in tight faded jeans on the cover of his 1984 album "Born in the USA" that first caught the attention of many female fans.

"He was the heart-throb back when I was growing up," said one female student. "He definitely kept that appeal for me."

According to her, Bob Dylan managed to make some significant eye contact with her during his recent concert in Dillon Gym, even bobbing his head provocatively at her. "Bruce didn't flirt with me," she said. "But that's OK."

"It was just a class," Marcus said, but many students felt otherwise.

"Meeting Bruce is probably a dream of a lot of people," Conkling said, "and [we're] just lucky it happened to us."

And as for the possibility of taking a class with professor Bruce Springsteen in some future, to-be-determined semester? "Well," said Wilentz, "anything's possible."