English professor emeritus John Fleming GS '63 will deliver the Baccalaureate address for the Class of 2007, senior class president Jim Williamson announced last night.
"We felt very strongly that, for all Professor Fleming has done for Princeton and for his eloquence and scholarship, he would be perfect," Williamson said.
Fleming said he was surprised and honored to learn of his selection. "I was dumbfounded," he said of his first thoughts upon learning he would give the address. "I've been on the committee to accept the speakers and in general the list is very big-shot-type people. I'm very pleased and very flattered."
The senior class officers selected Fleming and consulted with President Tilghman, who ultimately issued the invitation to Fleming. Last year's Baccalaureate speaker was David Sedaris, and emeritus creative writing professor Toni Morrison spoke in 2005.
In the course of his more than 40-year career at the University, Fleming became a central part of the campus community, serving as Chief Marshall at Commencement, Master of Wilson College, director of the Program of Freshman Seminars, chair of the English department and columnist for The Daily Princetonian. Williamson described him as "someone who had a connection to Princeton and someone we felt we could connect to."
A literature scholar, he focused on the fields of medieval English and European literature, medieval art history and the history of Christian thought and spirituality. He taught numerous courses during his career, including a popular class on Chaucer.
Fleming, who lived with his family at 39 University Place for almost two decades, cultivated close relationships with Princeton and with his students. "He was acutely aware of how lucky he was to be at Princeton," his daughter, Katy Fleming, said.
When he wasn't hosting dinner for undergraduates or holding precepts in his home, Fleming would be building rock walls, realigning the brake lines on his truck or printing on his printing presses. "It was a house of many activities," she said.
Though Fleming kept himself busy at home, the focal point of his career was his life on campus. "He couldn't believe he was getting paid to be hanging out with incredible students and reading the literature that he loved," Katy said.
At his speech in June, Fleming said, he will focus on students' obligation to serve their nation and pass on the privileges they have received while at the University.
"To those to whom much is given, much is expected," Fleming said. "We have a very needy world, we have a class full of talent and vigor and imagination and intelligence, and I hope that many members of the Class of 2007 are going to go out and make the world a better place."
Williamson emphasized the sense of closure many seniors may feel when they hear Fleming speak this spring. "Most of us remember Professor Fleming either from a class we took with him or a lecture we heard him give," Williamson said, recalling the "exceptional" lecture Fleming delivered on Cannon Green at the "Assembly on Integrity" in September 2003, soon after the Class of 2007 arrived on campus.
"It seemed appropriate to conclude where we began," he said.
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