Academic literature on the topic 'Princeton university, alumni and alumnae'

The author draws on the oral histories of 44 LGBTQ Princeton alumni who graduated from 1960 to 2011 to examine student strategies for negotiating marginal identities when integrating into an elite university. Even with greater LGBTQ visibility and resources at the institutional level, LGBTQ students’ experiences and strategies suggest that we question the larger social narrative of linear progress. Across time, students navigate space by highlighting difference to belong as queer students in explicitly LGBTQ circles or muting difference to belong as token queer students in heteronormative circles. Integration of an LGBTQ person does not necessarily mean incorporation of an LGBTQ identity and vice versa. These strategies are largely contingent upon students’ social positions: intersectional identities, structural location, and available models. Student strategies are structurally tempered by queer integrative marginalization: the process of select predominantly elite LGBTQ people’s achieving special status among the heteronormative mainstream.

<p>André Laks, nacido en 1950, estudió en la École Normale Supérieure y en la Universidad de Lille 3 en Francia, donde fue alumno de Jean Bollack y por muchos años profesor de griego y de filosofía antigua. Fue también profesor en la Universidad de Princeton de 1990 a 1994, y de la Sorbona de 2007 a 2011. Fue miembro de la Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin en 1999/2000 y del Institut Universitaire de France de 1998 a 2008. Actualmente es profesor de la Universidad Panamericana en México. Sus principales áreas de interés son: los presocráticos, Platón, Aristóteles, la historiografía del pensamiento antiguo y la teoría hermenéutica. La colección de fragmentos de los primeros filósofos griegos que ha editado con G. W. Most aparecerá simultáneamente en dos ediciones bilingües en otoño de 2016, en inglés por Harvard University Press (colección Loeb, nueve volúmenes) y en francés por la editorial Fayard.</p>

The Seven Sister colleges are well known for producing some of the nation's most successful women. At the turn of the century, they were recognized as the leading institutions for elite White women. In this article, Linda Perkins outlines the historical experiences of African American women attending the Seven Sister colleges from the institutions' founding to the civil rights era of the 1960s, a period during which approximately five hundred Black women graduated from these institutions. Through an exploration of university archives, alumni bulletins, and oral interviews with alumnae, Perkins shows that the Seven Sister colleges were not a monolithic entity: some admitted African American women as far back as the turn of the century, while others grudgingly, and only under great pressure, admitted them decades later. Perkins illustrates how the Seven Sister colleges mirrored the views of the larger society concerning race, and how issues of discrimination in admissions, housing, and financial aid in these institutions were influenced by, and had an influence on, the overall African American struggle for full participatory citizenship.

Some studies date the origins of US intercollegiate football—and, by extension, the modern game of American football—back to a soccer-style game played between Princeton and Rutgers universities in 1869. This article joins with others to argue that such a narrative is misleading and goes further to clarify the significance of two “international” fixtures in 1873 and 1874, which had a formative and lasting impact on football in the United States. These games, contested between alumni from England’s Eton College and students at Yale University, and between students at Canada’s McGill University and Harvard University, combined to revolutionize the American football code. Between 1875 and 1880, previous soccer-style versions of US intercollegiate football were replaced with an imported, if somewhat modified, version of rugby football. It was the “American rugby” that arose as a result of these transnational exchanges that is the true ancestor of the gridiron game of today.

This research aims to determine the influence of role ambiguity and role conflict on employee creativity. This research used the causal method by collecting primary data obtained through distributing questionnaires. Samples are 126 respondents of Faculty Economics and Business University Lampung alumnae who graduated 2015-2017. Data processed using multiple regression method. Result analysis shows that role ambiguity has a positive and significant influence on employee creativity with a value of 44%. Another result of this research shows that role conflict positively influences employee creativity with a value of 19%.
 Keywords:Role Ambiguity, Role Conflict, Employee Creativity
 ABSTRAK
 Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh dari ambiguitas peran dan konflik peran terhadap kreativitas karyawan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kausal dengan menggunakan data primer dari penyebaran kuesioner. Sampel penelitian adalah 126 responden alumni Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Lampung lulusan tahun 2015 sampai 2017 dan sudah bekerja. Data diolah dengan menggunakan metode regresi berganda. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa ambiguitas peran memiliki pengaruh positif dan signifikan sebesar 44% terhadap kreativitas karyawan. Hasil lain dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa konflik peran memiliki dampak positif sebesar 19% terhadap kreativitas karyawan.
 Kata Kunci: Ambiguitas Peran, Konflik Peran, Kreativitas Karyawan

This project investigates why alumni do not become donors to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Interviews with non-donors created the opportunity for an in depth qualitative examination of the motivating process that led these non-donors to abstain from giving. This study used the Van Slyke and Brooks (Van Slyke & Brooks, 2005) model of alumni giving and the Schervish (Schervish, The spiritual horizon of philianthropy: New directors for money and motives, 2000) supply side theory of philanthropy, which has been successfully applied in similar studies (Wastyn, 2008), to provide the conceptual framework. This framework maintains that donors and non-donors differ in that the manner in which they socially construct their university experience in creating their own realities. This constructed reality becomes the filter through which non-donors pass requests for financial support (whether direct or indirect) from the institution. The study revealed that at NMMU factors including generic donor behaviour among alumni, the status of current non-donors as being mostly past donors to their respective constituent institution, attitudes toward the institutional reputation (or aspects thereof) of the NMMU, identified obstacles to engagement, pervasive negative attitudes to institutional giving and alumni support for commercialised but not tiered giving activities, can play a major role in restructuring the manner in which non-donor alumni should be approached. The study demonstrates the need to include non-donors in research that explores alumni giving to the university. It confirms the distinct impact of the abnormally distributed demographic characteristics of this university and confirms that examining the impact of these characteristics and experiences cannot be effectively done by simply relying on one or two simple variables. Being a management project, 13 (thirteen) distinct categories of management recommendations are made, ranging from strategy development, through accounting and budgeting practice, to proposing specific revenue generating initiatives. The study concludes with the view that Alumni can and should be able to make a notable contribution to the revenue of the university and in so doing, contribute to the sustainability of the pro-social transformation process of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Those who enter into graduate study bring with them a diverse array of needs and interests. Graduate programmes are called upon to meet these needs and in endeavoring to do so,institutions providing training must look at the increasing diversity of the field. One way to do this is to determine what graduates of professional training do as practicing adult educators. This study was designed to answer some of the questions regarding the impact of a degree for men and women in adult education on their career paths, job mobility, income levels, and so on. In this study, current patterns in career development of adult educators and trends in the field of adult education were profiled by surveying 1960 through 1988 graduates of the Adult Education Programme at the University of British Columbia. The study examined occupational placement of graduates and the factors determining their mobility. As well, the relationship between training and work activities was explored. Further, graduates described their learning needs which were examined in terms of their work activities. The nature and degree of their participation in continuing professional education were examined. In addition, the reasons for initial enrollment in the programme were investigated. One of the major facets of the study was to discover the differences, if any, between men and women in many areas of career development. The following general research questions were pursued: 1) What reasons do graduates give for their participation in the adult education programme? 2) Do men and women share a similar education and occupation profile? 3) In what way has self-assessed occupational prestige changed over time? 4) Do graduates of the five Adult Education Programmes (Diploma, M.Ed., M.Sc., M.A., and Ed.D.) perform different occupational functions in their present work? 5) What factors influence occupational mobility? and 6) Are there relationships between present occupational activities, self-perceived quality of training in specified occupational activities and self-reported need to continue learning in these activities? Respondents (approximately half of all graduates) were typically female (59.2%), age 39 on graduation. She had worked four and a half years in adult education prior to entry in the programme and was motivated to participate in the programme to increase her chances of professional advancement. She took less than three years to complete her degree and has held three jobs since graduation. She works full-time in a position where administration or management is the primary function and considers her opportunities for occupational mobility as average or high. She earns $46,000 per year (1988). In general, respondents cited reasons related to professional advancement as their motivation for participation in the programme. Women and men tended to be similar in their educational and occupational profile, which was unanticipated in examining previous research. However, a significant discrepancy was found in the annual income earned by women and men working in adult education positions. This discrepancy was not evident between men and women working outside of the field. Generally, self-assessed occupational prestige increased over time, though the biggest jump was seen in the period since graduation. Graduates of the five departmental programmes weighed similarly, though not identically, the amount of time spent in fourteen specified occupational activities. Very few occupational, educational, or demographic factors seemed to influence occupational mobility, except age at graduation. There seemed to be a weak relationship between occupational functions performed by graduates at the time of the survey, their assessment of the programme in preparing them to perform these functions, and the self-reported need to continue their education in these specified functions.<br>Education, Faculty of<br>Educational Studies (EDST), Department of<br>Graduate

The success of a course offered by a university and the effectiveness of the instructors have commonly been measured by means of student evaluations. The feedback generated is typically used to identify instructors who need additional training, courses that need to be restructured or the need for financial rewards for those who excel. The principal objective of educating students is, knowledge, training and skills they can use and apply after graduating, regardless of the field of study. The perception of the Alumni about the extent of learning and the usefulness of the knowledge is a key measure for universities to assess their success. A service guarantee is defined as a formal promise made to customers about the service they will receive or it is a written promise made by the company through advertising or company literature that it will provide compensation if promises are broken. In order to ensure customer satisfaction in a service offering, the quality of service performance needs to be guaranteed. Many service industries promise a level of service performance, with or without conditions attached. Customer value is a complex concept as it is often interpreted with various meanings depending on the point of view adopted. A definition of customer value is the perceived value that the customer gains when purchasing a product or receiving a service. However, customer value can be used in a variety of contexts. The purpose of this research study is to measure the perception and satisfaction of Alumni of the Department of Computing Sciences and identify areas for improvement by performing a systematic analysis of the determinants of satisfaction. This research is an exploratory, quantitative study consisting of literature- and case-study components used to test proposed hypotheses. The literature study was performed on secondary sources to establish the key concepts related to the topics of Service Guarantee and Marketing, Stakeholder Theory, Customer-perceived Value and Alumni Perceptions. The empirical study consisted of surveys (questionnaires) completed by Alumni of the Department of Computing Sciences. The questionnaire used in this research consisted of questions regarding demographic data and questions regarding perceived perception of the Department of Computing Sciences and influencing factors. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data into a more compact form which could simplify the identification of patterns in the data. Inferential statistics were used to verify if conclusions made from the sample data could be inferred onto a larger population. Recommended university and teaching practices based on the statistical analysis of the survey results were identified. A model identified the following factors as having an influence on Alumni Satisfaction with the NMMU Department of Computing Sciences: Customer Satisfaction, Course Contents, Modern Technologies, Academic Staff, Admin. Staff, Departments, University Atmosphere and Perceived Value. The importance of each factor was identified to understand how to improve the Alumni perception. According to the inferential ranking of Alumni Satisfaction that ranks the factors on the average mean values, a factor that should be improved upon is the Alumni Network. Recommended improvements were suggested for the Department of Computing Sciences based on the statistical analysis of the survey results. Two sub-groups were defined by different levels of education and they were found to have different perceptions of the factors that were measured. It was shown that there are small and medium significant differences in only two of the factors of the proposed Alumni satisfaction model, distinguising through different levels of education. The Alumni Satisfaction model developed in this study specified the factors that influence Alumni Satisfaction with the Deptarment of Computing Sciences and the effect that each of these factors has on that satisfaction.

An examination of sociology student satisfaction levels is performed and an attempt is made to explain variations in degree program satisfaction. A comparison is made between current student and alumni regarding the coursework and experiences they feel should be offered in the undergraduate degree program in sociology at Portland State University (PSU). The study population consists of all PSU students who have obtained an undergraduate degree in sociology since the program's inception and all students currently attending PSU and majoring in sociology. The typical respondent is female (the ratio of females to males being higher for current students than for alumni) and is 39 years old. Close to half of the respondents have at least one parent with a college degree. Most current students work while attending school. Current students earn less than alumni (they are also more likely to work part-time). Around half of the alumni respondents stop their educational career with their undergraduate degree. The majority of those who continued beyond the undergraduate level do so in a field outside of sociology. Alumni are predominantly employed in white collar jobs involving computers and writing -- skills they rank as important attributes of a good department. The majority of current students are full-time seniors who transferred from another institution, and chose to attend college to gain personal knowledge and to prepare for employment. When asked about their goals, the majority of current students intend to find employment in the six months after graduation. Current students are more satisfied with the degree program than alumni respondents. Age is not related to a stronger vocational orientation. The level of financial hardship incurred by alumni to attend college is positively correlated with a vocational orientation. This was not the case for current students who show no relationship between the two variables. Degree program satisfaction is positively correlated with job satisfaction, but the relationship is weak. The more vocationally oriented students and alumni are more satisfied with the degree program. Finally, the more useful the student feels sociology is in their present job, the more satisfied they are with the program.

This project developed a resource development plan for the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, San Bernardino. It employs research in organizational communication and applies the theory of organizational identification to the relationship / donor aspect of the program. It also covers research in the field of organizational identification and its relevance to college alumni.

M.A.<br>The dissemination of relevant information is of critical importance to the success of any organisation that aims at realising its corporate objectives and meeting the requirements of its stakeholders. The emergence of information and communication technologies (ITCs) has had a far-reaching impact on the relationship and power structure between organisations and their audiences, stakeholders and the media. It has become extremely difficult for organisations to define and segment these audiences as, for example, Internet audiences are widely spread across geographical, cultural and economic boundaries. This makes the packaging and dissemination of information a near Herculean task, as information needs to be generic enough to be commonly understood and accessed, yet personalised and customised in such a way that it still addresses the various audience segmentations effectively. The identification and profiling of target audiences, however, are critical for successful information dissemination too, as the information thus gained will guide communicators within organisations to compile relevant (to the specific target audiences) content and to package the information in such a way that it be best suited to the needs and resources of their target groups. Extensive market research should, therefore, be an integrated organisational activity that is performed on an ongoing basis and in a structured manner. The principal aim of this research project is to determine the extent to which information and communication technologies could enable the Alumni Office of the University of Johannesburg (as a newly merged institution) to disseminate information to its alumni effectively. This target audience consists mainly of the merged partners’ alumni groups, namely the RAU and TWR alumni, but also makes provision for the establishment of a third alumni affinity group in the foreseeable future, namely the alumni of the University of Johannesburg. The research consists of an in-depth literature review, followed by an empirical component. The purpose of the literature review is to create a theoretical framework in order to lay a solid foundation from which to conduct the empirical research. The various components of the research problem are discussed, as well as the variables that could possibly influence the outcome of the research. Next, the possible challenges facing the Alumni Office of the University of Johannesburg are investigated, with special emphasis on RAU and TWR alumni, as these two groups would (at least initially) form the basis of the alumni target audience of the University of Johannesburg. The various information and communication technologies that could be employed as information-dissemination tools by the Alumni Office of the University of Johannesburg in order to build and maintain valuable relationships with the alumni target audience are also explored. Following, the so-called “digital divide” is investigated, with an overview of the factors influencing this divide in South Africa, as well as the impact it may have on disseminating and sharing information to and with alumni of the University of Johannesburg. For the empirical study, the sample population for answering the quantitative, close-ended questionnaire by means of telephonic surveys was selected by means of stratified sampling from the RAU and TWR alumni databases respectively. Three hundred RAU alumni and three hundred TWR alumni were sampled from the total target-group population, of which 25% were males older than 35 years, 25% males 35 years and younger, 25% females older than 35 and 25% females 35 years and younger. The research results indicate that information and communication technologies could, to a large extent, enable the Alumni Office of the University of Johannesburg to disseminate information to its alumni effectively. In addition, it indicates that a total of 92.80% of respondents feel that contact between them and the Alumni Office would inspire greater loyalty towards the University. A majority of alumni (86.80%) indicated that they would like to receive information about the benefits to be derived from joining the Alumni Association of the University. A strong correlation exists between the establishment of an alumni benefits programme and the level of alumni involvement with the University. The research findings could provide the Alumni Office with valuable guidelines to plan and implement an interactive information-communication strategy by means of effective information dissemination, which could be to the mutual benefit of both the University and its alumni.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology: Public Relations Management, Department of Public Relations, Durban University of Technology. Durban. South Africa, 2015.<br>The alumni form the largest stakeholder group of any higher education institution (HEI). Representatives from this constituency occupy seats on t he Council (the highest governing body of a higher education institution). Institutions, worldwide, look to their alumni, as a source of funds, to provide expert advice and general support. Therefore, higher education institutions and alumni have to share a mutually beneficial and ongoing relationship. This relationship is maintained through constant and regular communication. Loyal alumni are a mainstay of financial support for many universities. It is important, though, that universities, not only focus on gifts but rather on a br oad and deep engagement with alumni. Alumni relations with their colleges and universities seek to generate interest that eventually translates into financial contributions and volunteer service, which means giving back to their alma mater. To achieve this goal, communication is extremely important. Alumni respond to a call for assistance from their alma mater for many reasons. Some of the reasons include having had good experiences during their undergraduate years as well as their academic qualifications holding them in good stead in the work place. The value that universities place on t heir alumni cannot be underestimated. Many hold influential positions and can assist in contributing to the financial coffers of the university as well as sharing their expertise.

A university’s alumnus grouping is one of its most valuable assets in terms of its potential financial, strategic and social contribution towards the credibility and longevity of the institution. The goodwill and support of a primary stakeholder grouping such as the alumni is crucial to the aspirations of a Higher Education institution wanting to prosper in a fast-changing and highly competitive market. Alumni members have the capacity to assist in strategically positioning a tertiary institution as a market leader in the South African Higher Education Sector (SAHES) by means of representation on the institutional council and their involvement in networking, lifelong learning, career services, mentoring, fundraising and community development activities. In light of the restructuring and transformation that this sector has undergone since 1994, building and maintaining valuable relationships with alumni stakeholders of tertiary institutions in South Africa has become a new and more difficult challenge. The integrated network approach of relationship management could give an institution the opportunity to create a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved. Information technology has had a significant impact on the power structure and relationship between organisations and their publics, stakeholders and the media. It has become extremely difficult for organisations to define and segment these audiences as, for example, Internet audiences are widely spread across geographical, cultural, and economic boundaries. This makes the packaging and dissemination of information a much more challenging task, as information needs to be generic enough to be commonly understood, but should also be personalised in such a way that it still addresses the different audience segmentations effectively. However, the identification and profiling of target audiences is critical for successful information dissemination, as this knowledge will guide the information managers within organisations in compiling relevant (to the target audiences) content and packaging the information in a way that is most suitable to the needs and resources of the targeted group. At the core of developing an alumni network is a secure database with an interactive Web-based platform allowing the alumni management teams and members to disseminate and share relevant information freely. According to a research project (the first phase of a longitudinal study) about disseminating information to UJ alumni, 98,2% of the respondents indicated that they wanted to have contact with the UJ Alumni Relations Office (Barnard, Rensleigh & Niemann, 2005). The majority of respondents, 86,7%, indicated that they preferred to receive the information via electronic mail or from the website. The research findings indicated that the UJ alumni stakeholder group is part of a privileged section of the South African population in the global and national digital divide. Thus, the alumni management of UJ had the opportunity to explore and use the information-sharing options offered by online and digital technologies. This research project forms the second phase of the ongoing research project in an attempt to discard the “one-size-fits-all” notion with regard to information sharing with the alumni stakeholders of tertiary institutions in South Africa. The aim of this research project is to determine the extent to which an online community portal could manage the information needs of alumni stakeholders in the SAHES, using the alumni of the University of Johannesburg as a case study. Establishing an online (virtual) community Web portal for UJ alumni will support a customised approach in terms of information content, dissemination, context and commerce. An online community environment will offer alumni opportunities to re-establish contact with peers and nurture relationships with one another through frequent social interaction (chat). Such a facility would allow and encourage conversations that are of value to all stakeholders, as these communities can exist beyond the boundaries of location and time. They foster not only the potential to promote business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C), but also consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interaction and could even exploit the possibilities of human-resource placements. The research consisted of an extensive literature review followed by a quantitative empirical survey and a qualitative discussion forum. The purpose of the literature review was to establish a theoretical framework in order to lay a solid foundation from which the empirical research was conducted. The different components of the research problem were discussed as well as possible variables that could influence the research problem. The restructuring of the South African Higher Education Sector was investigated, with specific focus on the University of Johannesburg and its alumni stakeholder group, taking an in-depth look into the value that an alumni stakeholder group holds for an institution. The management of alumni information needs was discussed, using Web-technology as focal point. Online community portals were defined, emphasising the benefits that this information tool could have for Higher Education alumni. As part of the quantitative study, an empirical survey was conducted in April 2006 among the alumni of the University of Johannesburg to determine their information needs concerning an online community portal, and the content required of such an online community model. A total number of 10 380 questionnaires was distributed to graduates of the University of Johannesburg at the Autumn Graduation ceremonies. The questionnaire consisted of four sections, namely Section A: Biographical Information, Section B: Online Activities, Section C: Alumni Information Services and Section D: Alumni Community Needs. In total, 1 703 questionnaires were completed and returned by these graduates to the UJ Alumni Relations Office. In addition, a qualitative discussion forum was conducted among 35 alumni management representatives from fourteen SAHES institutions during August 2006. The representatives indicated how information was disseminated electronically to alumni target audiences and their opinions towards alumni online community portals were tested. The research results indicated that an online community portal, could manage, to a great extent, the information needs of alumni in the South African Higher Education Sector (UJ alumni case study). Consequently, a prototype was proposed for an online community portal for SAHES alumni that would have a significant impact on the information and communication methods used to build alumni networks, for the benefit of both the alumni stakeholders and the Higher Education institutions in South Africa. Although the alumni of the University of Johannesburg served as a case study for this research project, the proposed prototype could be tailored to the needs of other alumni organisations throughout the South African Higher Education Sector. In terms of inter-institutional collaboration, this research project offers an opportunity to liaise and share information with other alumni organisations of the SAHES. This could result in successfully identifying a best practice model for managing the information needs of alumni stakeholder groups of tertiary institutions in developing countries, which is significantly different from the philanthropic approach to these stakeholder groups in first world countries. As a result, the employment sector of Higher Education institutions in South Africa could gain from the research outcomes, as the proposed prototype will offer an ICT and Web-based solution which could be applied for the mutual benefit of the relevant stakeholder groups and the institutions.<br>Prof. Chris Rensleigh

In bringing the College of New Jersey to the brink of university status, McCosh stood on the verge of the promised land. As the nineteenth century was coming to a close, alumni, professors, and trustees in Princeton, like those at many other American colleges and universities, were eager to see the institution position itself so that it would be better able to meet society’s need for moral and thoughtful leaders, practical knowledge, and scientific expertise once the nation entered the twentieth century. With the future direction of the institution hanging in the balance, the choice of who should succeed McCosh divided the college community along the same lines as had emerged earlier over both the alumni’s attempt to secure direct representation on the Board of Trustees and McCosh’s failed attempt to make the college a university. Whereas McCosh harmoniously upheld the college’s dual mission through the breadth of his scholarly interests, the warmth of his evangelical piety, and the force of his personality, the two candidates who vied for the presidency after his resignation possessed only a portion of McCosh’s qualities and appealed to only one part of the Princeton community. Francis L. Patton appealed to those primarily, though not exclusively, interested in preserving Princeton’s heritage as an evangelical college. According to McCosh, the “older men” among the trustees, faculty, and alumni “want a minister,” and on these grounds, the forty-five-year-old Patton seemed like a natural successor to McCosh. A native of Bermuda, Patton had graduated from University College of the University of Toronto; had attended Knox College, also of the University of Toronto; and had graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1865. Ordained that same year in the Old School Presbyterian church, he served as pastor of a church in New York City. Cyrus H. McCormick (1809-1884), the farming machine magnate and patron of conservative Presbyterian causes, persuaded Patton to accept a position as the Professor of Didactic and Polemical Theology at the Presbyterian Seminary of the Northwest (later McCormick Theological Seminary) in Chicago in 1873.

This chapter asks who conservative students are by drawing on two sources. First are the surveys administered by the University of California at Los Angeles's Higher Education Research Institute to thousands of incoming college freshmen and graduating seniors during the 2000s. The second source is the data collected on different campuses, designed to shed light on the formative years of the students and alumni/ae in their families and their schools, their early experiences with conservatism, and how they acquired the politics bug. Using this information, the chapter examines the students' demographics, political identifications, precollege political styles, ideological orientations, religious affiliation, and social class background as well as their families' political backgrounds.

At the heart of Harvard lay the College. Half of the University’s students were there, as was most of the history that fueled the Harvard mystique. Undergraduate tuition and the contributions of well-heeled College alumni provided much of the income on which the University depended. But the elitist, inbred College culture posed a substantial obstacle to Conant’s goal of a more meritocratic Harvard. Admission was the first step in the student life cycle, and admissions policy went far to set the tone of the College. Eliot did not pay much attention to the matter. But his successor Lowell wanted students who would be a social elite. Catholic students were quite acceptable to him: in comportment and values they passed his entry test for the leadership class. So, too—more doubtfully—did wealthy, assimilated German Jews, though assuredly not their Russian-Jewish brethren. Anne MacDonald, executive secretary of the admissions office since the beginning of the century, was one of those women then (and now) essential to the smooth functioning of Harvard. In a 1934 memorandum to Conant, she explained the workings of her bailiwick. She and her opposite numbers at Yale (a Miss Elliot), Princeton (a Miss Williams), and the College Entrance Examination Board (a Miss McLaughlin) met yearly “to compare notes on all matters concerning admission, and the different ways in which they are treated at the three universities.” Some of her work required special handling: “The interviews with rejected Hebrews or their relatives are particularly precarious, and one needs to be constantly on the alert. . . . For the past ten years, or since the restriction [Harvard’s unofficial Jewish quota] we have been particularly fortunate in settling these cases.” But there were snakes in this admissions Garden of Eden. A substantial portion of each entering class failed to meet the academic standards of the College: 30 to 40 percent of freshmen had unsatisfactory records in the early 1930s. And the student body was too parochial: in 1931 Harvard had the highest portion (40 percent) of students from its home state among the nation’s major colleges.