Three members of the Princeton community will gather for a panel discussion on February 28, 1 p.m., at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, 65 Olden Street, Princeton University. The panelists include Dr. Robert Rivers ’53, the first African American member elected to Princeton University’s Board of Trustees; Robert Durkee ’69, Princeton University vice president; and Lieutenant Colonel Kevin McKiernan, Princeton University director of the Army Officer Education Program.

Moderated by Sara Logue, assistant University archivist for public services, the panelists will offer first-hand insight into the impact of war on education and college campuses, specifically Princeton University. The event is free and open to the public. 

Rivers, who grew up in Princeton, saw the first African American students attend Princeton University as part of the Navy’s V-12 program during World War II. In 1946, the Princeton Summer Camp was reopened after the war and was integrated for the first time. Rivers was one of the first African American campers and later said of the experience that it was “a defining moment …. I began to think seriously about personal possibilities at Princeton University.” After graduating from Princeton in 1953, Rivers attended Harvard Medical School and has had a distinguished career as a vascular surgeon.

Durkee, who attended Princeton during the Vietnam War years, was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper during that volatile period. His professional career at Princeton began in 1972 as assistant to the president. In 1978, he was appointed vice president for public affairs. In addition to being vice president and secretary of the University, Durkee serves or has served on a number of boards and committees, including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Public Affairs Committee of the Association of American University.

McKiernan began his military career when he entered the Army in 1994 as an enlisted military intelligence signal interceptor. As a captain, he served as the Assistant S3 deploying in support of operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Colombia, and Kuwait. He was deployed to Qatar and was responsible for coordinating Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance support for Army ground units in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among his many awards and decorations are a Bronze Star and a Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

This event is part of Mudd Library’s year-long exhibition, “Learning to Fight, Fighting to Learn: Education in Times of War.” The exhibition, which runs through June, examines and explores this topic through archival documents, photography, and war memorabilia, spanning over 200 years. On display are such items as materials on the Council on Books in Wartime, the Vietnam War Student Mobilization Committee, correspondence on the development of the atomic bomb, the G.I. bill’s impact on campus life, and much more.