OATH OF ALLEGIANCE: Twenty-eight area residents from 14 different countries were sworn in by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Deputy District Director Tamika Gray to become U.S. citizens at the Princeton Public Library on Monday. Welcoming Week events continue in Princeton through Sunday, September 23. (Photo by Donald Gilpin)

By Donald Gilpin

It’s Welcoming Week in Princeton, September 14-23, and a full slate of welcoming events is underway, highlighted by Monday’s naturalization ceremony where 28 Princeton area residents took the oath of allegiance to become new citizens of the United States.

“This week is a celebration of the town and all of the different peoples that make this such a vibrant community,” said Welcoming Week Co-Organizer Kim Dorman of the Princeton Public Library (PPL).

“Princeton’s Welcoming Week is a reminder of our town’s commitment to creating and promoting welcoming values and policies that ensure all residents in our town feel at home and reach their greatest potential,” added Princeton Human Services Acting Director and Welcoming Week Co-Organizer Melissa Urias.

She continued, “We are joining the nation in showing unity and celebrating the rich culture our residents bring to our community. Now, more than ever, it is vital that we stand up as a community and recognize the importance of fostering a culture that is welcoming, accepting, and inclusive.”

Shirley Satterfield, local historian and longtime resident of the community, kicked off the proceedings last Friday with her Albert Hinds African American Tour Presentation at the Henry Pannell Learning Center. The naturalization ceremony followed in the Community Room of the PPL on Monday at 2 p.m., and later that evening the PPL hosted an English Language Learners pot luck dinner.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday Princeton Garden Theatre presented a screening of The Color of Medicine, chronicling the rise and fall of St. Louis’s premier black hospital, followed by a panel discussion with Princeton University faculty members.

Sustainable Princeton welcomed visitors to an open house at mid-day on Tuesday, passing out free tree seedlings.

Welcoming Week events will continue at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 20 with Cultural Exchange Night in Hinds Plaza hosted by the Latin American Legal and Defense Education Fund (LALDEF), Human Services, and the PPL.

Princeton University invites the community to attend Community and Staff Day on Saturday at the Princeton University Stadium, including a youth sports clinic, the Princeton football game, entertainment, crafts, and an information fair featuring local community organizations.

Welcoming Week activities will wrap up on Sunday at the Princeton Art Museum with “Loteria” Mexican Bingo and a tour of the museum at 3 p.m.

Princeton High School’s Rocks Club announced that it has painted “welcome” rocks and hidden them for the public to look for. Visit their Facebook page for more information.

The 28 new citizens, sworn in by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Deputy District Director Tamika Gray before a crowd of about 120 family members, friends, and other supporters, came from 14 different countries including Austria, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, India, Liberia, Philippines, Poland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Ya Mei Chen, USCIS Mount Laurel Field Office Director, shared her own experience as a naturalized citizen, urging the new citizens, “Don’t forget the country you are from. Keep celebrating your heritage as you celebrate the culture and heritage of this country. I want you to be a bridge between the two cultures, the one you’re from and your new country.”

Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, the keynote speaker, welcoming her 28 “fellow Americans,” emphasized the importance and difficulty of this moment in history. “You are all choosing to become Americans at a divisive and challenging time for our country,” she said. “It’s a time when many of us are asking who we are as a country and what we stand for. The answers to those questions are really up to all of us to answer together.”

Commenting on the celebration of diversity during Welcoming Week, Lempert went on to say, “What binds us together is a shared set of beliefs, a belief in the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution — liberty, equality, the rule of law, a fair judicial system, and hope, hope in the ability to achieve the American Dream.”

Quoting former President Barack Obama, Lempert urged listeners to speak out against hatred and bigotry and “to get involved in the political process and to make your voices heard. Each of you is called upon to help build and maintain our country.”

Urias echoed Lempert’s advice in commenting on the goals of Welcoming Week. “Our hope is that residents will get involved in the work and contribute to creating a welcoming environment by fighting against the forces that divide our community.”

The Princeton municipal website describes Welcoming Week as “a wonderful opportunity for us to come together to affirm that Princeton is a place where we want to weave together all residents to be a part of the fabric of our shared future; one that highlights all of the gifts that our diverse community offers to make Princeton one of the best small cities in America.”