GOLD MEDAL WINNER: Amy Lin, Princeton High School senior and virtuoso pianist, center, celebrates her Royal Conservatory of Music Gold Medal award, presented to her at Carnegie Hall on January 14. Marvin Blickenstaff and Kairy Koshoeva, her piano teachers at the New School for Music Study in Kingston, join in honoring her. (Photo courtesy of Amy Lin)

By Donald Gilpin

There’s the old joke where the New York City tourist asks a man in the street who’s carrying a violin case, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The musician’s answer: “Practice, practice, practice.”

For rising Princeton High School (PHS) senior and pianist Amy Lin, the answer might be “practice, practice, practice,” but she also had to win the Gold Medal in the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) National Award, receiving the highest score in the country at the RCM’s top performance level.  more

THE PATHWAY TO COLLEGE: Since 1970 the 101: Fund has provided need-based college scholarships for Princeton High School graduates. This year’s 101: Fund all-volunteer board, pictured above, awarded scholarships to 30 PHS graduating seniors, and additional funding to support other recent PHS graduates in college. (Photo courtesy of 101: Fund)

By Donald Gilpin

In its 55th year of existence, the 101: Fund recently awarded scholarships to 30 Princeton High School (PHS) graduating seniors. In total the Fund will provide more than $176,000 during the next year to support recent graduates.

This was a record number of scholarship awards to new graduates, with many recipients being the first in their families to attend college.

The featured speaker at the June 10 awards ceremony was Kevin Lara Lemus, a former 101: Fund scholarship award recipient who is a recent graduate of the Mercer County Community College (MCCC) nursing program. He spoke about the significant help that the 101: Fund provided, both financially and through mentorship, during his college experience. more

By Donald Gilpin

Activity at the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) might look as if it’s winding down following last Friday’s Princeton High School (PHS) graduation, but two key administrative appointments and a slew of construction projects are two indications of a busy summer in preparation for the 2024-25 school year.

Fifth graders at the district’s four elementary schools celebrated their moving-on-to- middle school ceremony on Thursday morning last week; 257 Princeton Middle School (PMS) students, who will attend PHS in the fall, participated in a moving up ceremony on Wednesday; and on Friday, with the time moved up from 5:30 to 4 p.m. in order to outrun a major thunderstorm, 366 PHS seniors received their diplomas.

Meanwhile, PPS staff who are working with building contractors, architects, and engineers; numerous teachers and administrators with summer projects; and two new administrators, in particular, are wasting no time in getting down to work. more

“MARCH, DANCE, ROLL, SASHAY”: The 2024 Princeton Pride Parade and After-Party will be taking place this Saturday, June 22, with participants marching from the Municipal Building on Witherspoon Street to the YMCA field on Paul Robeson Place for food, music, speeches, dancing, and more. This photo is from last year’s Pride Parade. (Photo courtesy of Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice)

By Donald Gilpin

“Marchin’ in Solidarity” and “Dancin’ in Celebration” the flyer from the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ) reads, as Princeton prepares for its annual Pride Parade and After-Party on Saturday, June 22, stepping off from the Princeton Municipal Building on Witherspoon Street at 11 a.m.

“The Princeton Pride Parade is a joyful lovefest of community celebration right here in Central Jersey,” wrote State Sen. Andrew Zwicker in an email Monday. “I am grateful to the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice for their leadership and efforts to bring us all together and, as always, look forward to marching, dancing, singing, and chanting in solidarity as we recommit ourselves to defending the liberties of the LGBTQIA+ community.” more

By Donald Gilpin

A Russian court announced on Monday that the trial of journalist and former Princeton resident Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for almost 15 months, would begin on June 26 and would be held behind closed doors, according to news sources.

A 2010 Princeton High School graduate, Gershkovich was on a reporting trip for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023 when he was detained by Russian security officials and incarcerated in a high-security prison in Moscow.

Gershkovich, who is fluent in Russian, which he spoke at home with his Jewish parents, who had been born in the Soviet Union and fled to the United States in 1970, has been charged with espionage. He is the first American to be imprisoned on espionage charges in Russia since 1986 during the Cold War. more

“LET FREEDOM RING”: From left, Human Services Commission member Larry Spruill, Civil Rights Commission Chair Fern Spruill, and Councilman Leighton Newlin raise the Juneteenth flag at Monument Hall to commemorate Juneteenth 2023. (Princeton Symphony Orchestra staff photo)

By Donald Gilpin

Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. after the Civil War, is next Wednesday, June 19, and celebrations will be taking place at Monument Plaza and Morven Museum & Garden in Princeton, at various other venues in Central Jersey, and across the nation.

Events are also scheduled in the area for Saturday, June 15, with additional celebrations over the weekend of June 22-23.

It was on June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that enslaved African Americans in Texas were told they were free. African Americans have celebrated that day since the late 1800s, and in 2021 Juneteenth, on June 19, officially became a national holiday. The holiday is also called Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day, or Emancipation Day. more

BEAUTIFUL AND BESIEGED: Princeton’s beech trees are being threatened with a new beech leaf disease caused by tiny worms called nematodes, which can destroy a tree in less than 10 years. Local arborists and residents are seeking the best ways to combat beech leaf disease. (Shutterstock)

By Donald Gilpin

Just 10 years since the emerald ash borer was first detected in New Jersey, and then proceeded to decimate many thousands of the state’s ash trees, a new threat, beech leaf disease, caused by tiny worms called nematodes spread by birds or the wind, has arrived and is likely to take a devastating toll on the area’s beech trees.

Princeton Municipal Arborist Taylor Sapudar reports sightings on private properties throughout Princeton and in Princeton Open Space. He has heard from private tree care companies that are trying to manage and treat the disease, but he cautions that “it’s still in the early stages,” and a number of questions about the origins and the most effective countermeasures remain unanswered.

“Staff will be monitoring the disease in the open space areas,” Sapudar said. more

By Donald Gilpin

With the wrap-up of the June primary, New Jersey voters and candidates are setting their sights on the November general election.

The national races, with Congress, the Senate and the U.S. presidency on the line, appear to be more hotly contested than the local contests.

Democrat Mark Freda is running unopposed for reelection as Princeton mayor, while in their bids for two Princeton Council seats in November, new candidate Brian McDonald and incumbent Leighton Newlin are so far facing no competition.

In the primary race to represent the Democratic Party in the fall election for the New Jersey U.S. Senate seat currently held by Robert Menendez, Andy Kim handily defeated two other candidates, receiving 75 percent of the vote to 15.9 percent for labor organizer and political leader Patricia Campos-Medina, and 9.1 percent for Lawrence Hamm, human rights activist and leader of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign in New Jersey. Tammy Murphy, wife of Gov. Phil Murphy, entered the primary race for Senate, but ended her campaign in March. more

By Donald Gilpin

May was Bike Month, with National Ride a Bike Day, Bike to School Day, and Bike to Work Day and Week; Monday, June 3 was World Bicycle Day; and Princeton continues to celebrating all forms of biking, with many different organizations and individuals working to make cycling increasingly accessible and safe in the town.

“Biking is a great way to get around,” notes Sustainable Princeton on its website. “It’s lower impact than running, faster than walking, and more exciting (and climate-friendly) than sitting in a car. More and more people are catching onto this, using bikes to commute to work, run errands, and exercise.”

“The biking community is growing, and I think it will continue to grow, and that’s a good thing,” said Sustainable Princeton Executive Director Christine Symington, who does not have a car and gets around by bike. more

By Donald Gilpin

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Katrina vanden Heuvel, publisher, editorial director, and former editor of The Nation magazine, will be the keynote speaker this Sunday, June 9, at the Coalition for Peace Action’s (CFPA) annual membership gathering at the Christ Congregation, 50 Walnut Lane, adjacent to Princeton High School.

A sponsor reception with vanden Heuvel will take place from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., with the program, which will also honor three individuals for their work for peace, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

CFPA Executive Director the Rev. Robert Moore, in a June 3 phone interview, emphasized the significance of this event and the urgency of working for peace during this troubled moment in history. “It’s important to have these kinds of events where we gather and feel better informed, but also strengthened in our determination to continue with our movement and hopefully grow it,” he said. more

By Donald Gilpin

Mercer County Community College (MCCC) has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), which provides the college with many new opportunities to apply for grants and tap into resources to enhance academic programs, facilities, and services that expand opportunities for Hispanic Americans.

“This federal designation is a significant milestone toward reducing barriers to higher education and creating an inclusive environment with equitable outcomes for all students,” said MCCC President Deborah Preston in a press release. “It will allow us to continue providing the tools needed to empower our Hispanic and Latino students, and ultimately the broader community.”

MCCC has become eligible for this designation with a growing enrollment of full-time students who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. From 2019 to the fall of 2023, MCCC’s Hispanic and Latino student population increased from 24 percent to 30 percent, well above the 25 percent minimum required to receive the DOE designation as an HSI. MCCC has also met criteria pertaining to the enrollment of low-income students and the cost per student.  more

CAPS IN THE AIR: Princeton University graduates celebrated on Tuesday in Princeton Stadium, as thousands of family members and friends cheered them on and Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber urged them to “show up in person, fully and humanly” in their lives beyond Princeton. (Princeton University; Office of Communications; Charles Sykes; Associated Press Images, 2024)

By Donald Gilpin

Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber urged the 1,297 undergraduate degree recipients, 206 earning masters’ degrees, and 403 Ph.D, recipients to “lean into life after Princeton … with the same dazzling energy and imagination you showed while you were here,” as thousands of family members, friends, and guests seated in Princeton Stadium at Tuesday morning’s commencement ceremony cheered them on.

As the berobed procession of graduates, professors, and other academic officials entered the stadium and took their seats on the stage and across the length of the field, the crowd was in a festive mood, the weather was sunny and breezy, and discord that had troubled the Princeton University campus during the past month was mostly not in evidence.

Describing commencement addresses as ”a curious genre of public speaking,” as well as “a vexed genre” in the current polarized political climate, Eisgruber lamented the impossible demands of coming up with an original, profound, wise, and memorable speech.  more