Junior Year
Spring 1966

For the first time in years Junior Prom was a truly decorous affair, attended and enjoyed by students and administration officials alike. Class president Jack Seaquist and dance chairman Clinch Belser decided to limit the number of tickets, choose a novel theme, and encourage people to wear tuxedos. Their decisions, plus the work of classmates Terry Tornek, Dan Love and Larry Lucchino, and the pop- and op-art decorations designed by Bob Spigel, made the dance eminently successful.

Spring brought the onus of junior papers, and for some even junior generals. None of these responsibilities seemed to hinder anyone’s recreational activities. Response weekend, under the direction of Charlie McDowell, kicked off the social season with a two-day program entitled “What’s Happening: The Arts 1966.” Some 1,500 students from all over the east coast jammed the campus to listen to artists like Allen Ginsberg, Tom Wolfe, Gunter Grass and Gregory Markopoulos expound.

Weekends in the rest of the spring were on a lower intellectual plane. Houseparties weekend, the first time juniors could wear their beer jackets with Pepper Pettit’s winning design, provided an exuberant release to what had been a year of hard work and responsibility. The volleyball game staged in the nude at Cannon Club was a classic event. The Hamilton Liberals and Gus Escher threw one of their grandest sing-alongs ever. The 21 Club also closed its season with a bash.

On the athletic fields juniors dominated the scene. Tad Howard, Phil Handy, John Baker, Ward Coe, Marty Eichelberger, Pepper Pettit and John Ewing formed the core of the lacrosse squad. On the baseball diamond Phil DeSantis, Tom Peppler and Graham Marcott paced the Tigers to a 10-14-1 record. In track Bob Hall, Rich Geisel and Jerry Ingram ran for the Tigers, while Bob Rabalais, Hayward Gipson and Gerry Black worked in the field events.

As the year drew to a close it was only possible to reflect on what a good year it had been. Our identity as a class and as individuals had been established, and so with a sense of assurance and belonging we could look forward to senior year and eagerly anticipate making the most of it.

© 1997 by The Class of 1967, Princeton University. Reprinted from the 1967 Nassau Herald.