Whitman: Built Different (History & Architecture)
Whitman College is named for this Princeton alum and former CEO who donated $30 million to build it.
Who is Meg Whitman?
What meal is Whitman known for?
Pot Pie Wednesdays
This wrought-iron gate at Nassau Street is the “official entrance” to campus, and the star of a major superstition.
What is FitzRandolph Gate?
According to campus superstition, if you walk out through "The" Gate before graduation, this might happen to your academic plans.
You won’t graduate on time / won’t graduate with your class.
Princeton’s most famous alma mater, first published in 1859, starts “Tune every heart and every voice.” Name the song.
What is “Old Nassau”?
Whitman officially opened to students in this academic year, making it Princeton’s sixth residential college.
What is 2007–08?
Whitman’s official sister college, the one it’s paired with for upperclass housing priority, is this res college.
Forbes College :(
Deep inside Firestone sits the Scheide Library, home to several early printed Bibles, including this famously rare 15th-century one.
What is the Gutenburg Bible
Another very orange tradition: during Reunions, this group of ultra-senior alumni, the ones beyond their 65th reunion, get the honor of leading the P-rade.
Who is The Old Guard
Princeton’s oldest eating club, founded in 1879, is this Prospect Avenue institution.
What is the Ivy Club?
Whitman’s Collegiate Gothic complex was designed by this architect, a winner of the Driehaus Prize.
Who is Demetri Porphyrios?
On the night before Dean’s Date, Whitman residents join the campus-wide midnight scream; at Whitman it even has its own name. What’s it called?
What is the “Whitman Wail”?
During the Battle of Princeton in 1777, George Washington personally led troops against British soldiers barricaded in this building.
What is Nassau Hall?
For years, Whitman residents secretly added photos, candles, and offerings to a hidden “shrine” dedicated to this actor, turning it into one of Princeton's most famous pieces of underground lore.
Who is Danny DeVito?
Princeton’s most famous dropout is this future U.S. President, who attended the university for only one year before transferring.
Who is James Madison?
Before Whitman “rose like an enchanted castle,” the land it sits on was mainly used for this type of athletic facility.
Whitman was big enough to be called “the largest single construction project in University history” at the time it was built, totaling about this many square feet (within 10,000).
What is about 250,000–255,000 square feet?
Nassau Hall was nearly destroyed in 1802, prompting one of the earliest major rebuilding efforts on campus. What caused the destruction?
A fire
Legends say that the “Big Cannon” buried in Cannon Green was sunk into the ground by Princeton students to stop it from being stolen again by undergraduates from this rival school.
This Princeton mathematician won a Nobel Prize in Economics and inspired the film A Beautiful Mind.
Who is John Nash?
Whitman is now part of Princeton’s all–four-year college system, a change completed in 2022. In the original 2007 setup, however, Whitman was one of only three colleges with this type of 4-year status. Name one of the other two.
What is Butler College or Mathey College?
Whitman’s courtyard features a carved stone shield showing a “W” and a stylized lion. That lion isn’t random; it's borrowed from the family crest of this historical figure who inspired Princeton’s colors.
Who is William III (Prince of Nassau and Orange)
This former Princeton professor, governor, and Princeton University president is the only U.S. President who was a Princeton alum.
Who is Woodrow Wilson?
During Reunions, alumni wear these famously loud, patterned outfits that change design every five years.
What are reunion jackets (beer jackets)?
In 1783, a major treaty was first read to the public from the steps of Nassau Hall, announcing the end of hostilities in the American Revolution. Name the treaty.
What is the Treaty of Paris?