Keeping Faith At Princeton

In Keeping Faith at Princeton, Borsch tells the story of Princeton's journey from its founding in 1746 as a college for Presbyterian ministers to the religiously diverse institution it is today.

An inside look at how religious diversity came to Princeton In 1981, Frederick Houk Borsch returned to Princeton University, his alma mater, to serve as dean of the chapel at the Ivy League school. In Keeping Faith at Princeton, Borsch tells the story of Princeton's journey from its founding in 1746 as a college for Presbyterian ministers to the religiously diverse institution it is today. He sets this landmark narrative history against the backdrop of his own quest for spiritual illumination, first as a student at Princeton in the 1950s and later as campus minister amid the turmoil and uncertainty of 1980s America. Borsch traces how the trauma of the Depression and two world wars challenged the idea of progress through education and religion—the very idea on which Princeton was founded. Even as the numbers of students gaining access to higher education grew exponentially after World War II, student demographics at Princeton and other elite schools remained all male, predominantly white, and Protestant. Then came the 1960s. Campuses across America became battlegrounds for the antiwar movement, civil rights, and gender equality. By the dawn of the Reagan era, women and blacks were being admitted to Princeton. So were greater numbers of Jews, Catholics, and others. Borsch gives an electrifying insider's account of this era of upheaval and great promise. With warmth, clarity, and penetrating firsthand insights, Keeping Faith at Princeton demonstrates how Princeton and other major American universities learned to promote religious diversity among their students, teachers, and administrators.

In this powerful collection by one of today's leading African American intellectuals, Keeping Faith situates the current position of African Americans, tracing the geneology of the "Afro-American Rebellion" from Martin Luther King to the rise of black revolutionary leftists. In Cornel West's hands issues of race and freedom are inextricably tied to questions of philosophy and, above all, to a belief in the power of the human spirit.

This book presents an overview of the ministry of women associated with Princeton Theological Seminary over the last two hundred years. Beginning with a historical overview of early pioneering women at the seminary and a chapter highlighting selected trailblazers in ministry, it goes on to showcase twenty-eight first-person narratives by women from diverse racial-ethnic, geographical, and denominational backgrounds in a variety of ministry settings. It concludes by developing new understandings and directions for Christian ministry and theological education to challenge the twenty-first-century church. The book includes the newly commissioned hymn "Faith of Our Mothers, Living Still," along with several appendixes that feature time lines and highlight Princeton Seminary faculty and alumnae. Faith of Our Mothers, Living Still celebrates the diverse ministries in which women are called to serve God and others, which inspire a holistic vision for theological education that can benefit seminaries, the church, and the world.

"Based on his 1993-94 Gifford Lectures, Polkinghorne's task here is to ask challenging questions of the contemporary scientific worldview and to show how the range of possible answers carries beyond biology to spirit and beyond physics to God. . . . The single most important work of his theological corpus".-- First Things.

The American political reformer Herbert Croly wrote, "For better or worse, democracy cannot be disentangled from an aspiration toward human perfectibility." Democratic Faith is at once a trenchant analysis and a powerful critique of this underlying assumption that informs democratic theory. Patrick Deneen argues that among democracy's most ardent supporters there is an oft-expressed belief in the need to "transform" human beings in order to reconcile the sometimes disappointing reality of human self-interest with the democratic ideal of selfless commitment. This "transformative impulse" is frequently couched in religious language, such as the need for political "redemption." This is all the more striking given the frequent accompanying condemnation of traditional religious belief that informs the "democratic faith.? At the same time, because so often this democratic ideal fails to materialize, democratic faith is often subject to a particularly intense form of disappointment. A mutually reinforcing cycle of faith and disillusionment is frequently exhibited by those who profess a democratic faith--in effect imperiling democratic commitments due to the cynicism of its most fervent erstwhile supporters. Deneen argues that democracy is ill-served by such faith. Instead, he proposes a form of "democratic realism" that recognizes democracy not as a regime with aspirations to perfection, but that justifies democracy as the regime most appropriate for imperfect humans. If democratic faith aspires to transformation, democratic realism insists on the central importance of humility, hope, and charity.

Princeton is only the fourth American college to celebrate a 275th anniversary. Founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it has long Presbyterian roots. The scene of notable events in the American Revolution, it was a classical college for another century. Then, at its 1896 sesquicentennial, it became Princeton University and in succeeding decades developed into a world-leading research university. Long an institution of males of European descent, its gender and ethnic makeup has changed dramatically in the last half-century. Today's Princeton combines a robust collegiate culture with a research profile near the top of international league tables--truly a rare combination. Author W. Bruce Leslie is a New Jersey native and a 1966 alumnus of Princeton University. As the grandson of a Scottish immigrant, studying at an institution with deep Scottish roots was a natural path. The author fell in love with liberal education thanks to Princeton's wonderful faculty and fellow students. Inspired by them, he taught history for a half-century at the State University of New York at Brockport, seeking to bestow a similar affection for learning, especially about the past, on his students. Returning to his roots in retirement, he is rediscovering the richness of this cultural and intellectual community.

Strengthening affirmative action programs and fighting discrimination present challenges to America's best private and public universities. US college enrollments swelled from 2.6 million students in 1955 to 17.5 million by 2005. Ivy League universities, specifically Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, face significant challenges in maintaining their professed goal to educate a reasonable number of students from all ethnic, racial, religious, and socio-economic groups while maintaining the loyalty of their alumni. College admissions officers in these elite universities have the daunting task of selecting a balanced student body. Added to their challenges, the economic recession of 2008-2009 negatively impacted potential applicants from lower-income families. Evidence suggests that high Standard Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are correlated with a family's socioeconomic status. Thus, the problem of selecting the "best" students from an ever-increasing pool of applicants may render standardized admissions tests a less desirable selection mechanism. The next admissions battle may be whether well-endowed universities should commit themselves to a form of class-based affirmative action in order to balance the socioeconomic advantages of well-to-do families. Such a policy would improve prospects for students who may have ambitions for an education that is beyond their reach without preferential treatment. As in past decades, admissions policies may remain a question of balances and preferences. Nevertheless, the elite universities are handling admission decisions with determination and far less prejudice than in earlier eras.