Dear Members of the Great Class of 1975:

Welcome to our class’s second Fifty-Year Flashback. As our class starts to prepare for and ramp up to our 50th Reunion from May 22-25, 2025, each monthly flashback will highlight events that happened fifty years ago that month. The goal is to help us remember our Princeton experiences, both good and not so good, and recall how our experiences at Princeton changed us and, hopefully, benefited each of us. We also hope that they will encourage as many classmates as possible to come back to Princeton for our 50th Reunion and to participate in the planning for our 50th Reunion. This second flashback was prepared by our classmate, Joel Goldstein '75, and we hope that you enjoy it. We welcome any comments that you have about the flashbacks.

Please let us know if you would like to volunteer to help out with our 50th Reunion or if you would like to help out with the Flashbacks!

Julie Raynor Gross '75, Class Co-President

Maureen Kelly Scott '75, Class Co-President

Nikki Ballard Rosengren '75, Reunions Chair

Fifty years ago, November, 1973: 

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s Yom Kippur War shuttle diplomacy produced Egypt-Israel ceasefire agreement.

President Richard M.Nixon declared that "People have got to know whether their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

Nixon's VP nominee, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford, told a Senate committee considering his nomination that "Truth is the glue on the bond that holds government together, and not only government, but civilization itself." Repeating that idea to the House committee, he added "Compromise is the oil that makes government go." The Senate approved his nomination, 92-3, in late November. (The House approved it in December and Ford was sworn in). 

In a 'Prince' interview on his last day in office, fired deputy AG William Ruckelshaus '55 discussed Nixon, the Archibald Cox firing, Watergate, and the Agnew plea deal.

Billy Joel's Piano Man album was released, CBS first broadcast A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and Allan Sherman ("Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh") died.

Unemployment rose to 4.7%, inflation was 0.7%/month or 8.3% annually, 30 year mortgage rates were 8.58% and amidst a bear market, the Dow Jones average dropped into the low 800s.

Meanwhile, at Princeton: 

Amidst an energy shortage, the university discussed and then adopted conservation measures including reducing temperatures in dorms and academic venues.  Ultimately, the university announced plans to close dorms from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5 (later extended). The university created toll free numbers and instructed students to check regarding updated plans before returning to campus.

President Bowen discussing energy plans in a pre-Thanksgiving conference. (Photo: The Daily Princetonian)

A Whig-Clio planned debate for early December between Roy Innis (CORE) and physicist William B. Shockley on "I.Q. Differences, Heredity, and Dysgenics: A Debate" stirred campus controversy. While questioning either's credentials as geneticists and declaring racial and other supremacy views "offensive," President William G. Bowen defended the right of students to invite controversial speakers, as did some faculty;  others argued Princeton should not provide a forum for Shockley and urged boycotting the event..  

The Bressler Commission's proposal for equal access admissions headed to a January trustee vote after faculty and UGA overwhelmingly approved it. 

Princeton successfully recruited to the faculty renowned Yale literature scholar Victor H. Brombert and outgoing N.J. Governor William Cahill. Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov applied for a visa to travel to the U.S., apparently to accept a visiting professorship at Princeton. 

Gifts and grants exceeded $50 million of Princeton's $82 million budget.

SVC's Big-Brothers, Big Sisters program expanded under leadership of Susan Handelsman '75 and others.

Varsity football lost to Brown, Harvard (despite valiant '75 efforts including Walt Snickenberger's 159 yards rushing and tight end Robert Harding's 2 t.d.s), Yale (despite Harding's six catches and defensive heroics by '75's DT Tom Schalch and Glen M.Pratt) and Dartmouth, sinking to 1-8 and last place in the Ivies.

But Field Hockey, behind captain Sue Perles '75, beat Yale, 5-2, and Radcliffe, 9-1, for the Big Three title and an 8-3 record. And 150 lb. football experienced a "renaissance" in part due to efforts of o-lineman Carl Yudell '75 and Rugby won more that it lost, especially once Charlie Yeo '75 joined the lineup.

Mark Stuckey '75 scored with 38 seconds left to give Princeton hockey its 500th win.

Stuckey (center) congratulated as Brad A. Richards '75 (right) joins celebration (Photo: The Daily Princetonian)

SPEAKERS ON CAMPUS (partial list): 

Harvard physicist and Dean Harvey Brooks on "Are Scientists Obsolete?"

Former NSC aide Morton H. Halperin on "Civil Rights and National Security"

NY Times's Harrison Salisbury on ""To Peking and Beyond— A Report on the New Asia"

Wellesley President Barbara Newell defended her pronouncement that coeducation had failed.

Former N.Y. City Health Services Commissioner Dr. Howard Brown saw increased acceptance of gays

HEW Secretary Casper Weinberger discussed the "new federalism" 

Colorado econ professor Kenneth E. Boulding (Spaceship Earth) on "The Second Law of Practically Everything"

Ervin Committee Republican counsel Fred Thompson on "Watergate: Trial or Investigation?"

An Evening with Benny Carter and His Music on Record.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: 

Triangle Workshop performed "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown."  75ers included Jeff S. Hildner as Linus, William B. Milvaney as Snoopy. Brian A. Kremen was producer and James V. McGee, stage director.

Movies included "The Way We Were" at Prince Theater (for five "giant" weeks); "Romeo and Juliet," "Duck Soup" and Cocoanuts," "Le Sex Shop," and "Jeremy" at the Garden; "Paper Moon," "State of Siege," "Fantasia" and "Billy Jack" at the Playhouse; "Dr. Zhivago," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Slaughterhouse Five," "Joe Kidd," in McCosh 10; "The Lady in the Lake" at Princeton Inn.

Concerts included "Dr. John, the Night Tripper" and "Genesis" at Alexander Hall and Chick Corea and Return to Forever joined John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra at Dillon Gym. 

Those who drove to Trenton State could hear a future icon. for $4.

John Osborne's "The Entertainer" at McCarter Theater

"Balls," "The Successful Life of 3" and "Measure for Measure" at Theatre Intime 

The Pub presented the Nassoons and Tiger Lillies in a "choral rivalry" against Yale counterparts and the Princeton Glee Club and their Yale counterpart gave a "Football Concert" at Alexander the weekend of the Princeton-Yale game 

The Gilbert and Sullivan Society, led by Jan C. Viehman '75, presented "Once Upon a Mattress" 

An Art and Technology Fair in the Engineering Quad fascinated many, especially children.

Come to the Class of '75's 50th Reunion on May 22 to May 25, 2025!

The material and images from the Daily Princetonian in this flashback (including all of the ads) are used with the consent of the Daily Princetonian and we thank the Daily Princetonian for allowing their use.

Special thanks to Joel K. Goldstein '75 for preparing this second flashback.