2009 Coming Back & Moving Forward Conference for Black Princeton Alumni, October 22-24, 2009

Some 650 alumni, faculty, staff and guests gathered on campus for an engaging and emotional weekend of reconnecting with the University and one another during the Coming Back & Moving Forward conference, October 22-24, 2009.



If you were unable to attend, or want to relive the excitement:

• Take a moment now to view the documentary, Looking Forward: Reflections of Black Princeton Alumni, created by Melvin McCray ’74 based on alumni interviews from the 2006 conference.

• Read remarks [PDF] by Bob Durkee ’69, Secretary and Vice President of Princeton University, citing the significance of the conference in the history of the University.

• Order the group photo taken on the steps of Blair Arch.

• Add your information to the Black Princeton Alumni Directory, hosted by the Association of Black Princeton Alumni. This opt-in, searchable online database resource for the community will include updated contacts and career information.

• Review a listing of the weekend’s events, by checking out the conference schedule [PDF].

With even more excitement than the 2006 gathering, the 2009 conference featured opportunities for alumni to engage with students and administrators to hear about progress that has been made in the last few years.

Keynote addresses by Michael Eric Dyson *93, Cornel West *80 h76 h94, and Eddie Glaude *97 h83, as well as a conversation with University President Shirley M. Tilghman, punctuated a weekend filled with social events, alumni panel dialogues, and discussions with faculty from the Center for African American Studies.

Attendees welcomed the Carl A. Fields Center for Equity and Cultural Understanding and Community House to their new home at 58 Prospect, where they also danced the night away, and were treated to an evening of artistic performances—song, dance, spoken word—by talented students, faculty, and alumni.