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ILLUSTRATION: RON BARRETT; PHOTOS: HABIN CHUNG ’12
ON THE CAMPUS
What qualifies as art?
(A giant rubber duck?)
By Eric Silberman ’13
As the doors to the Frist Multipurpose
Room swung open at exactly 5:30 p.m.
on a recent Wednesday, excitement and
anticipation were palpable: After all,
the 40 to 50 waiting students had been
promised the solution to a campus
mystery.
“Everything will become clear,” read
the invitations to the event. But a stark
hissing sound and the dark, seemingly
empty room didn’t explain much.
When the lights came on, neither did
the ceiling-high, inflated rubber duck.
It all began April 4, when a wood
and glass container appeared one
morning outside Frist Campus Center,
prompting students to “1. Drop Duck.
2. Take card.” In the following days, rubber
ducks anonymously were placed in
lecture halls, dorms, and eating clubs
May 16, 2012 Princeton Alumni Weekly • paw.princeton.edu
with the message,
“Put me
in the box by
Frist.”
Posters
followed,
reading “Find yours” above an image of
a rubber duck, sending students like
Holt Dwyer ’15 on a campus scavenger
hunt to secure a duck — and an invitation
to the culminating event. “It
seemed like this might be some bizarre
recruiting thing,” he said. Others
guessed a psych study or, as Melody
Edwards ’15 hoped, “a rubber-duckthemed
secret society.”
But all students found that evening
was a giant version of the ducks that
had been scattered across campus. “Is
no one going to walk toward it?” asked
Filling a campus gap, students create
areligiousgroup‘withoutthereligion’
By Angela Wu ’12
For many new Princetonians, freshman
year starts with the search for a new
spiritual home among the dozens of
religious groups on campus. For Daniel
Schiff ’12, however, one group seemed
to be missing.
“I came and saw all these religious
posters, and it made me feel a little
alienated,” said Schiff, who was raised
in the Jewish tradition but no longer
believes in God.
Last year Schiff, along with Corinne
Stephenson-Johnson ’12, David Perel
’12, and Kaylyn Jackson ’13, founded
the Princeton University Society of
Humanists (PUSH) to promote discussion
based on reason, not religion. The
group now has an email list of about
100 students.
PUSH, which is affiliated with the
national Secular Student Alliance and
Foundation Beyond Belief, was created
as atheist and humanist groups have
launched on other college campuses as
well. Following in the footsteps of the
Humanist Community Project at Harvard
and Yale’s Humanist Society,
PUSH chose to organize around
humanism — a secular moral philosophy
that focuses on ethical living without
belief in the supernatural — rather
than atheism.
“Organizing around humanism
allows you a lot more breadth and
depth,” Schiff explained. “It allows you
to cover the full scope of issues — like
a religious group, just without the
religion.”
one student. Another bravely stepped
closer to the duck, prompting others to
follow, poke, and prod.
Clues started to appear, but elusively.
The pump that kept the duck
inflated was labeled “VISUAL ARTS,”
as was a nearby plastic chair. Several
students tinkered with the air pump
but played coy, refusing to offer any
information.
Then it started to become clear. A
man in a blazer, who circled the duck
with a discerning eye, hesitantly identified
himself as Joe Scanlan, director
This year was the first time PUSH
held events and weekly meetings,
which attract a small group of students
with a diverse set of religious histories.
Discussions often focus on ethics, with
philosophy and politics dipping in and
out of conversations about everything
from vegetarianism to war. The club
also has hosted lectures by speakers
including philosophy professor Gideon
Rosen and anthropology professor
Alan Mann.
PUSH holds its meetings at Murray-
Dodge Hall, which houses the Office of
Religious Life, two prayer rooms, and
several campus ministries. Seem incongruous?
PUSH’s founders made a point
to organize under the auspices of ORL.
“We’re not a religion, but we’re effectively
meeting the same sort of community
needs,” Schiff said.
The society’s ambitions include
more interaction with religious groups
and the creation of a humanist chaplain
position alongside the 15 campus
chaplaincies. Many universities, includ-