Princeton Theological Seminary Begins 195th Academic Year

Princeton, NJ, September 7, 2006–Princeton Theological Seminary will begin its 195th academic year with a convocation on Tuesday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m. in Miller Chapel. Dr. L. Gordon Graham, Henry Luce III Professor of Philosophy and the Arts, will give his inaugural address as full professor to the faculty and student body in remarks titled “The Philosophy of the Seminary.” Classes will begin the morning of September 20, when the community celebrates the Sacrament of Holy Communion at 10:00 a.m., officiated by President Torrance. Dr. Sang Hyun Lee, Kyung-Chik Han Professor of Systematic Theology, and director of the Asian American Program, will preach the sermon.

Each year the Seminary’s entering class includes a number of international students.  This year’s class includes 28 new foreign nationals, who were chosen from 79 applications from 15 foreign countries. This represents one of the largest groups of foreign students to attend Princeton in recent years. They come from Ghana, Myanmar, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Kenya, Taiwan, Germany, Brazil, India, Egypt, Denmark, Singapore, Great Britain, and Thailand.

This year’s class of 132 new Master of Divinity students were admitted from an applicant pool of 389 candidates, according to Victor Aloyo, director of vocations. Of the 132, 62 are Presbyterian; 62 members of the class are male and 70 are female. This is the first year in the history of the Seminary that more women than men have enrolled in the entering M.Div. degree class.

The racial ethnic diversity of the entering M.Div. class has also increased. Ten African American students will matriculate along with eight Asian Americans and six Hispanic American students.

The median age for entering M.Div. students is 23. Other denominations represented in the class include American Baptist, Southern Baptist, Evangelical Lutheran, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, Episcopalian, and Reformed Church in America, among others.

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812 as the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian seminary in the country, with more than 700 students in six graduate degree programs.