To spot First College, look for the large stone building just ahead of you with steep gabled rooftops, tall narrow windows, and a pointed archway entrance framed by golden-leaved trees.
Welcome to First College, where Princeton’s residential life once got a fresh and lively makeover! Imagine it’s the late 1950s-rock and roll is new, students wear saddle shoes, and a group of bold Princeton students decides they want something different from the old tradition of “eating clubs.” Instead, they gather together to form something called the Woodrow Wilson Lodge. No, they didn’t have a secret handshake, but they did seek a place where you could both chow down and chew the fat-talk about blending academic, social, and residential life. Their first meeting place? Madison Hall, which today hides inside Rockefeller College, almost as if it’s keeping a delicious secret.
Fast forward a little, and the story truly starts to buzz in 1961. President Robert Goheen dedicates Wilcox Hall, thanks to a generous gift from T. Ferdinand Wilcox, an alumnus proud enough to practically roar. Suddenly, the Lodge finds itself the proud owner of a shiny, cheerful new headquarters with everything a college student could dream of: a dining room where the aroma of fresh meals danced in the air, a library for late-night crams, billiards tables for the clever hustlers, and cozy lounges that felt like home even on gray Princeton days.
Now, picture a whole quadrangle taking shape around Wilcox Hall: rows of sturdy halls-Dodge-Osborn, 1937, 1938, 1939, and Christian Gauss, all sturdy, stately dorms marching toward the future. If only those old walls could talk! By 1966, the dream was big enough to become a real college, named after Woodrow Wilson, who’d once been Princeton’s president, turning his ideas on academic and social integration into a campus-wide experiment. Every student walking through these halls became part of a story, drawn together by pizza nights, study marathons, and the occasional prank-always on the right side of fun, of course.
First (or then, Wilson) College had a remarkable cast of characters guiding the ship: Julian Jaynes of the psychology department led the way as the first Master, and the leadership baton passed through hands both wise and quirky, from English professors to experts in Near Eastern Studies-imagine dinner-table debates that could travel from Shakespeare to the sands of Arabia in seconds. The college changed again in 2007, trying out life as a four-year home before going back to its two-year roots, always paired with Butler College, its friendly rival and future roommate.
Of course, not everything remains the same forever. Amid changing tides-sometimes smooth, sometimes stormy-the story took a serious turn. In 2020, Princeton made an extraordinary decision, removing the Woodrow Wilson name after recognizing that some legacies simply don’t match the values we strive for today. With this, the name became First College, a symbol of both “firsts” in tradition and new beginnings. Now, whispers fill the air about the coming Hobson College, named for Mellody Hobson, soon to be the first Princeton college named after a Black woman-a truly historic moment.
First College’s story doesn’t just rest in bricks and ivy. It’s about all the students who ever called these halls home: the shy freshmen, the wisecracking sophomores, the RCAs (those upperclass mentors with infinite snacks), and even a handful of graduate advisers. There was always someone to organize a trip, rescue you from a late-night study funk, or convince you to join a midnight snowball fight when the first flakes fell outside.
So as you stand here, take a deep breath and listen-not just for echoes of ancient laughter or the rustle of leaves, but for the promise that every college can start the next chapter on its own terms, always moving with the times, and always reaching for something better. Now, let’s head to our next stop, where more stories await!
