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Princeton Book Award for Secondary Schools

Princeton seeks, "to instill in each graduate those qualities of mind and character necessary for good citizenship and wise leadership. They include a broad intellectual curiosity that embraces open-mindedness coupled with critical thinking; respect for our moral and cultural inheritance coupled with a capacity for innovation and change; an appreciation of the shared destiny and common humanity of all peoples; and core principles of responsibility, integrity and courage." -- President Shirley Tilghman, 2005

The Princeton Book Award for Secondary Schools is presented by the Princeton Club of Orange County to outstanding students at the end of their junior year at public and private secondary schools in the county.

The club determines the number of awards and schools in which awards are given for the region. Schools are selected from among those that send or are capable of sending students to Princeton. The criteria for the selection of the student includes:

  • intellectual promise and academic excellence
  • exemplary service or extracurricular activities; and
  • outstanding personal character

To date, we have 8 high schools participating for the 2007-2008 school year:

  • Santa Margarita Catholic High School
  • University High School (Irvine)
  • San Clemente High School
  • Servite High School (Anaheim)
  • Orange County School of the Arts (Anaheim)
  • St. Margaret's Episcopal School (San Juan Capistrano)
  • Troy High School (Fullerton)
  • Magnolia High School (Anaheim)

Previous Book Award recipients include:

2005-06 - Book: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

  • Winston Chang, Troy High School (Book Sponsor: Ellen Junn *84)

2006-07 - Book: Beloved by Toni Morrison

  • Wendy Chang, University High School (Book Sponsors: Mike Wang '10 and Cindy Barnard '84)
  • Tiffany Chen, Troy High School (Book Sponsor: Ellen Junn *84)
  • Juan Vargas, San Clemente High School (Book Sponsor: David Bargueno '08)
  • Megan Woods, Santa Margarita Catholic High School (Book Sponsor: Chris Looney '95)

2007-08 - Book: Beloved by Toni Morrison

  • Michelle Courtney Chong, Troy High School (Book Sponsor: Ellen Junn *84)
  • Brenda Kim, Orange County School of the Arts (Book Sponsor: Judy Joss)
  • John Richardson, Servite High School (Book Sponsor: Judy Joss)
  • Samantha Toth, Santa Margarita Catholic High School (Book Sponsor: Chris Looney '95)
  • Shannon McNaught, San Clemente High School (Book Sponsor: David Bargueno '08)
  • Ji An Wang, University High School (Book Sponsors: Mike Wang '10 and Cindy Barnard '84)
  • Christina Zolli Poindexter, St. Margaret's Episcopal High School (Book Sponsor: Laurie Girard '83)
  • Rami Bashour, Magnolia High School (Book Sponsor: Roger Philips '67)

The book selected for the 2008 award is Beloved by Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The book, published in 1987 about the legacy of slavery, won Morrison the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. The novel is loosely based on the life and legal case of Margaret Garner, about whom Morrison later wrote in the opera of the same name, and was released as a film in 1998 starring Oprah Winfrey. A survey of eminent authors and critics conducted by New York Times found Beloved to the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years.

From 1989 until her retirement in 2006, Toni Morrison was the Robert F. Goheen Professor of Literature at Princeton University. Nobel prizes, unlike Pulitzers, are awarded to an individual (rather than a specific piece of writing), and Ms. Morrison received the Nobel Prize in 1993 for her entire corpus of literary work, as well as the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1996.

We are actively seeking club members to a liaison at a local high school to offer the Princeton Book Award. This program is an easy and fun way to be involved with the PCOC and a great way to promote Princeton University on local high school campuses. If you are interested in sponsoring an Orange County school for the Princeton Book Award, please contact Chris Looney '95.