May 8, 1963 - Princeton undergraduates today generally supported university president Robert F. Goheen’s strong condemnation of a riot by 1,500 students — more than 1/3 of the undergraduate enrollment — late Monday and early Tuesday. The three-hour rampage caused considerable property damage in town and at the home of Dr. Goheen and prompted the arrest of 14 undergraduates. Dr. Goheen denounced the spree yesterday as inexcusable “individual and collective hooliganism” and promised punishment of the offenders. Today, the student newspaper, The Daily Princetonian, termed Dr. Goheen’s statement “a fair assessment.” “This spring’s exercise in mass psychology passed beyond the realm of prankishness to that of crime,” the paper added. Two hundred Columbia University students tried unsuccessfully last night to emulate the Princetonians. While most of the group asked, “What are we going to riot about?” some 35 to 40 students chanted “Outdo Princeton.” Two or three firecrackers exploded, a few bags of water were dropped from windows, and that concluded the evening’s festivities.
