Class of 1981 Scholar - A 30-year Tradition

Our previous Class Scholars were Jessica Hulsey Nickel ’98, Derwood Arvis Dawson ’02, J’Nese Williams ’07, Jorge Alcantar ’11, Spencer Haldeman ’16, Drey Tengan ’20, and Zoey Nell ’25. They came to Princeton from clear across the United States, from Florida to Hawaii, and they majored in diverse areas including English, History, French and Italian, and Operations Research and Financial Engineering.

Best wishes to our most recent Class of 1981 Scholar!

Zoey Nell graduated in May 2025 and is off to new adventures!

Zoey hailed from Clearfield, Utah. While at Princeton, she majored in English, with minors in Classics and in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her second minor gave her the opportunity to check out a new class on campus, Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World, which she pronounced a “delightful addition” to her schedule. Her Princeton experience was equally varied, including off-campus living in Plainsboro and a year and a half at Terrace Club, where she met many wonderful people. Zoey also enhanced her campus family with a cat named Inej – clearly a tiger-in-training. She previously worked as a junior editor at the Nassau Weekly where she wrote an occasional columns (her charming, effervescent “Dear Cupid” column from February 13, 2022 is at http://nassauweekly.com/dear-cupid/), and a copy editor for the Prince.

The Scholarship Committee is looking forward to working with a new Class Scholar to be identified this fall after everyone has settled back into campus life. As with our other Class Scholars, we will support this Princeton student through their time at the university, and we aim to send the Class periodic updates starting as soon as we know who it will be. This student will be the eighth Class Scholar that the Class has supported in the thirty-two years since the Scholarship Fund was started, in addition to several PUPP participants whom we have also assisted.