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Curiosity, persistence and Princeton are helping this Facilities employee turn his “big goals, little certainty” into a meaningful career
When Berny Say arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala in 2018 with his wife, he had what he describes as “big goals and little certainty.”
“One of the hardest things was trying to figure out how to navigate a new country with no directions,” said Say, now a heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) apprentice with Princeton Facilities. “You can have all the willingness in the world, but if you don’t know where to start or where to go, it’s just impossible.”
Say turned his innate curiosity into a roadmap, and Princeton played a major role in helping him to find that direction. Through access to education, new opportunities and connections across the University, he has charted a career to build his future.
Read on inside.princeton.edu
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Princeton celebrates National Transfer Student Week
It's National Transfer Student Week. Since 2023, the Transfer Scholars Initiative (TSI) has helped more than 150 community college students from New Jersey successfully transfer to public and private institutions including Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, Swarthmore, the University of British Columbia, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia and Williams College.
Learn more on LinkedIn
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Princeton to lead major NSF effort on resilient wireless communication and sensing for disaster response
Princeton University researchers will lead a $4.1 million U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) project to develop more resilient wireless networks that could help emergency responders restore communications, assess changing conditions in real time and navigate disaster zones.
Read on ece.princeton.edu
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From Princeton Alumni Weekly: McCarter Theatre’s First South Asian Musical Took Me Back to Forbes Basement
The McCarter Theatre stage filled up with dancers in turbans, kurtas, and salwars in a kaleidoscope of colors. As they raised their arms and danced, I stared in disbelief. Could this really be happening, here? My shoulders were already moving to the beat.
A Beat of Our Own is a new musical comedy about a group of misfits who form a college dance team. It is McCarter’s first South Asian musical and the largest production in the theater’s history.
Read on paw.princeton.edu
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McCarter Theatre
A Beat of Our Own
18 Actors. 10 Musicians. McCarter’s Biggest Musical—Ever.
From the Tony Award-winning producers of Hadestown comes A Beat of Our Own — a brand-new musical comedy that pulls you straight into the pulsating rhythms, kaleidoscopic colors and raw energy of competitive bhangra dance.
After leading their college team to victory at the Michigan State Championships, teammates Mary and Preeti find themselves bound for Nationals.
But when they clash over Mary’s plan to fuse multiple Indian styles into their routine, Mary breaks off and forms her own squad. There’s only one problem: aside from her chaotic roommate Sunita, none of the new recruits have ever danced before. Armed with a new sense of purpose — and a little help from a former Bollywood star — Mary sets out to mold a ragtag group of lovable misfits into title-worthy contenders. But do they stand a chance against Preeti and her team of bhangra all-stars?
Purchase tickets on mccarter.org.
Performances through October 25
McCarter Theatre Center
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How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy
We used to take trade for granted. Trillions of dollars of goods and services crossed borders each year, made possible by a global, rules-based system. Nobody paid too much attention to supply chains: they just worked. Now we are in an era of trade conflict. In their new book, How to Win a Trade War(external link), Keynes and Bown argue that the rules of the global game have been abandoned, and a different trade strategy is needed. Yearning for the old approach to start working again isn’t an option. Countries must adapt, which means learning from history, economics, and from each other, including China. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
Free and open to the public. Attend in person or watch the livestream on Media Central.
Monday, October 26
4:30 PM
Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building, Room 399
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Women+ on the Edge of Democracy, New Play Readings
A reading of new, short plays by women playwrights as part of the nationwide initiative, Women+ On the Edge of Democracy. A mix of professional and non-professional actors, directors and producers will share readings of 10-minute plays by such women playwrights as Lynn Nottage, Heidi Schreck, and Lauren Gunderson, among others. Organized by Lecturer in Theater Vivia Font. The work presented as part of this event was commissioned and originally produced by The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, Vermont, Jay Wahl, Executive Director, in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Free and open to the public.
Monday, October 26
6:30 PM
Kerr Studio at Lewis Arts Complex
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Princeton Day of the Dead
Join members of the Princeton community, featured guest poet and Mexican Aztec dance troupe Atl Tlachinolli for a community altar building event, live poetry reading, dancing and food and refreshments to follow.
All are welcome to bring offerings, photos of deceased family and friends, poetry, or any other thing to share.
Tuesday, October 27
4:30 PM
East Pyne Lobby and Courtyard
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Reading by Jamel Brinkley and Creative Writing Seniors
Multi-award-winning writer Jamel Brinkley, winner of the Maya Angelou Book Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and O. Henry Prize and finalist for the National Book Award and Joyce Carol Oates Prize, reads from his work along with several creative writing seniors. The C.K. Williams Reading Series showcases senior thesis students of the Program in Creative Writing with established writers as special guests. Brinkley’s books will be available to purchase and have signed.
Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, October 27
6:00 PM
Labyrinth Books
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Princeton University Concerts and the Department of English present Ema Nikolovska, Mezzo-Soprano and Sean Shibe, Guitar
The duo makes their Princeton University Concerts debuts with Orlando, an imaginative hybrid of concert and theater inspired by Virginia Woolf's iconic protagonist. Traversing centuries of music, the program weaves together Schubert, Dowland, Bob Dylan, Laurie Anderson, and new commissions in a playful, ever-changing collage of love, identity, and reinvention. No prior knowledge of the novel required, just a sense of curiosity and a willingness to be surprised.
Purchase tickets on concerts.princeton.edu.
Pre-Concert LGBTQIA+ Allies Halloween Mingle
B-sharp, B-natural, Be YOU—in costume! Open to all, this event invites fellow music lovers to mingle for Halloween-themed pre-concert fun before experiencing Ema Nikolovska and Sean Shibe's Orlando (see above). Costumes encouraged, prizes awarded!
Purchase tickets on concerts.princeton.edu.
Mingle: Tuesday, October 27 at 6:30
Concert: Tuesday, October 27at 8:30 PM
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Princeton University Farmers' Market
Shop from fresh and local farm and food vendors at the Princeton University Farmers' Market.
The Farmer's Market takes place on Wednesdays from September 2 to October 28. The market is open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, Office of Community and Regional Affairs, Campus Dining, Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate Student Government.
Wednesday, October 28
11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Firestone Library Plaza
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Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
2026 Annual Meeting
Recent geopolitical shocks are putting energy security in sharp focus from disruptions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine to renewed instability in the Gulf. At the same time, intensifying strategic competition between major powers, including the United States, China, and Europe, is reshaping trade, technology access, and supply chains for energy and critical materials. Together, these dynamics signal a deeper structural reality: energy systems are being transformed not only by decarbonization, but by recurring disruptions and growing fragmentation of the global economy and geopolitics.
Join leaders from academia, industry, finance, and policy for a full day of insight into the forces reshaping energy security. Attendees will come away with a sharper understanding of the geopolitical, technological, infrastructure, and regional shifts influencing the energy transition — and what those changes mean for innovation, investment, policy, and long-term strategy.
Register on acee.princeton.edu.
Thursday, October 29
8:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Maeder Hall
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Museum After Dark
The Museum comes alive after dark for an evening of festive fun!
Kick off your Halloween weekend with a late night at the Museum. Join us for an evening of free-to-all fun, featuring a silent disco, art making, and the return of our Collections Costume Contest, with categories for kids and adults!
Thursday, October 29
7:00 PM
Princeton University Art Museum
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Film Screening & Conversation:
Chinatown Cha-Cha 女人世界
Join the East Asian Cultural Association for a screening of the award-winning 2024 documentary "Chinatown Cha-Cha 女人世界"! The film tells the story of a group of Chinese American women who came of age during the golden age of San Francisco Chinatown nightlife. Now in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, they continue to perform and embark on journeys that take them from San Francisco to Las Vegas, Hawaiʻi, Havana, Shanghai, and Beijing... It is an intimate and visually compelling documentary about memory, migration, aging, performance, and the overlooked histories of Chinese American women and the global Chinese diaspora.
We will have a post-screening conversation with the director Luka Yuanyuan Yang and some of the main protagonists. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, October 29
7:00 PM
East Pyne, Room 010
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Global Health Colloquium: From Global Health to Planetary Health: Lessons from Nicaragua's Sugarcane Zone
This talk will focus on fieldwork from Nicaragua to discuss medical anthropology's contribution to the emerging interdisciplinary field of planetary health. One of the consequences of climate change is a new form of disease emergence, in which ostensibly noncommunicable diseases become epidemics as ecological damage accretes in specific landscapes. Linking Alex's work on an epidemic of chronic kidney disease to previous research on (communicable) mosquito-borne disease in Nicaragua, he suggests that attention to the landscape, its structures, and its temporal and labor dimensions, can help us understand how collective action can respond to conjoined environmental and health crisis.
Free and open to the public.
Friday, October 30
12:00 PM
Robertson Hall, Bowl 16
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Fund for Irish Studies: Conversation with Yiyun Li — Music Against the Night
Yiyun Li, Pulitzer Prize winner and Princeton Professor of Creative Writing, launches her new novel, Music Against the Night, a historical saga tracing the life of Irish composer and pianist John Field (1782–1837). Known as the inventor of the nocturne, Field is portrayed from his musical upbringing in Dublin to his success in Russia. The story follows his artistic development, personal struggles, and legacy. Li will read briefly from the novel and be in conversation with Princeton Professor of Music Donnacha M. Dennehy, and pianist Cristina Altamura will play a John Field nocturne and an early Chopin nocturne, composed when Chopin was seventeen and heavily influenced by Field. Cosponsored by Labyrinth Books.
Reserve free tickets on tickets.princeton.edu.
Friday, October 30
4:30 PM
Fine Hall, Taplin Auditorium
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Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity by Olivier Messiaen
Dr. Gail Archer, concert organist, Professor at Barnard College of Columbia University, will perform the rarely heard Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité by Olivier Messiaen. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience the wonder of this pivotal work in the majestic acoustics of the Princeton University Chapel.
Free and open to the public.
Friday, October 30
7:30 PM
Princeton University Chapel
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Halloween with Sinfonia
Join Sinfonia for an evening of vibrant and expressive music at the annual concert, conducted by Ruth Ochs.
The Princeton University Sinfonia is a full symphony orchestra that unites eager, music-loving Princeton University undergraduate and graduate students, as well as community friends, to explore diverse symphonic repertory from four centuries. Its members are passionate musicians with diverse interests and backgrounds who come together for the rich rewards of making music together and for others.
Purchase tickets on tickets.princeton.edu.
Friday, October 30
7:30 PM
Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
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Game Day Lecture: ‘How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms’
In the Game Day Lecture “How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms,” Matthew L. Jones will discuss how understanding where data has been and where it may be headed empowers us to shape its use with intention, guiding it toward outcomes that reflect our shared values and aspirations.
Jones is the Smith Family Professor of History. He focuses on the history of recent information technologies and intelligence as well as the history of science and technology in early modern Europe. He received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard and an M.Phil. from Cambridge, after which he taught at Columbia for 23 years. Along with Chris Wiggins *98, he is the author of “How Data Happened, a History of the Science, Politics and Power of Data, Statistics and Machine Learning from the 1800s to the Present” (W. W. Norton, 2023). He has published two books previously, “The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution: Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz and the Cultivation of Virtue” and “Reckoning with Matter: Calculating, Innovation, and Thinking about Thinking from Pascal to Babbage”(both with Chicago). He has received fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation, and is currently a CIFAR fellow in the Future Flourishing project.
Register on alumni.princeton.edu.
Saturday, October 31
9:00 AM
McDonnell Hall, Room A01
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Harvard and Princeton Glee Clubs: The Football Concert
As part of this year’s ‘Glee Club Presents’ series, The Harvard Glee Club visits Princeton University’s Glee Club in the annual Football Concert. This is a choral face-off tradition that is over a century old, taking place after the Princeton-Harvard football game.
Purchase tickets on tickets.princeton.edu.
Saturday, October 31
6:00 PM
Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
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Art for Families: Reflecting Stones
Saturdays are for young makers in the Creativity Labs!
How did people see their reflection before the mirrors we use today were invented? This week, we’ll explore ancient mirrors and how different surfaces reflect light. Then, you’ll make and decorate your own mirror.
Visit us any time between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to explore a work of art, play with different materials, and exercise your imagination. No tickets or registration required—just drop in as your schedule allows! All ages are welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult.
Saturday, October 24
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Princeton University Art Museum
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Images
Berny Say - Photo by Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications
Wireless Communication - Artwork by Jeremy Guay
A Beat of Our Own - Photo by T. Charles Erickson
Moon Base - Photo by Tori Repp/Fotobuddy
Jean-Michel Basquiat - Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blue Ribbon II, 1984. Private collection. Artwork: © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York
Jamel Brinkley - Photo by Daniele Molajoli
Yiyun Li - Photo by Hannah Yoon
Art for Families - Olmec style, Middle Formative Period, Guerrero, Mexico, Mirror, 1000–500 BCE. Princeton University Art Museum. Bequest of Gillett G. Griffin
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