New York Times: Princeton Class of '55 Wants Graduates to Change the World

By MAREK FUCHS

Charles W. Bray used to be the typical alumnus. Every decade or so, he would attend his class reunion and, he said, he "always gave to the alma mater, but never until it hurt."

Then came the spring of 1989, when Mr. Bray, Princeton class of 1955, attended a gathering that was a prelude to his 35th reunion. One classmate, a familiar face, stood to talk.

He told them that at their current age, 55, they could soon become a drain on society, retiring and going on Social Security. And, he said, the way that alumni usually engaged in their school's affairs - donating money for projects like a fountain in the quad - held little meaning. As a class, he concluded, they had to find a better way.

Within months, the class had begun a fellowship and summer internship program that was based in Princeton but operated outside the umbrella of campus authority. In the years since, the program, Princeton Project 55, has placed more than 1,200 Princeton graduates into yearlong fellowships at more than 300 nonprofit organizations. Mr. Bray is the board president.

The classmate who provided the impetus was Ralph Nader, consumer activist and two-time presidential candidate. In a telephone interview from his office in Washington, he said that the way universities conventionally tried to tether alumni to their schools was misguided.

"I don't know why alumni even go back for reunions when all that remains is the chance to wallow in nostalgia and get flattered by the president to give money," he said. "After all, universities teach us to be intelligent citizens, not just check writers."

In 1989, at the time of that pre-reunion meeting, Mr. Nader's alternative was not fully formed. He thought that with his class winding down their careers, getting to the ends of mortgages and with nearly four decades of contacts in their Rolodexes, they could take collective action.

A yellow sign-up pad went around, a steering committee was formed and the class decided that it wanted to benefit society while helping Princeton students leave the confines of campus. The plan was mapped out over the next several months by a core of about a dozen class members. Over the next three years, they used about $400,000 in class donations and grants to place students in fellowships and internships where they would work toward some form of systemic change.

"Rather than working in a soup kitchen," said Mr. Nader, "we wanted Princeton Project 55 students working toward eradicating hunger."

Mr. Nader said the idea was greeted with "consternation from the administration."

Shirley M. Tilghman, Princeton's current president, said that while her predecessor, Harold Shapiro, was all for the idea, there was resistance from class officers and those in charge of alumni giving. "There was real fear that the effort would distract the class from continuing to support the university in a traditional way," she said. Mr. Bray, who had just retired from 30 years in the Foreign Service, had no trepidation.

"We went to them," said Mr. Bray, "but we weren't asking permission to do anything. We were telling them what we were going to do."

The project proved refreshing from the graduates' perspective, too. Though universities often urge graduates to get involved in public service, many are saddled with loans and cannot afford to take jobs in the nonprofit sector.

At Princeton, nearly 5 percent of last year's graduating class entered into the yearlong Project 55 fellowship program, with an additional 25 undergraduates doing summer internships. Fellows, paid by the host organizations enlisted by the project, make in the range of $24,000 to $27,000 (with health insurance).

Rabah Qadir, who graduated in 2004, wanted
to work with children from the sort of difficult Detroit neighborhood he grew up in before going on to medical school. But Mr. Qadir needed more than idealist.org or any other organization that helps place graduates in such jobs. At the Princeton Project 55 office he could read reviews written by Princeton students on various placements.

"I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a job answering phones," said Mr. Qadir, who is working at the Link Community School in Newark. He has a homeroom of eighth graders, organizes events like career day and a reunion and started and coached a lacrosse team. Mr. Qadir is to attend medical school at Tulane in the fall.
With no sense of what she wanted to do after her senior year, Kathleen Liu, also a 2004 graduate, interviewed with one of the many consulting firms that visit the campus before canceling her remaining interviews and becoming a Princeton Project 55 fellow at one of the project's more unusual outposts: the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Katherine Hande, the managing director of the project, said that the participation of the district attorney's office was a subject for debate: it differs substantially from the variety of innovative schools, environmental organizations and advocacy groups used by Project 55, and some said the office might not fit the mission of the project. The question was settled after more scrutiny: the office is nonprofit, works toward social change and has been a source of good experience for fellows. Several go there every year.

The class of '55 has taken steps to ensure the future of their project as class members age. Half the board is now made up of members of other classes. And as far as the university goes, Princeton Project 55 is now a badge of success for the university; it is highlighted to incoming freshman. Despite its involvement in the project, the class of 55 has continued to contribute to the school in the traditional way: donor participation is 98.3 percent of the class, making it first among classes from the 1950's, said Eric Quinones, a Princeton spokesman.

The class of '55 has become a legend among graduates who joined the project in the last 15 years. As the classes march during Princeton's reunions, it is the class of '55 that gets the most cheers.