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To fellow members of Princeton’s Class of 1971:
Art Lowenstein has become very involved in trying to conceptualize a “class legacy initiative” that would involve members of ’71 in helping to contribute to the greater good of society. As you’ll see in Art’s letter, which follows, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel: The Classes of 1955 and 1969 have well-established, highly effective programs that could be a good model for us; we could even consider piggy-backing on the work that ’55 has done. Please read the letter and think about how our Class could support this effort, and contact Art with your feedback or ideas at art_prince@pu71.org.
Thanks!
Bill Lewis ‘71
President – Class of 1971
Introduction and Purpose:
About the time of Reunions 2006, Bill Lewis approached me and presented a vision for a Class program that would offer classmates an ongoing vehicle for active involvement in public service – something that he called the ’71 Legacy Initiative. I told him that it was of real interest to me and that I would like to be a part of it, and together we have been exploring models for a program that would strike a responsive chord with classmates and that could have a lasting and meaningful impact on society at large.
We didn’t have to look far for models. At Reunions, we attended the annual board meeting of the Class of 1969’s program entitled “Princeton Internships in Civic Service.” More recently, we have had a continuing dialogue with Project 55, the granddaddy of these kinds of programs -- established by the Class of 1955 in 1989 -- and one of its offshoots, the Alumni Network. I want to report to you on what kinds of programs others are involved in, how these programs typically operate, what opportunities there are for us to coordinate with them in a program of our own and what we can expect the effect of such a program to be on our Class and classmate involvement.
Princeton Project 55 and TAN:
Let’s start with Project 55 and its spawn. Last fall, Class President Bill Lewis, Henry Barkhorn and I had lunch with Chet Safian ’55, one of the founders of Project 55 and of many of its offshoots, and director of one such program, the Alumni Network (TAN). The program coordinates and facilitates alumni-based as well as university-sponsored public service programs at Princeton and more than 25 other colleges and universities. Chet has the energy and enthusiasm of a man half his age, I suspect the result of this second career he has embraced, which began when Project 55 was organized.
Also last fall, Bill and I attended a series of meetings and workshops at Princeton organized by Project 55 and TAN and attended by more than 40 representatives of 26 different organizations. The meetings had one common focus: organizing and assisting college alumni to encourage, facilitate and assist students and new graduates to engage as interns and fellows in community service, with a goal of developing effective public servants and to effect systemic change.
So what does Project 55 do, and how did it develop? It began in 1989 when a group of classmates got together in anticipation of their 35th Reunion and decided that they wanted to create something lasting and meaningful as a community service project, something that would be an outlet for classmates to do more than make cash or in-kind contributions but would also draw on their talents, expertise and Rolodexes in an active way.
They said they called it Project 55, not because of their class numerals, but instead as a reflection of their age, and their sense that there were a lot of their classmates who were looking for a vehicle to give something back to the community and who at that point of their lives were in a position to do so, where even a few years ago that might not have been the case. (There seems to be a lot of validity to this analysis, since so many others have followed at about the same age, and here we are considering the same thing.)
They conceived of a program that would place recent graduates in yearlong fellowships at non-profit and community organizations, provided such organizations addressed significant social issues, focused on systemic solutions, were innovative and would provide strong supervision and substantive work.
Project 55’s role included: first, identifying and vetting the organizations to see that they met these criteria; second, screening applicants and recommending a select group to the organizations to facilitate the hiring process for such groups, where resources for such activities typically are scarce; third, mentoring the fellows throughout the year-long fellowship; and, finally, developing seminars and programs to enhance the experience for the fellows.
Each of these activities represents an opportunity for classmates to roll up their sleeves and get actively involved. For the organizations, it represented an opportunity to get outstanding, motivated and energetic junior-level employees at bargain rates, without the burden of much of the vetting and hiring process. For the graduates, Project 55 has simplified the process of finding opportunities in the public-service sector with a high level of confidence that such opportunities will turn out to be meaningful.
Chet Safian likes to say that the program is a win-win, win-win. The students and organizations win for the reasons I have just mentioned. The University wins because of the good will the program generates. Society at large wins because of the good works that result from it.
Over the years, Project 55 has achieved a remarkably high profile, evidenced by the written materials produced by similar programs at other institutions acknowledge their debt to the Project 55 model. At Dartmouth, the program was established by the class of 1959 and has 4 other classes participating. At Harvard, the program is sponsored by the University.
As indicated, there are dozens of other institutions that have developed programs loosely or closely modeled on Project 55. At Princeton, there are several other programs that provide similar opportunities, including, in addition to the Class of ‘69’s program, Princeton in Africa, Princeton in Latin America, Princeton in Asia and the newly formed Princeton in India. At the programs we attended, there were representatives from several other schools interested in forming similar programs.
Early on, Project 55 had a program for summer internships as well as postgraduate fellowships, and over the years has undertaken numerous other initiatives, ranging from setting up the alumni network to establishing a Civic Values Initiative to developing a new public health program. Some have outlived their usefulness, like the Civic Values Initiative, as the University has developed its own programs in the area, and others have been taken over by other classes. The class of 1969, for instance, merged the Project 55 summer intern program into its own initiative a few years ago. It looks like the class of 1976 may take the lead with the public health initiative I just mentioned. Other classes in the 70s are exploring how they can get involved, though it seems that none have actually established programs yet.
What does this mean for ’71?
So what’s in it for us? Why is this something we should want to do, aside from the obvious public service implications? Let’s look at what happened with the Class of ‘55 since it set up Project 55. First, there was opposition from the University at the highest levels (except for President Shapiro, who saw the merits and also recognized that the University couldn’t prevent the Class from doing it anyway). The concern the University had was that Project 55 would dilute the focus of alumni, splinter their activities further and drain support from annual and planned giving efforts. The results have been precisely the opposite.
Project 55 had a galvanizing effect of the Class of ’55. A substantial number of classmates who were disaffected or just not interested in things like Reunions responded enthusiastically to the opportunity to do something that they viewed as meaningful to the Princeton community and the community at large. They got and have remained involved in the project, and as a byproduct they have gotten more involved in class activities, including Reunions. Class dues participation has risen dramatically, as has participation in annual giving. So the University is thrilled and has fostered other classes’ similar activities. I can think of no reason why the impact of this kind of activity would be any less positive for our Class than for the others that have taken this step.
Chet Safian and others who we met with made it clear that they are looking to transition the leadership role for Project 55 to a new generation, and that they would like us to be a part of that process. In my view, this is a very exciting opportunity for our Class. As is true of ’69 and ’76, we benefit from all the heavy lifting that ’55 has done before us to test and improve the model. They have even produced a “how-to” handbook that the Alumni Network provides to anyone interested in replicating the model. They truly believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and they do all they can to foster imitators.
Next Steps:
So where does all this leave us, and where do we go from here? As I see it, there are two different tracks that we should pursue simultaneously.
First, we need to do a census of our Class to identify resources. Who is involved with public service organizations or charities, with foundations, or sits on boards, or has particular expertise in healthcare, or education, or the environment or whatever other community based need you can identify?
Chet Safian says that finding organizations that want to use Project 55’s resources to fill positions is as easy as falling off a log, and finding students who want to use it to find fellowships is no more difficult. We should have contacts among us with lots of organizations that would benefit from this kind of a program.
Who would be interested in mentoring fellows who are placed with organizations in their communities? ‘55 reports that their classmates who have done this find it unbelievably rewarding. Who has access to grants for these kinds of projects? Then we need to determine what level of financial support we can count on. Fortunately, if we coordinate with Project 55, we will be able to take advantage of some of their resources. I would hope that early on, our principal contribution would be sweat equity, with the cash coming later as people find themselves more and more invested in the program.
Second, we need to establish just how we coordinate with Project 55, and what kind of a role they would envision us playing with them. Personally, I see us acting in complement with them, not competing for the same students and organization placements. To get traction within the Class, I suspect there will have to be some identification with the Class, not just with Project 55.
I would hope that we can start developing our database during the winter and spring, so that by Reunions we will be able to present a fully developed program proposal to the Class and launch it at that time. In order to do so, we will need to spend some time consulting with one another. If you would like to be part of this process -- and I urge you to do so because I think it can be important and rewarding and energizing -- please let me know. I or someone else on the team will contact each of you in any event to pick your brain even if you can’t be more involved.
Finally, if you wonder if what we are outlining can really make a difference, consider a recent article in the New York Times Sunday magazine. The cover article talks about education in the inner city, and describes a number of innovative programs that are having an impact. It is probably no coincidence that Project 55 fellows are working at each of these programs. Helping to put the best and the brightest in place to make a difference through a lifetime of public service is about the most cost-effective way that I can think of to leave a true legacy that this Class and its descendents can and will be proud of.
-- Art ‘Prince’ Lowenstein
01/31/07
Additional URLs / Links associated w/ Project 55 and The Alumni Network (TAN):
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