Messages from the President

 

2023 Letter from the President

 

Mike' s August 2023 letter to the class can be found here.

 

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End of year Message - 2022

Please find Mike's end of year (2022) message here.

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2022 Letter from the President

 

 

 

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Class of 1972

October 30, 2020

Dear Classmates,

I hope that you and your families are well. I am writing to provide some updates on Class of 1972 news.

First, I am pleased to announce that our Class of 1972 Scholarship Committee has completed its deliberations and we have announced the selection of the four Class of 1972 Scholars for the academic year 2020-21. The Committee, comprised of Fritz Cammerzell, Bill DeGolian, Kip Forbes, Marty Franks, Dotty Kemper, Bob Murley and Patricia Stumm and chaired by Ron Brown, had some extra work this year as they selected three new scholars, as opposed to the usual one. We needed to replace Andrew Griffith '20, who graduated in June, and then Kyla Sears '21 decided to take a "gap" year that was made available to undergraduates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Caitlin Bish '23 did not apply for financial aid this year. Accordingly, we had one returning scholar, Andrew Paul '22 (a member of our grandchild class). The Committee filled the vacancies and I am pleased to announce that the Class of 1972 Scholars for the academic year 2020-21 are Kara Steele '21, Andrew Paul '22, Amelia Liu '23 and Scott Bandura '24. Information about our Class of 1972 Scholars is posted on our Class website.

I am also pleased to say that we had an excellent turnout of classmates for our virtual Class Reception on Saturday, October 10, 2020. We were joined by a group of undergraduates from the Class of 2022 (our grandchild class) for a panel discussion that was ably moderated by classmate, Ruby Huttner. It was fascinating to hear from the undergraduates and to learn how they are navigating the unusual circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. They are truly a resourceful group of undergraduates! A special thank you to all of our classmates who have volunteered to assist in the mentoring program of the members of the Class of 2022 that Ruby has organized. Ruby advises that there are still opportunities to become involved. Just contact Ruby and he will put you in touch with a member of the Class of 2022.

Finally, I want to announce that we will be having our Annual Class of 1972 Fall Dinner this year, as has been our tradition over the years. This is the Class Dinner organized by classmates Chris Loomis and Tony Tichenor that is held at The Princeton Club of New York, usually on the Friday evening before the Harvard or Yale home game. This year the dinner will be held virtually on Friday, November 13, 2020 at 6:00 pm and it will be a Zoom Meeting coming to you via The Princeton Club of New York. We will gather for cocktails at 6:00 pm (EST) followed by some remarks by Professor Lamyaa El-Gabry of the Engineering Department who taught the course entitled "Integrating Industrial Applications in Thermodynamics" which is one of the courses supported by funding from the Class of 1972 Teaching Initiative. Professor El-Gabry's course was exceedingly well received by the undergraduates and she is anxious to share her teaching experience with us. There will be a special cocktail menu and recipes for hors d'oeuvres created by Chef Michael of The Princeton Club of New York that will be sent in advance to all classmates who register for the event. You will need to RSVP to Chris Loomis so that Chris can send you the Zoom invitation that will be hosted by The Princeton Club of New York. Since this event is virtual (and there is no charge), we hope that many of you who were not able to join us in New York for this event in the past will be able to do so this year (virtually). It should be a fun and enlightening evening and a great way to catch up with classmates.

Stay well and I hope to see you virtually on November 13, if not sooner.

 

Best regards.

Skip

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                                                                                                                                                                      September 2020

Dear Classmates,

 

First and foremost, I hope that all of you, your families and loved ones are well and safe. This has been a trying time for all of us, but I know from my conversations with many of you over the past several months that we will come out of this period with even stronger ties to one another and a greater appreciation for what it means to be a Princeton alumnus and a member of the Class of 1972.I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your engagement with the Class over the past year, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of you participated in the virtual events that we held in the spring and volunteered to assist in Class activities in ways that you had not done in the past, and I and the other Class Officers appreciate your participation and welcome your continued engagement with the Class. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Class Officers and all of the members of the Executive Committee for their dedicated service to the Class and to Princeton this past year. They all deserve our thanks and deep appreciation for their hard work.

Now, for some of the highlights of 2019-20 and upcoming events:

Class Dues and the State of the Class Treasury

I am pleased to announce that once again we had excellent participation by classmates in the payment of dues. Pam Lloyd Coulter did an outstanding job in collecting dues from 315 classmates, which is three more classmates than last year (see the enclosed Honor Roll of Dues Payers). In addition, Pam was very careful with our expenses and we ended the year with a small balance in our Treasury. We also benefitted from classmates who paid “back” dues, for which we are always grateful.As a result of the solid performance on the payment of dues, I am pleased to announce that we are able to maintain the current dues level at $50.00, which has been the same for many years. Enclosed you will find the annual dues card and return envelope for use in paying your dues. Please make your check payable to the Class of 1972. You may also go online and pay your class dues by visiting the Class of 1972 website (princeton72.org). If you are so inclined, I encourage you to make an additional contribution to the Class of 1972 Civic Engagement Fund, to support our growing number of summer internships. I also encourage you to pay any back dues that you may have missed in years past. Remember, back dues go right to our bottom line and help us maintain the dues at a low level. In addition, please take the time to provide news about yourself or other classmates on the reverse side of the dues card so that Merc Morris may include that information in the Class Notes section of the PAW.As a reminder, your class dues pay for your subscription to the PAW, as well as funding our annual contribution to the Alumni Council (a modest amount, particularly given what the Alumni Council does for us), the cost of maintaining the Class of 1972 website, the cost of mailings, including stationery and envelopes, and communications throughout the year.

Annual Giving

We have become accustomed to the excellent results detailed in Tom Hoster’s annual report of the Class of 1972’s performance in the Annual Giving Campaign, but this year’s report topped them all. As Tom reported to the Executive Committee at the conclusion of this year’s Annual Giving Campaign, the Class of 1972 contributed $341,629 in gifts and achieved a participation rate of 63.8% in a campaign year disrupted for several months by the onset of the pandemic. To put this in perspective, the Class of 1972’s participation rate was the highest of the 50 youngest classes, which included ten major reunions. It was also the twenty-second year in a row that the Class of 1972 has exceeded the magical 60% participation level. The dollar amount raised was our second best off-year total ever – quite an achievement under all of the circumstances this year.

As we all know, Tom Hoster is an amazing Class Agent and we are truly fortunate to have him as our classmate. Accordingly, I was so pleased and gratified that the University recognized Tom for his achievements by bestowing on him the coveted Harold Helm Distinguished Service Award for “exemplary and sustained service to Princeton Annual Giving” on the weekend of Alumni Day. For those classmates who were in attendance at the Alumni Day luncheon, it was a very proud moment for all of us when Tom stood to receive the award so richly deserved. A special locomotive cheer is due Tom and the growing number of classmates who assist Tom in making calls and following-up with notes and letters including Ron Brown, Pam Coulter, Daryl English, Marty Franks, Doug Harrison, Barbara Julius, Chris Loomis, Rod McNealy, Merc Morris, Robby Robinson, Mike Schneider, Rob Smart, Ed Strauss and Tony Tichenor among others. I thank all of you for your continued support of Princeton through your generous contributions to Annual Giving.Speaking of Annual Giving, the planning for our AG Campaign for our 50th Reunion (less than two years away) is well underway.

You received last year an inspiring letter from Bob Murley about what it means to give back to Princeton, and, as you know, Bob has graciously agreed to serve as our 50th Reunion Special Gifts Chair. Bob has launched the Advance Fund and already we have over $2 million in gifts and pledges for the 50th Reunion. Bob will be in touch soon with more details about the Special Gifts Committee, the goals for the 50th AG Campaign and some of the ways in which each of us may be able to make what I hope will be the single largest AG gift to Princeton (through multiple year contributions utilizing the Advance Fund, and something relatively new which is available to classes beginning with their 50th Reunion - the 50th Reunion Annual Giving Legacy Program). You will be receiving more details soon.

Class Scholars and the Memorial Scholarship Fund

We had the pleasure of selecting a new Class Scholar last September, Caitlin Bish, from Lancaster, NY. She joined the other current Class Scholars, Kyla Sears ’21 and Andrew Paul ’22, and what is now an incred-ible group of former Class of 1972 Scholars who have benefitted from your generous support over the years to the Class of 1972 Memorial Scholarship Fund.As many of you know, our just graduated Class Scholar, Andrew Griffith’20, was the wide receiver on the varsity football team and had an impressive year on the playing field and an equally stellar year after the season, sweeping all of the academic honors that can be awarded a varsity athlete including Princeton’s own Richard Colman Award for Outstanding Scholarship and First Team Academic All-America Honors. Andrew participated in many of our activities this past year, including our class dinner on Alumni Day and also at one of our virtual Reunion class dinners in May. We will miss seeing Andrew this coming year but I am sure that he will remain in contact with us through the years.Special thanks to the great job done by Ron Brown and the Class of 1972 Scholarship Committee consist-ing of Fritz Cammerzell, Bill DeGolian, Kip Forbes, Marty Franks, Dotty Kemper, Bob Murley and Patricia Stumm. The Committee will be selecting a new Class Scholar from the Class of 2024 in early September.

Civic Engagement Fund

Due to the continuing efforts of Grif Johnson and Barbara Julius, we were once again able to support eight internships selected by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (“PICS”) and Princeton’s International Internship Program (“IIP”). These internships are made possible through your generous support of our Civic Engagement Fund which now has a book value of $243,543.The internships and the student interns supported by our Civic Engagement Fund this past summer consisted of the following:

 

Internship Sponsor                                               Internship/Location                                 Student Name and Class Year

PICS Be Safe-                                         St  Stephens’sYouth Programs/Boston.MA               Lauren Almstead ‘22

PICS                                              Children’s Hospital Philadelphia/Philadelphia, PA               Vincent DeLuca ‘22

PICS                                                                    LIFT/ Washington, DC                                     Alisha Somani ‘23

PICS                                           Children’s Hospital Philadelphia/Philadelphia, PA                 Emmanuel Mintah ‘21 

IIP                                                       Child Family Health International Ecuador                    Arianne Smith ‘22

IIP                                                       Child Family Health International Uganda                      Rachel Kulchar ‘23

IIP                                                       Child Family Health International Ecuador                     Bo Hyun (Allen) Kong) ‘21

IIP                                                       Child Family Health International Uganda                      Sean Crites ‘22

 

As you will recall, a decision was made several years to use the proceeds in our Memorial Fund to “jump start” the Civic Engagement Fund. Randy Harris is available to assist classmates in making any missed pledge payments to the Memorial Fund which will go to support the Civic Engagement Fund.

Teaching Initiative

Our Class continues to be the only class that has an endowment to support teaching initiatives at Princeton. Under the guidance of Bob Wright, who is overseeing our Teaching Initiative, we used these funds to sup-port two classes last year, “Foundations of Chemical and Biological Engineering,” taught by Professor Jaime Link in the CBE Department, which was one of the courses that we supported in the prior year, and a new course entitled “Integrating Industrial Applications in Thermodynamics” taught by Professor Lamyaa El-Gabry in the Engineering Department. We were planning to support a third course entitled “Public Speaking,” taught by Professor Tammy Wolff in the English Department, which we had also supported in the prior year, but that course was postponed to the 2020-21 academic year due to unforeseen needs in the English Department. All of these courses received rave reviews by students. We were also thanked by the professors for the financial support that we provided, which was essential to the offering of these courses to the undergraduates.

The Class of 1972 has supported twenty-one courses since the establishment of our Teaching Initiative at the time of our 25th Reunion. It has been a great initiative by our Class and is very well respected by the University and the Dean of the College.

 

The Class of 1972 Grandparent Program

Ruby Huttner has continued to do an incredible job in leading our Cross-Generation Program with the Class of 2022 (our “grandchild” class) and the Class of 1997. Ruby organized numerous meetings and Meet and Greets with members of the Classes of 2022 and 1972 this past year, and started a very success-ful series of career forums, including one on careers in medicine in which Ruby and fellow classmates Bob Daniels and Robert Friedman participated. Other forums are scheduled to discuss other career paths and Ruby has “matched” many classmates with members of the Class of 2022 to share common interests. The undergraduates really enjoy the opportunity to speak to us about their careers and their experiences at Princeton. I encourage all of you to get involved in this program, particularly given the challenges that the undergraduates are currently facing with online learning and being absent from the campus. They could use a little encouragement from the members of the Class of 1972. You will find the members of the Class of 2022 to be very energetic and well matched (I might say) with the Class of 1972. Ruby will be communicating with you directly about the mentorship program with the Class of 2022 and other ways that you can participate. In the meantime, just drop Ruby a line at pugrand22@gmail.comand he will make sure that you become involved in the program.

Class Trips

It would not be a normal year for the Class of 1972 if we did not have at least one Class trip. We were fortunate before the onset of COVID-19 to get in the trip to Glacier National Park and Whitefish, Montana last September, and it was another very successful trip enjoyed by all in attendance. We had to postpone the trip to San Antonio, Texas and the Texas Hill Country that was planned in March 2020, but that trip has been rescheduled for the same time period in March 2021. Robby will provide details later in the year. That trip will include a visit the Alamo (where we will be guided by Professor Sean Wilentz), and Bob and Sallie Wright will help lead us through the Hills of Texas. There will also be a visit to the famous LBJ ranch.Robby is looking into rescheduling the trip to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, that was originally scheduled for this Fall and was to be guided by our Honorary Classmate, Jim McPherson. Robby will provide more details later as hopefully there will be some breakthroughs with respect to COVID-19 and the gathering and travel restrictions will be eased.Other trips on the drawing board include a trip in October 2021 to Lake Tahoe which is being looked into by Andy Dayton, and perhaps a trip to Asheville, NC.

 

Alumni Day

 

We had an excellent turnout of classmates, spouses, family, friends and undergraduates throughout Alumni Day on February 22, 2020. We again gathered for cocktails and dinner at the Nassau Club on Mercer Street, which has now become our favorite venue. We honored Tom Hoster on his recept of the Helm Award and then had a very informative after dinner talk on the master plan for the campus, led by our classmate Phil Caton and Ron McCoy, the University Architect. The plans for the expansion of the campus, including the development across Lake Carnegie, are extraordinary.

As it turned out, our gathering on Alumni Day was the last in-person meeting of the Class for the spring semester as our other planned events were converted into virtual meetings.As of this writing, it is too early to know if Alumni Day in 2021 will be an in-person gathering. We will keep you advised as the University will be making announcements at some point in the fall. In any event, mark your calendars for February 20, 2021, as we will celebrate Alumni Day in some fashion – in person or virtual.Class AssociatesMike Schneider and Rob Smart continued to do a fabulous job with our Class Associates. As most of you are aware, the Class extends a subscription to PAW automatically to all Class Associates for at least one year depending on the time of a classmate’s death, and we also invite our Class Associates to Class events.Mike Schneider remembered each of the eight classmates and one honorary classmate honored at the Service of Remembrance in an eloquent tribute that he delivered at the beginning of our Class Dinner on Alumni Day.

 

Homecoming/150th Anniversary of Collegiate Football

We had our annual post-game cocktail reception in Peretsman-Scully Hall following the Harvard game on October 26, 2019. It was a fun time for all, and we had a number of our Class Scholars and interns from our Civic Engagement Program in attendance. Then, two weeks later, we gathered as a Class in New York to participate in the ceremonies celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Collegiate Football (the first such game having been played between Princeton and Rutgers on 1869). On Friday evening, November 8, 2019, we met at The Princeton Club of New York and had our An-nual Fall Class Dinner. Our guest speaker was our own classmate and Class Secretary, Merc Morris, who regaled us with the history behind his new book entitled “The New Guide to North Carolina Beaches.” We all wanted to go to a North Carolina beach for a vacation when the evening ended. The anniversary game was held on Saturday, November 9, 2019. This time the game was played against Dartmouth and the venue was Yankee Stadium. We gathered as a Class at the Pershing Square Café in New York City for a pre-game brunch and then traveled by subway to Yankee Stadium. The Tigers fought val-iantly, but lost the game (a result similar to the result in the first game against Rutgers). All in all, it was an historic and memorable weekend.

Reunions/Class Awards

Our 48th Reunion was certainly one for the history books but hopefully one that will not be repeated.Since we could not meet in person, we decided to continue our traditions virtually. We gathered as a Class at the usual time of our traditional Friday night dinner in a series of geographical Zoom meetings, covering the country, with classmates hosting from New Jersey, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco. I greatly appreciate the assistance of classmates Grif Johnson, Art Kent, Bob Wright, Bob Murley and Tom Hoster who joined me as hosts. In addition to our classmates, we had our Class Scholars and members of our grandchild class also participate. While it was not the same as an in-person meeting, it was great fun to see so many classmates that evening and to hear from them and how they were doing under the circumstances.

Then on Saturday, May 30, we gathered virtually as a Class for our Annual Pre P-rade Class Luncheon at which time we were treated to a panel discussion involving some of the members of the Class of 2022, moderated by Ruby Huttner. It was a treat to hear from the undergraduates and to learn first-hand how they were able to complete the spring semester of their sophomore year off-campus and to continue their education virtually. What a creative and innovative group of undergraduates.We adjourned the luncheon meeting in time to participate in the first virtual P-rade in Princeton’s history. It was an incredible event, and the Alumni Council deserves all of the credit in maintaining the P-rade tradition.

Please note that Reunions next year will be earlier than usual, as the University has switched this year to the new academic calendar. The dates are May 20-23, 2021, and we are planning on gathering in person.The Class was also honored during Reunions with the two awards from the Alumni Council. We won the Class of 1928 Trophy which is given annually to the class with the largest number of its members attending any gathering outside of Princeton during the year between Reunions. We also received the 1898 Trophy awarded annually to the class with the largest percentage of members attending any gathering outside of Princeton during the year between Reunions. The competition for these awards is intense, and they were given to us in recognition of our gathering during the Class Trip to New Orleans in November 2018, which was attended by forty-nine classmates or 6.2% of the Class of 1972. Congratulations to Robby and Chris Robinson for organizing the trip and to all classmates who were in attendance. It was a fabulous trip. In addition, our classmate Don Smalley, who chairs the Schools Committee of the Princeton Club of Minnesota, was recognized with the S. Barksdale Penick, Jr. ’25 Award which is given to the regional Alumni School Committee whose activities, enthusiasm and imagination have most effectively realized the goals of Schools Committee work – to recruit outstanding candidates for Princeton, to report skill-fully on those candidates to the Admission office and to represent Princeton in the local community. Congratulations and well done, Don. 

Class Website

Doug Harrison continues to do a fabulous job in maintaining our Class website. This is clearly the “go to” spot for up-to-date information on all Class events and activities.This year, a special website team composed of Daryl English, Doug Harrison, Merc Morris and Bob Wright, undertook a much needed update of our website. Daryl worked with a graphic designer, Amy Helper, to implement the update and, as a result, we have a much improved website. The highlights include a new graphic look, more logical organization that improves navigation throughout the site, and enhancements to the main menu. We have also added a “Time Travel with ‘72” and a “Friends and Family” section for postings by classmates. If you have not visited the website recently, I encourage you to do so. You will be impressed with the finished product. I heartily thank the members of the website team for their tireless efforts this past year.As a reminder, please make sure that we have your most recent email address so that you receive email notices that are sent out from time to time. Please send or call your preferred email address to Doug Harrison, our Class Web Master, at haphar@gmail.com; phone (703) 795-5890. Doug will insert your email address in the Class of 1972 directory and then you may go to the Class website, princeton72.org, and click the Login heading on the home page to create your Login ID and Password for access to the Class website.

Women of 1972

Daryl English continued to do a terrific job in organizing and leading the Women of 1972. I am advised that there are now 33 of the 64 women in the Class of 1972 who are active subscribers to the e-list that Daryl maintains for the Women of ’72 news. Daryl also advised that classmates Helena Novakova and Vera Marcus are two of the “pioneers” whose stories are being featured in a Lewis Center theater production commemorating the 50th anniversary of co-education at Princeton. While the production had been slated to open at McCarter Theatre in April, the opening has been postponed but hopefully the production will be rescheduled soon. We will keep you advised of the new date.

Important Dates for 2020-21

While we will not be able to gather in person this fall, we are still planning to continue with some of our fall traditions and to that end we will have a virtual class reception on Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 12 Noon (EST). You will be receiving an invitation for a Zoom meeting and plans are already underway for another panel discussion with members of the Class of 2022 so that we can see and hear how our “grandchildren” are doing at the beginning of their junior year at Princeton. In addition, we will be planning other virtual events throughout the fall so that classmates can keep in touch with each other.As noted earlier, please keep the date of February 20, 2021 in your calendars for Alumni Day and mark May 20-23, 2021 as the dates for our 49th Reunion.On a more optimistic note, you will find enclosed a refrigerator “magnet” that has the dates for our 50th Reunion (May 19-22, 2022) and a masked tiger face drawn by our classmate, Ed Strauss. Credit goes to Fritz Cammerzell, our Reunion Co-Chair, for coming up with the idea of the magnet and the phrase “We’ll Meet Again” which comes from the title of the famous song sung by the late Vera Lynn. Thank you Fritz for the inspiration to indeed meet again, no later than our 50th Reunion.My best wishes to all of you for a healthy, safe and successful year. I look forward to seeing you soon, hopefully in person.

Respectfully,

Skip Rankin '72  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Class of 1972

April 9, 2020

Dear Classmates,

First and foremost, I hope that all of you, your families and loved ones are well and safe, and that you stay well. These are certainly unprecedented times for all of us.

As some of you are aware, the Class of 1972 website has been redesigned, thanks to the hard work and creative efforts of our website team consisting of Doug Harrison, Daryl English, Merc Morris and Bob Wright. In coordination with Reunion Technologies (the service provider), they have created a more interactive site, enabling classmates to be in touch with each other in ways that did not exist previously. In particular, there is now a page on the website called Friends and Family Forum in which classmates may post notices of interest about themselves, other classmates or extended members of the Class of 1972 family, and there is a dedicated space where classmates can express their thoughts and experiences about COVID-19. All classmates are automatically members of the Friends and Family Forum and will receive monthly updates (assuming that you are registered on the website). I invite you to visit the new website and to post your thoughts at this time. It is a great way to keep in contact with classmates during this difficult period. If you encounter any issues in posting, please reach out to Doug Harrison, who has volunteered to assist you.

In connection with other Class of 1972 activities, we had to postpone the trip to San Antonio, Texas that was scheduled for late March. However, it has been rescheduled for next March 24-28 and "hats-off" to Robby Robinson and Bob Wright for jumping on the rescheduling of this trip so efficiently to save the Class and those classmates who had signed up from incurring any significant cancellation fees. We are still planning the Shenandoah trip for November 11-15, 2020, but Robby will be in touch with those classmates who have signed up for the trip if there are any changes to those dates.

As you are aware, Reunions will not be taking place this May, but we are planning to mark the 48th Reunion of our graduation from Princeton with a series of "virtual" reunions that will be held the evening of May 29 (the date of our Class Dinner) and May 30 (the date of our Pre-P-rade Class Lunch). We will be organizing these virtual reunions with classmates hosting a Zoom or Skype meeting on a regional basis, so be on the lookout for further information as the dates draw nearer. Obviously, we will miss being together in person, but we believe this will be a great way to stay in contact under these circumstances and also will be fun.

I have been discussing with Fritz and Robby plans for an "in-person" Reunion the weekend of October 16/17, which is the homecoming game against Brown, assuming things are back to normal or near normal. Mark the dates on your calendar for now, and we will keep you advised as plans evolve.

Many of you have received an email from Ruby Huttner regarding our "grandchild" Class of 2022. All of the undergraduates are at home taking classes online, and we think that this is a great time to be in contact with them and to help them through what has to be a disappointment not to be on campus for the spring of their sophomore year. You may recall that classes were canceled for a period of the spring semester when we were sophomores 50 years ago (although for different reasons), and it was also difficult time for many of us. In addition, the sophomores are selecting their majors and many will appreciate talking with us about our chosen fields. They really like to engage with us as "mentors." I encourage each of you to be in contact with a member of Class of 2022 who lives in your city or town or nearby. If you have not been paired with a member of the Class of 2022, then please contact Ruby and he will be pleased to put you in touch with one of our "grandchildren."

I also want to pass along a reminder from Tom Hoster not to forget Annual Giving and the current campaign that ends June 30. Princeton needs our support now, more than ever, as the University is facing unprecedented issues with many students remaining on campus because they are not able to return to their homes at this time, and unexpected costs associated with the disruption of the school year. Our Class has always been the leader among the classes in the 1970s in Annual Giving, as well as one of the overall standout classes, and we want to maintain our leadership, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom will be communicating later with an update on this year's campaign, but in the meantime I encourage all of you to give and show your support of Princeton University.

Finally, for those of you who were not able to join us on Alumni Day, I want you to know the very good news that Tom Hoster was unanimously selected as the recipient of this year's Harold H. Helm Distinguished Service Award from Annual Giving. Tom was recognized at a dinner ceremony the night before Alumni Day and also at the Annual Alumni Day Luncheon. The Helm Award is the highest distinction Princeton confers for volunteer service to Annual Giving, and it is awarded to the volunteer whose service to Annual Giving has been characterized by "exemplary and sustained performance." Our congratulations to Tom for a job well done. Tom, you make us all proud of you and your service to Princeton.

My best wishes to all of you and your families, and a happy holiday to those who may be celebrating Passover or Easter this week.

Please stay well and I look forward to seeing you soon -- at least virtually.

Best regards,

Skip Rankin '72

 

 

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Dear Classmates,

 

It is that time of year when I have the opportunity to write to you about the accomplishments of the Class of 1972 over the past twelve months and to highlight some of the upcoming events and activities planned for 2019 - 20, which, I know it is hard to believe, is the 48th year since our graduation from Princeton.

First, I want to thank all of you for your engagement with the Class over the past year. Many of you participated in events or activities for the first time since graduation, or close thereto, and I and the other Class Officers appreciate your participation and welcome your continued re-engagement with the Class. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Class Officers and all of the members of the Executive Committee for their dedicated service to the Class and to Princeton this past year. They all deserve our thanks and deep appreciation for their hard work.

Now, for some of the highlights of 2018 - 19 and upcoming events:

 

Class Dues and Treasury

 

I am pleased to announce that we had excellent participation by classmates this past year in the payment of dues. Pam Lloyd Coulter did an outstanding job in collecting dues from 298 classmates or 37% of the total number of classmates on the active mail roll (see the enclosed Honor Roll of Dues Payers). In addition, Pam kept a watchful eye on expenses and we ended the year with a small balance in our Treasury. We also benefitted from classmates who paid “back” dues and one classmate who made a generous anonymous gift to the Class Treasury.

As a result of the foregoing, I am pleased to announce that we are able to maintain the current dues level at $50.00, which has been the same for many years. Enclosed you will find the annual dues card and return envelope for use in paying your dues. Please make your check payable to the Class of 1972. You may also go online and pay your class dues by visiting the Class of 1972 website (princeton72.org).

If you are so inclined, I encourage you to make an additional contribution to the Class of 1972 Civic Engagement Fund, to support our growing number of summer internships, and I also encourage you to pay any back dues that you may have missed in years past. Remember, back dues go right to our bottom line and help us maintain the dues at a low level. In addition, please take the time to provide news about yourself or other classmates on the reverse side of the dues card so that Merc may include that information to the Class Notes section of the PAW.

As a reminder, your class dues pay for your subscription to the PAW, as well as funding our annual contribution to the Alumni Council (a modest amount, particularly given what the Alumni Council does for us), the cost of maintaining the Class of 1972 website, the cost of the mailings, including stationery and envelopes, and communications throughout the year.

 

Annual Giving

 

Tom Hoster provided his annual report at the conclusion of this year’s Annual Giving Campaign and, once again, the Class of 1972 put in an enviable performance with $261,000 in gifts and a participation rate of 64.7%. Tom Hoster is truly amazing as our Class Agent and our Class continues to set participation records for all classes in the '70s (as well as classes in all other decades).

Specifically, our participation rate was third highest out of the 49 youngest classes. A special locomotive cheer is due Tom and the growing number of classmates who assist Tom in making calls and following-up with classmates including Ron Brown, Daryl English, Marty Franks, Doug Harrison, Barbara Julius, Chris Loomis, Rod McNealy, Merc Morris, Robby Robinson, Mike Schneider, Rob Smart, Ed Strauss, Tony Tichenor and Bob Wright, among others. I also thank all of you for your continued support of Princeton through your generous contributions to Annual Giving.

Speaking of Annual Giving, it is not too early to begin to focus our sights on our AG Campaign for our 50th Reunion (only 3 three years away). You will have received in May the inspiring letter from Bob Murley about what it means to give back to Princeton, and, as you know, Bob has graciously agreed to serve as our 50th Reunion Special Gifts Chair. Bob will be sending out another letter to the Class announcing the launch of the Advance Fund for our 50th Reunion and describing the many ways in which each of us may be able to make what I hope will be the single largest AG gift to Princeton (through use of funds in IRA and 401(k) accounts, by multiple year contributions utilizing the Advance Fund, and something new which is available to classes beginning with their 50th Reunion - the 50th Reunion Annual Giving Legacy Program). More details will be forthcoming in Bob’s letter.

 

Class Scholars and the Memorial Scholarship Fund

 

We had the pleasure of selecting a new Class Scholar last September, Andrew Paul, from Liguanea, Jamaica. Andrew joined us at our Class reception and dinner on Alumni Day and experienced his first snowfall in November. He joins the other current Class Scholars, Andrew Griffith '20 and Kyla Sears '21, and what is now an incredible group of former Class of 1972 Scholars who have benefitted from your generous support over the years to the Class of 1972 Memorial Scholarship Fund.

As many of you know by now, our just graduated Class Scholar, Sydney Jordan '19, received the Pyne Prize during the luncheon ceremony in Jadwin Gym on Alumni Day. Sydney did us all proud in her acceptance speech, and then went on to assist the women’s basketball team in defeating Harvard on their way to an Ivy League Championship and a berth in the Womens’ NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Special thanks to the great job done by Ron Brown and the Class of 1972 Scholarship Committee consisting of Fritz Cammerzell, Bill DeGolian, Kip Forbes, Marty Franks, Dotty Kemper, Bob Murley and Patricia Stumm. The Committee will be selecting a new Class Scholar from the Class of 2023 in early September.

 

Civic Engagement

 

Due to the continuing efforts of Grif Johnson and Barbara Julius, we were once again able to support six internships selected by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (“PICS”) and Princeton’s International Internship Program (“IIP”). These internships are made possible through your generous support of our Civic Engagement Fund which now has a book value of $235,877.

 

The internships and the student interns supported by our Civic Engagement Fund this past summer consisted of the following:

 

Sponsor          Host Organization & Location               Host Organization’s Mission                         Student Intern & Class Year
(PICS)             B-SAFE/St. Stephen’s Youth                       Boston, MA                                                   Myrha Qadir 2021

Provides safe environment for young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods to engage in enriching activities, including arts, athletics, tech training, etc.

PICS                NatureBridge                                            San Francisco, CA                                         Heather Waters 2020
Offers hands-on environmental science programs for children & teens inside national parks, such as Yosemite, Golden Gate, Olympic, Channel Islands, etc.

PICS               Partnership for Public Service                     Washington, D.C.                                          Caren Ju 2022
Leadership development in federal workforce, modernizing & making federal agencies more effective, improving agency management

IIP                  GREENVIET                                              Ho Chi Minh City & Hanoi, Vietnam                 Sofia Bisogno 2020
Leading provider in Vietnam of consultancy services for design & construction of sustainable buildings

IIP                  GREENVIET                                              Ho Chi Minh City & Hanoi, Vietnam                 Hana Jiang 2020

IIP                  DigiPencil                                                 Vietnam                                                       Amy Xu 2021
Creative agency providing marketing, branding, operations & distribution services for clients in Vietnam

 

As you will recall, a decision was made several years to use the proceeds in our Memorial Fund to “jump start” the Civic Engagement Fund. Randy Harris is available to assist classmates in making any missed pledge payments to the Memorial Fund which will go to support the Civic Engagement Fund.

 

Teaching Initiative

 

Our Class continues to be the only class that has an endowment to support teaching initiatives at Princeton. We used these funds to support two classes last year, “Foundations of Chemical and Biological Engineering,” taught by Professor Jaime Link in the CBE Department, and “Public Speaking,” taught by Professor Tammy Wolff in the English Department, both of which courses received rave reviews by students. We were also thanked by the professors for the financial support that we provided, which was essential to the offering of these courses to the undergraduates.

 

Under the guidance of Bob Wright, who is overseeing our Teaching Initiative, we will for the first time be able to support three courses this year - the same two as last year (but with less financial support required than in the initial year of the offering of the course) and a new course entitled “Integrating Industrial Applications in Thermodynamics,” taught by Professor Lamyaa El-Gabry in the Engineering Department.

 

The Class of 1972 Grandparent Program

 

As most of you know, we became “grandparents” to the members of the Class of 2022 at a welcoming ceremony for the entering class on September 9, 2018. This is a very energetic class and well matched (I might say) with the Class of 1972. The Class of 2022 will be graduating from Princeton at the same time that we will be celebrating our 50th Reunion, so we will always have a special bond with the Class of 2022.

 

Several classmates participated at the Pre-rade event (see our Class website for a more detailed description and some photos) and thereafter the Class launched what is referred to as the Cross Generation Program with the Classes of 2022 and 1997 (the parent class to 2022). Under the leadership of Ruby Huttner, with assistance from Fritz Cammerzell, Robby Robinson and Doug Harrison, among others, the Class arranged for two Meet and Greets with the Class of 2022 held at Campus Club on January 12, 2019 and April 14, 2019 (see the photos on the Class of 1972 website).

 

We received an overwhelming response from the Class of 2022 to participate in a mentorship program, and Ruby has been hard at work in matching classmates who have expressed an interest in participating in such a program with members of the Class of 2022. In addition to mentoring, the members of the Class of 2022 are just eager to get to know us and to learn of our experiences as undergraduates (they are fascinated by our stories), so I encourage all of you to get involved in one way or another, even if only to take out an undergraduate who lives in your geographical area to lunch or dinner when he or she is back home from college. Just drop Ruby a line at pugrand22@gmail.com and he will make sure that you become involved in the program.

 

Class Trips

 

It would not be a normal year for the Class of 1972 if we did not have at least one Class trip. Indeed, Robby and Chris Robinson h72 outdid themselves again with two spectacular trips - one to New Orleans to explore that fun city and celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans, and the other to Quebec City, which was one of our “foreign” trips, although not overly far away. The New Orleans trip was one of our largest trips ever, with over 100 classmates, spouses, family and friends in attendance. We were treated to tours of the World War II Museum, the historic French Quarter and the beautiful Garden District and then took a trip down the Mississippi on a riverboat to the location of the Battle of New Orleans, guided by Princeton professor Sean Wilentz. We then had a spectacular farewell gathering and dinner at the historic home of classmate Janet Reyering Howard and her husband, Scott Howard (a Yalie who graciously tolerated a significant amount of orange and black on the evening of Princeton’s victory over Yale in football).

 

The Quebec City trip, although attended by a smaller group of classmates, was equally impressive with historic tours of Quebec City and journeys outside to Montmorency Falls and the Basilica of St. Anne de Beaupre, followed by a lunch and wine, cassis and cider tastings on the Ile d’Orleans. Those refreshments helped us survive the non-spring like weather (yes, there were still traces of snow on the ground in late April).

 

As you are reading this letter, many of our classmates will be on the trip to Glacier National Park (one of the most
beautiful national parks) and Whitefish, Montana. There will be a report on that trip later in the year.

 

Finally, there is a trip planned for March 25-29, 2020 to San Antonio, Texas and the Texas Hill Country. Robby has the details but this is your chance to visit the Alamo (where we will be guided by Professor Sean Wilentz), and Bob and Sallie Wright will help lead us through the Hills of Texas. There will also be a visit to the famous LBJ ranch.

 

Stay tuned for additional information about a trip in the Fall of 2020.

 

Alumni Day

 

We had a good turnout of classmates, spouses, family, friends and undergraduates throughout Alumni Day on February 23, 2019. We again gathered for cocktails and dinner at the Nassau Club on Mercer Street, which has now become our favorite venue. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was our after-dinner speaker. Needless to say, it was a memorable evening and we were treated to incredible insights regarding the hot spots in the Middle East, among other topics discussed.

 

Make your plans now for Alumni Day in 2020. It will be February 22, 2020 and our classmate, Phil Caton, will be speaking about the Princeton University Master Plan for the campus.

 

Class Associates

 

Mike Schneider and Rob Smart continued to do a fabulous job with our Class Associates and also assisting with the writing and postings of Crossings, which are placed promptly on our Class website. The Class extends the subscription to PAW automatically to all Class Associates for at least one year depending on the time of a classmate’s death, and we also invite our Class Associates to Class events.
Mike Schneider remembered each of the six classmates honored at the Service of Remembrance in a moving tribute that he delivered at the beginning of our Class dinner on Alumni Day.

 

Homecoming

 

We had our annual post-game cocktail reception in Peretsman-Scully Hall following the Brown game (Princeton did not play either Harvard or Yale at home this past year, so homecoming was the Brown game on October 13, 2018).

 

This year, the Princeton Tigers play both Harvard and Yale at home (go figure), but homecoming will be the game against Harvard on October 26, 2019 (nicer weather in October than in November when Princeton plays Yale on November 16). Make your plans to join us for the game and the post-game cocktail reception in Peretsman-Scully Hall.

 

Reunions

 

The year would not be complete without a fantastic Reunions weekend and this past year was no exception.

 

We first gathered as a Class on Friday afternoon for a tour of the battlefield on which the Battle of Princeton was fought on January 3, 1777. We were led on the tour by our honorary classmate, Professor James McPherson, and it was quite an event, in keeping with all of the tours led by Professor McPherson.

 

We then descended upon the home of Fritz Cammerzell for a fun-filled cocktail reception and Class Dinner, followed by our annual pre-P-rade Class Luncheon on Saturday and then we marched together in the one and only P-rade (no rainout this year - we marched under a beautiful sunny sky).

 

Please plan to join us at next year’s Reunions which will be held on May 28-30, 2020. More details will come later.

 

Class Website

 

Doug Harrison continues to do a fabulous job in maintaining our Class website. This is clearly the “go to” spot for
up-to-date information on all Class events and activities.

 

As a reminder, please make sure that we have your most recent email address so that you receive our email notices that are sent out from time to time. Please send or call your preferred email address to Doug Harrison, our Class Web Master, at haphar@gmail.com; phone (703) 795-5890. Doug will insert your email address in the Class of 1972 directory and then you may go to the Class website, princeton72.org, click the Login heading on the right side of the home page to create your Login ID and Password for access to the Class website.

 

Special Fall Weekend - November 8-9, 2019

 

As you will have seen in my email to the Class in mid-August, there is a special Fall Weekend planned for November 8-9, 2019. The Princeton football team (last year’s Ivy League Champion and the first undefeated football team since 1964) will play Dartmouth in Yankee Stadium to mark the 150th Anniversary of the first intercollegiate football game played between Princeton and Rutgers. You will recall that we were sophomores when the 100th Anniversary Game was played against Rutgers (our original opponent in 1869) in New Brunswick, the site of the original game. Well, Princeton no longer plays Rutgers in football (they went big-time a few years ago), so the Athletic Department selected Dartmouth as the opponent for the anniversary game and Yankee Stadium was chosen as the venue, given the expected crowd. Please plan to join your classmates for the game. You may purchase tickets by visiting the website www.tickets.princeton.edu/athletics/online.

 

If you are going to the game, a number of classmates have purchased tickets in section 229, which is on the Princeton side of the field, so try to purchase tickets in or near that section. We will be gathering as a Class at 12:00 Noon for lunch before the game at Pershing Square Café, located on 42nd Street just across from the main entrance to Grant Central Station. The game begins at 3:30 pm, so the plan is to take the subway up to Yankee Stadium after lunch.

 

In addition to the game on Saturday, you will want to make plans to attend our Annual Fall Class Dinner on Friday,
November 8, 2019, at The Princeton Club of New York. Our classmate and Class Secretary, Merc Morris, will be presenting on his new book, The New Guide to North Carolina Beaches, which has received rave reviews. The evening will begin at 6:30 pm with cocktails (cash bar), followed by dinner and Merc’s presentation. Reservations may be made on the Class of 1972 website. The cost for the dinner is $96.00 per person. You may also reserve a spot by sending a check made payable to the Class of 1972 and mailing it to Pamela Lloyd Coulter, Treasurer, Class of 1972, c/o The Princeton Club of New York, PO Box 40, 15 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036.

 

A Summary of Important Dates for 2019-2020

 

September 17-22, 2019 - Class Trip to Glacier National Park
October 26, 2019 - Homecoming Game against Harvard and Post-Game Cocktail Party
November 8, 2019 - Fall Class Dinner at The Princeton Club in New York City
November 9, 2019 - 150th Anniversary of the First Intercollegiate Football Game Princeton vs. Dartmouth at Yankee Stadium in New York
February 22, 2020 - Alumni Day and Class Reception and Dinner at the Nassau Club in Princeton
May 28-30, 2020 -

 

REUNIONS
Yes, it was a busy year last year, and this year is starting out with some exiting events and activities for the Class. Your Class Officers hope that you will partake in some of these activities and re-connect with old friends and make some new ones. Please let us know if you would like to assist in the planning of any of these activities. We will be pleased to get you involved.

 

I wish the best for you and your families throughout the coming year. I also look forward to seeing you soon, especially at an event for the Class of 1972!

 

Respectfully,

 

Skip Rankin '72

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                                                                                                         September 2018

Dear Classmates,

It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed since my first letter to you back in
August 2017. I hope that you had a very enjoyable year and that you were able to take part
in some of the activities sponsored by the Class of 1972 and other events sponsored by the
Princeton Alumni Association. I also hope that you had a very enjoyable summer with time
for a vacation or just taking some time to be with family and friends.

Before turning to some of the events that are planned for this coming year, I want to take
a moment to highlight the year that just concluded – our 46th since our graduation from
Princeton. First, we continued as a Class to support four undergraduates with scholarships
from the Class of 1972 Memorial Scholarship, an endowed fund managed by Princeton that
provides a scholarship to a member of each undergraduate class. Our scholarship recipients
this past academic year were Mr. Deion A. King ’18 , Ms. Sydney A. Jordan ’19, Mr. Andrew
J. Griffin ’20 and Ms. Kyla D. Sears ’21. This is an outstanding group of undergraduates (and
Deion is now a alumnus, having graduated in June). In keeping with our past traditions, we
will continue to support our Class Scholars from the Classes of 2019, 2020 and 2021 and
select a new scholar from the freshman class this Fall to replace Deion King. I will keep you
informed as soon as that new Class Scholar is selected. Thanks to Ron Brown and the Class
of 1972 Scholarship Committee (Fritz Cammerzell, Bill DeGolian, Kip Forbes, Marty
Franks, Dotty Kemper, Bob Murley and Patricia Stumm) for their excellent work in
overseeing this scholarship program and for their extraordinary selections over the years.

Then, we were able to support five undergraduates with their internships this past summer
by means of your contributions over the years to the Class of 1972 Civic Engagement Fund.
Specifically, we were able to provide scholarships to undergraduates who participated in three
internships selected by the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS); namely, DREAM
(formerly Harlem RBI) in New York, New York , which has as its mission the support of
inner-city youth by providing opportunities to Play, Learn and Grow; The City of Homestead,
Homestead, Florida that offers an unique small-town atmosphere in an area between Miami
and the Florida Keys; and The Tennessee Justice Center in Nashville, Tennessee that is a
non-profit public interest law firm that represents low-income families throughout Tennessee.
We were also able to provide financial support for two undergraduates who participated
in internships selected by the International Internships Program (IIP) that were available at
ANKURI (the Agency for Non-Konventional [sic} Urban/Rural Initiatives in Dehradun,
India, that works to create sustainable livelihoods for people of local villages through means
of educational empowerment, income generation for women and optimal utilization of local
resources, and the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) in Budapest, Hungary that is an international
public-interest law organization that works to protect the rights of Romani people
against racism, discrimination and abuse. The undergraduates who participated in these
internships included Gus Binnie ’21 at DREAM, Rob Hasbun ’21 at The City of Homestead,
Preston Johnston ’21 at the Tennessee Justice Center, Alex Cavoli ’20 at ANKURI and Alma
Huselja ’19 at ERRC. Many thanks to Barbara Julius and Grif Johnson for their continued hard work in overseeing the development
of the Class of 1972 CE Initiative and its very successful second year of granting scholarships to finance these
important opportunities for undergraduates, and to Randy Harris for his support as Chair of the Memorial Fund . Remember,
you can still contribute to the growth of the Civic Engagement Fund by making a special contribution, together with
your annual class dues (but more about that opportunity later).

We also continued our funding of innovative undergraduate courses that otherwise would not have the resources
available to be offered to undergraduates. The two courses that we supported this past year were “Foundations of Engineering
I: Mechanical, Energy and Waves” and “Disability Studies, The Disabled Body.” The funding for these courses
comes from our Class of 1972 Teaching Initiative that we started on the occasion of our 25th Reunion. To date, we are the
only Class that has an endowed fund dedicated to the financial support of undergraduate courses. A special thanks to past
President, Bob Wright, who took over the stewardship of our Teaching Initiative this past year.

We added to the list of trips of ’72 with two magnificent class trips. The first was a trip in October 2017 on the
Columbia River, together with a contingent from the Class of 1951, organized with the support of Princeton Journeys of
the Alumni Council. It was a trip that followed the trail of Lewis and Clark and provided incredible natural beauty along
the way. Then, in May 2018, classmates ventured to Prague and the Czech Republic on the most ambitious overseas trip
undertaken by the Class. This was a memorable experience for those classmates in attendance and the class was hosted
and treated royally by our own Helena Novakova who organized the entire trip and added special touches as she took
classmates to places in the Czech Republic that are not visited by regular tourists. Classmates are still talking about the
experiences that they had in the Czech Republic. A special thanks to Helena for all of her efforts on this trip, and our continued
thanks to Robby Robinson for his leadership and organization in putting these trips together and in finding classmates
who are willing to assist by hosting in their home towns and countries. Our class trips are something of a legend
among alumni classes.

On the more social side of things, we had a fantastic turnout for the cocktail reception following the Yale Game on
November 11, 2017. We again gathered in the Study Hall of the beautiful Peretsman-Scully Hall across Washington Road
from Princeton Stadium. While the football team was not successful on the gridiron, the reception was a great success,
and we were joined by several of our Class Scholars and by one of our summer interns that we sponsored with financing
from the Class of 1972 CE Fund. The weekend fun continued with a very successful Class Dinner at The Princeton Club
in New York on November 13, at which time we were treated to a most interesting history of charitable gift giving by our
own Ron Brown, who gave us a preview of his most recently published book entitled “A History of Charitable Giving:
How Annuities Shaped American Philanthropy.” These class dinners in the Fall are a great way to gather for some
educational enlightenment and stimulating conversation in the company of classmates. Many thanks to Chris Loomis and
Tony Tichenor for organizing these class dinners each year.

After surviving a cold January (at least in the Northeast), we gathered as a Class for Alumni Day on the Princeton
campus on February 24, 2018 and had a full house for our Annual Alumni Day Class Dinner at the Nassau Club in
Princeton. Our guest speaker was Professor Stan Katz, Lecturer with the Woodrow Wilson School and Director, Center for
Arts and Cultural Policy Studies. Professor Katz provided some thought provoking after dinner remarks about the plans to
expand the Princeton campus and the potential impact on the educational and social life at the University. The professor’s
remarks stimulated a discussion well into the evening. We were joined at the dinner by spouses and friends and three of
our Class Scholars, as well as several Honorary Classmates (including Dottie Werner) and children of our classmates who
are current undergraduates. If you have not made it to one of these Alumni Day gatherings, please put it on your calendar
for this year. It is well worth the trip to Princeton. Thanks again to Fritz for arranging the speaker and to Bob and Sallie
Wright for reserving the room at the Nassau Club.

On a sad note, we remembered seven of our classmates and one honorary classmate who passed away during 2017 at
the Service of Remembrance on Alumni Day. Our Associates Committee under the leadership of Mike Schneider and Rob
Smart continues to do a magnificent job in reaching out to the surviving spouses and family members of our deceased
classmates to express condolences on behalf of the Class, and Mike Schneider remembered our classmates in a very
moving tribute offered at the beginning of our dinner on Alumni Day. You may visit the Crossings page on our Class
website to note your remembrances of our deceased classmates.

As we headed into the Spring and towards Reunions, we were notified by the Alumni Council that the Class of 1972 had
been awarded the Class of 1932 Plaque which is given to the class with the highest percentage increase in class dues (36%
in our case) for a class that is more than 25 but less than 50 years out of Princeton. This award was given for the year that
ended June 30, 2017 and reflected the hard work and effort that our outgoing Class Treasurer, Chris Loomis, put into her
duties over several years. It was a great pleasure to see Chris receive the award from the Chair of the Class Affairs
Committee at the Annual Alumni Council Luncheon on Friday, June 1, 2018. In addition, our honorary classmate and
close friend, Professor James McPherson, received the coveted Award for Service to Princeton at the same luncheon.
It was quite a day for the Class of 1972.

The Class then gathered that evening at the home of Fritz Cammerzell for an excellent Class Dinner. This has become
a ritual during the off-year reunions, and the turnout and camaraderie at these dinners gets better each year. This year was
no exception and we enjoyed the company of classmates, spouses and guests as well as the children of several classmates
including Henry Cammerzell, Thayer Hewitt and Brock Hughes. Three undergraduate reunion helpers, Evan Elig ’20,
Caden McLaughlin ’20 and Nick Sileo ’20, were on hand to facilitate the service of the dinner. Thanks again to Fritz for
hosting us, which he has done so graciously over many years.

Following a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Class on Saturday, June 2, we had our annual pre-P-rade
luncheon with additional classmates on hand and then lined up to watch the older classes pass by in the P-rade when
something quite unusual happened. A summer thunderstorm approached the campus and public safety decided to cancel
the P-rade just moments before our Class was prepared to march. The announcement to cancel the P-rade was not well
communicated and several of us began to march before the rain came but we were halted just before reaching Whig Hall
as lightning was spotted and we were told to seek shelter. According to Pam Lloyd Coulter, this was the first cancellation
of a P-rade due to inclement weather since 1953 (and Pam should know because she was on campus watching her father
march with the Class of 1942).

As the school year came to an end, we were greeted with exiting news from Tom Hoster as he reported that the Class
of 1972 had once again broken through the magical 60% participation rate in Annual Giving for the twentieth year in a
row. No other class in our decade has come close to that achievement, and we raised over $293,000 in doing so, a very
commendable amount for a 46th Reunion. A tremendous amount of thanks and credit goes to Tom Hoster, our indefatigable
Class Agent, for this tremendous success in Annual Giving, year after year. Tom has been assisted in recent years
by a team of volunteers from the Class (Ron Brown, Daryl English, Marty Franks, Doug Harrison, Barbara Julius, Chris
Loomis, Rod McNealy, Merc Morris, Robby Robinson, Mike Schneider, Rob Smart, Ed Strauss, Tony Tichenor and Bob
Wright, among others) who help by making phone calls and writing follow-up letters to classmates, and we thank them for
their efforts, but it is truly Tom’s leadership and organizational skills that make the difference. The Development
Office also knows of Tom’s skill set and he was invited to stay on the National Annual Giving Committee for the next four
years – through our 50th Reunion --- which is a real compliment because appointments are usually for one year at a time
and members usually rotate off after completing a major reunion. Obviously, the Development Office knows a good thing
when they see it. Congratulations Tom on a job well done!

I also want to add a special thanks to Doug Harrison who maintains our website and is always looking for ways
to improve our digital communications and the ways that we are able to be in touch with each other and share news
throughout the year. We are fortunate to have someone with Doug’s knowledge and computer and technical know-how to
assist the Class. It has really made a difference in keeping the Class together.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the tremendous contribution of Merc Morris, our Class Secretary, who always provides
stimulating news of our classmates in the PAW, and also keeps meticulous minutes of our meetings, with assistance from
Daryl English.

All in all, it was a busy and rewarding 46th year from graduation for the Class of 1972. Now, on to some administrative
matters and highlights of the upcoming year.

Class Dues

It is incumbent upon me to remind you of the importance of paying class dues. We are not able to do all that we would
like to do as a Class without the receipt of your dues, and we have kept the dues in the amount of $50 for many years but
will be able to do so in the future only if a larger number of classmates pay their dues on a regular basis. I have enclosed a
list of those classmates who paid their dues this past year (2017-18), but I would like to see more names of classmates on
the list for this coming year. Remember, the dues go principally to pay for your subscription to PAW, as well as funding
our annual contribution to the Alumni Council (a very modest sum, given all that the Alumni Council does for us), the cost
of maintaining the Class of 1972 website, the cost of these mailings, including stationery and envelopes, and communications
throughout the year. You may go online and pay your class dues by visiting the Class of 1972 website
(princeton72.org) and make your payment directly on the site, or you may use the enclosed dues card and return
envelope if you prefer to pay by check. Please make your check payable to Class of 1972, Princeton University. If you are
so inclined, you may make an additional contribution to the Class of 1972 Civic Engagement Fund, and we encourage you
to pay any back dues that you may have missed in years past. Back dues go right to our bottom line and help us to keep
our dues at a very low level. Our Class Treasurer, Pam Lloyd Coulter, is available to assist you if you have any questions
about the dues or in making payment online. In addition, please take the time to provide any news about yourself or other
classmates on the reverse side of the dues card so that Merc may include that information in the PAW class column.

Scholarship Fund
As mentioned previously, we give a scholarship each year to an incoming member of the freshman class from funds
available from the Class of 1972 Memorial Scholarship. We will be selecting our new Class Scholar in September and we
will keep you advised of who will be added to our growing list of 1972 Scholars. I encourage you to come to an event on
campus this year and meet some of our 72 Scholars. They are an incredible group of undergraduates and will make you
proud.

Civic Engagement

Due to the untiring efforts of Grif Johnson and Barbara Julius, we will again support several internships next summer,
as selected by the Princeton Internships in Civic Service and the International Internship Program. Randy Harris is also
available to assist you in making any missed pledge payments to the Memorial Fund, the proceeds of which are now
dedicated to funding the Civic Engagement Fund. This is a great way to give back to communities and to carry out
Princeton’s motto of service to the nation and to all of humanity.

Teaching Initiative

Our Class will once again be able to support two undergraduate courses from proceeds made available from the Class
of 1972 Teaching Initiative. The two courses this year are Foundations of Chemical and Biological Engineering, which is
a course designed for spring semester first year undergraduates that will provide exposure to the concepts that the students
will explore in more depth later in the curriculum while also introducing them to exciting developments in modern
chemical and biological engineering, and Public Speaking, which is a new course in the English Department to introduce
first year and sophomore students to the critical central skill of how to make an articulate, powerful and persuasive
argument, but with the focus on speech. Both courses appear to be well thought out by the professors, and we are advised
by the Dean of the College that they will be very popular with the undergraduates.

Pre-rade

I hope that most of you received my email in August announcing that the members of the Class of 1972 have been
designated as the official “grandparents” of the members of the Class of 2022. Yes, that’s right, a grandparent/grandchild
class relationship is something relatively new at Princeton and it establishes a special relationship between the class that is
fifty years older than the incoming freshman “grandchild” class. The purpose of the relationship is to mentor the members
of the freshman class in any areas that will help them while at Princeton and after they graduate. As you will undoubtedly
note, the Class of 2022 will be graduating when we are celebrating our 50th Reunion.
By the time that you receive this letter, many of us will have greeted the members of the Class of 2022 at the Pre-rade
held on the main campus on September 9, 2018. We were invited to march through the FitzRandolph Gate with our Class
of 1972 banner and then join the Class of 2022 for their first step sing on the steps of Blair Arch, at which time they are
taught the words of Old Nassau. We also plan to give the members of the Class of 2022 a little gift to commemorate the
relationship between our respective classes. I hope that many of you will take the time to meet with members of the Class
of 2022 during their fours years at Princeton and to welcome them to the larger Princeton community.

She Roars: Celebrating Women at Princeton

The women of the Class of 1972 are cordially invited to attend this special alumni conference to be held on campus on
October 4-6, 2018 which will celebrate the women of Princeton and all of their accomplishments. From what I gather, it
will be an incredible gathering of alumnae and I am sure that the women of 1972 will be well represented throughout the
three-day event. Registration for this conference is available on the alumni page of the University’s website.

Fall Class Dinner

The Class will have its Annual Fall Class Dinner on the evening of October 12, 2018 at The Princeton Club of New
York. The guest speaker this year will be Ann Coulter, the sister-in-law of our own Pam Lloyd Coulter. It should be a
fascinating evening with the midterm elections just a few weeks after our dinner.
Chris Loomis and Tony Tichenor have once again organized the dinner and I am advised that the cost will be kept
below $100, which is quite a bargain. Details of the dinner will be posted on the Class of 1972 website, so make your
plans to join us for the evening of October 12.

Homecoming Tailgate, Game and Reception

For the first time in recent memory, Princeton will not be playing either Harvard or Yale in football at home this year.
As a result, the “homecoming” game has been scheduled for October 13, 2018 (the day after our Fall Class Dinner in New
York) when the Tigers will play Brown. There will be the traditional tailgate before the game at Fine Plaza outside of
Princeton Stadium, and we will have our annual cocktail reception following the game in the Study Hall of
Peretsman-Scully Hall, just across Washington Road from Princeton Stadium, immediately following the game. Make
your plans to join us on Friday evening in New York for the Class Dinner and on Saturday in Princeton for the game and
reception. It should be a fine Fall weekend in New York and Princeton.

Class Trips

Robby Robinson has planned three outstanding trips for the Class this year and next year. The first is a trip to New
Orleans on November 7 – 11, 2018. We will be visiting New Orleans during the 300th Anniversary of its founding and
the trip will include a tour of the French Quarter and the residential Garden District, as well as a visit to the World War II
Museum and a trip by boat to Chalmette, the site of the Battle of New Orleans. We will also be hosted by our classmate,
Janet Reyering Howard, and her husband, Scott Howard, for a dinner at their beautiful home in the Garden District.
Then, in the Spring, we will make a visit to Quebec City, Canada on April 24-28, 2019 for a touch of Europe in North
America. We will take a tour of the “old town” and the upper town and visit the Plains of Abraham and learn about the
wall that still surrounds the entire city. We will be staying at the beautiful Chateau Frontenac, one of the grand
chateau-like hotels built by the Canadian Pacific Railway during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Finally, we will be making a trip to Glacier National Park and Whitefish Montana on September 17-22, 2019 to round
out the class trips planned for 2018-19. Please contact Robby for more details about these wonderful adventures for the
Class of 1972.

Alumni Day

Alumni Day will be on February 23. 2019. We will have our Annual Alumni Day Class Dinner at the Nassau Club in
Princeton (located at 6 Mercer Street, just a short walk from the main campus) and Fritz is already arranging for a guest
faculty speaker who I know will provide for an engaging after dinner conversation. Please make your plans to attend
Alumni Day this year; I know that you will enjoy it.

Reunions

While Reunions is still far off in the future, I wanted to provide you with the dates for our 47th Reunion which will be
held on the weekend of May 30 – June 2, 2019. Fritz and Robby will be providing more details as the date draws near, but
we will be a satellite class with the Class of 1974 which will be celebrating its 45th Reunion.
Many of you are aware that the University has announced that it will be changing its academic calendar starting in
September 2020. As a result, classes will commence earlier in the Fall and exams will be before the year-end holidays.
The Spring semester will start earlier and final exams will be in early May. Consequently, Reunions will be moved up in
the calendar and I wanted to provide you with the dates for the next several years for planning purposes. Reunions in 2020
will be May 28-31, 2020; Reunions in 2021 will be May 20-23, 2021; and Reunions in 2022 (our 50th Reunion) will be
May 19-22, 2022.

 

As you see, we have a busy year planned for 2018/19 and I hope that you will participate in as many events and
programs as possible. I am sure that you will enjoy interacting with classmates and reacquainting yourself with old and
new friends. Please let me know if you would like to assist in the planning of any of these activities, and I will be pleased
to get you involved.

In the meantime, I wish the best for you and your families and hope that you have a very enjoyable Fall. I hope to see
you soon, particularly at an event for the Class of 1972!

Respectfully,

Skip Rankin '72

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

August, 2017

 

Dear Classmates,

This is my first letter to you as the incoming class president of the Great Classs of 1972, and I am honored and thrilled to be serving in this capacity.

Before I turn to some of the events that are planned for this coming year, I want to take a moment to highlight the year that just concluded and wow, what an ending to our 45 th year from graduation from Princeton. We had a record turnout for the 45 th Reunion, contributed a whopping $2,291,887 to Annual Giving (with 65.5% participation by the Class) -- helping the University to raise the highest dollar amount in Annual Giving history, continued to support four super undergraduates with our

Class Scholarships (some of the most coveted scholarships among the undergraduates), funded two new innovative courses with our Teaching Initiative (we are still the only class with a dedicated endowment for teaching initiatives), funded our first student civic internships with stipends from our Community Engagement Fund, and continued the tradition of the best organized and most interesting class trips among Princeton alumni classes with an inspiring and record setting class trip to Charleston, South Carolina.

What a superb job Bob Wright did as our Class President these past five years. We owe Bob many, many locomotives of thanks -- we gave him a few at Reunions, but be sure to thank him in person the next time that you see him. I also want to acknowledge and thank Bob’s wife, Sallie, who pitched in to help the Class in numerous ways during Bob’s tenure. It was only fitting that Sallie was made an honorary member of the Class of 1972 at our Class Dinner at Reunions.

So many classmates contribute each year to the success of the Class that it is difficult to acknowledge all of them in one letter. However, a few deserve special mention for the extra efforts made this past year. First, I want to thank our Class officers for their tireless work for and support of the Class. Nikos Monoyios and Pam Lloyd Coulter, our Vice Presidents, did a wonderful job all of last year. Nikos did double duty and served as our Special Gifts Chair and helped to engineer that very successful 45th Reunion campaign, and Pam has graciously agreed to become our Class Treasurer and already is doing a great job in keeping us solvent. Chris Loomis is stepping down as Class Treasurer after a masterful performance of putting our books in order and leaving us with enough funds to get through the summer until our treasury is replenished with our annual class dues. Chris, thank you for all of your hard work and thank you also for that wonderful article on the Women of ’72 that you wrote after Reunions and which is available for all to read on our website.

I also want to thank Merc Morris for his tireless work as our Class Secretary. Merc never misses a deadline for our Class Notes column in the PAW and is fastidious in taking minutes of our executive committee meetings. Of course, we have the best Class Agent in Princeton history. Tom Hoster led us to a record nineteenth year in a row of Annual Giving participation above the magical 60% level, and the funds raised this year put our Class in the top ten of all classes in cumulative Annual Giving contributions – quite an accomplishment. Tom and Nikos had much help this past year from a small army of volunteers and they all deserve our thanks for their time and efforts, but I want to highlight Bob Murley’s contribution as the “Critical Few Chair” in the 45th Reunion Campaign. Bob is a master at fundraising for Princeton and he knows how to articulate the many excellent reasons for giving in a way that is unique among alumni, and he came through once again for the Class of 1972 in his solicitation of several major gifts from classmates.

Fritz and Robby did their usual masterful job in organizing the best run major Reunion for our 45th. They have the production down to a science, and I fully expect that their efforts will be recognized once again with an award from the Alumni Council. Stay tuned for an update later this year.

An integral part of our Class’ contributions to Princeton over the years has been the creation of our various endowment funds to support our class scholarships, our teaching initiative and, most recently, our civic engagement internships. None of these accomplishments could have occurred without the hard work of classmates over many years, in particular, Ron Brown, our Scholarship Fund Chair, Randy Harris, our Memorial Fund Chair, and Grif Johnson and Barbara Julius, our Community Service Co-Chairs. They have continued their excellent work for the Class this past year and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead. Soon we will be announcing the newest recipient of our Class of 1972 Memorial Scholarship – as you are aware, we support one student from each undergraduate year; we will again be funding two undergraduate courses this year through our Teaching Initiative; and we will fund two internships as part of our civic engagement program that was launched recently through the efforts of Grif and Barbara.

Ed Strauss continued to provide support throughout the year in his role as Class Historian and Archivist and again our Class was the beneficiary of his creativity in the form of the logo that he created specially for our 45th Reunion. Ed has created every Class logo over the years, among his many other contributions to the Class, and I know that he will be very busy as we begin to chronicle some of the Class’ accomplishments over the years.

Our Associates Committee under the leadership of Mike Schneider and Rob Smart has really taken charge of reaching out to the surviving spouses and family of deceased classmates to express condolences on behalf of the Class, and also to follow up to make sure that the spouses and family members continue to feel a part of the Class. It is not an easy task, but they do it with such dignity and respect, and many spouses have elected to stay involved with the Class as a result of their efforts.

Doug Harrison has brought our Class into the 21 st Century technologically with his continued improvements to our website and his relentless pursuit of improving our communications with members of the Class in a cost effective manner. We owe much to Doug for modernizing our website and keeping track of the developments at the University in this area, all of which benefit the Class.

Now, on to some administrative matters and highlights for this coming year.

 

Class Dues

It is traditional for the Class President to remind all classmates of the importance of paying class dues. Unfortunately, we are not able to do all that we do as a Class without some funding, and I ask each of you to contribute your share of the costs of running the Class by paying your class dues. Your Class Officers have kept the dues to the incredibly low amount of $50 (I do not recall when we last raised the dues), but we will only be able to keep this low amount if more classmates pay the dues each year. Enclosed is a list of those classmates who paid their dues last year. I would like to see that list grow this year, and Pam Lloyd Coulter, our new Treasurer, is available to assist you in making your payment

on a timely basis. I am also advised that you can go to the Class website (princeton72.org) and make your payment directly on the site (and avoid the cost of a first class stamp). Enclosed is a dues card and return envelope for those classmates who prefer to send in a check. Please take the time to fill out the dues card, provide any news about yourself or other classmates for Merc to include in the PAW column, and save us the cost of additional mailings. As a reminder, the dues go principally to pay for your subscription to the PAW (the best bargain in town if you realize the cost of printed media today), as well as funding our annual contribution to the Alumni Council to support its budget (it is a very modest contribution, given all that the Alumni Council does for us), the cost of maintaining the Class of 1972 website, the cost of these mailings, including the stationery and envelopes, and communications with you during the year about all of our events – both on campus and at local gatherings throughout the country. You can also use the enclosed dues card to record your additional contributions to our Scholarship Fund and the Class of 1972 Civic Engagement Fund. We will also accept payment of back dues, if you recall that you may have missed paying dues in past years. I promise that the funds will be put to good use.

 

Scholarship Fund

Speaking of putting funds to good use, the Class will continue its tradition of funding four undergraduates with Class of 1972 Memorial Scholarships. We will soon have the name of our newest scholarship recipient who will join Deion King ’18, Sydney Jordon ’19, and Evan Elig ‘20 as Class of 1972 Scholars. I encourage all of you to come to an event on campus – the post-Yale Game reception, Alumni Day or Reunions, come to mind -- to meet our class scholars. They are an incredibly gifted group of undergraduates and they do us proud to be the recipients of our class scholarships.

 

Community Service

Through the untiring efforts of Grif Johnson and Barbara Julius, and the generous contributions of many classmates and the contributions from our Memorial Fund under the leadership of Randy Harris, we were able to fund two internships this past summer for two undergraduates organized through Princeton Internships in Civic Service. Vayne Ong did an internship with the University’s Summer Journalism Program and Madeleine Le Cesne did an internship with the New York Artists Equity Association. This relatively new program is off to a great start, and we should be able to fund two

internships on an annual basis in the years to come, and possibly increase that number to three. This is a great cause to become involved in your local communities and is an ideal way to carry out Princeton’s motto of service to the nation and to all of humanity.

 

Teaching Initiative

Our Class will again be able to support two innovative courses this year with the proceeds from our Class of 1972 Teaching Initiative. The two courses are “Foundations of Engineering I: Mechanics, Energy and Waves”, that is being taught by Professor Claire Gmachl of the Department of Electrical Engineering in the Fall, and “Disability Studies, The Disabled Body” that is being taught by Professor Gayle Salamon of the Department of English and the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies in the Spring. As mentioned above, we are the only Class with an endowed fund to support teaching at the University.

 

Yale Game Reception

This year Princeton will host Yale at home on Saturday, November 11. Come out and see the Tigers compete for the Big Three title and the Ivy league Championship. The team is very talented this year and there is no better setting to watch a fall football classic than in Princeton Stadium, surrounded by classmates. Fritz has arranged for our annual post-game celebration in the Study Hall of the beautiful Peretsman-Scully Hall, that is located across Washington Road from the stadium. The reception is open to all classmates, spouses, family and friends, without charge.

We will also have our Class Executive Committee meeting before the game in the Class of 1972 Dining Room in Whitman College.

 

Class Dinner in New York

The November fun continues with our Annual Fall Class Dinner on Monday, November 13 at The Princeton Club in New York, organized by Tony Tichenor and Chris Loomis. This year our guest speaker will be own classmate, Ron Brown, who will speak about his new book “A History of Charitable Gift Giving: How Annuities Shaped American Philanthropy.” What a great way to spend a Fall weekend -- a victory over Yale in Princeton on Saturday followed by a Class Dinner in New York on Monday. Make your plans now to attend.

 

Alumni Day

It seems far away, but plans for Alumni Day on February 24, 2018 are already well underway. Fritz has once again secured a star professor to be our guest speaker. We will have Professor Stan Katz, currently Lecturer with the Woodrow Wilson School and Director, Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, with us that evening and we will be hosting the dinner at the Nassau Club (located at 6 Mercer Street, a short walk from the main campus). For those classmates who attended last year’s dinner, I believe that you will agree with me that it is a fine location for our winter gathering in Princeton. Mark your calendars now. Alumni Day is an inspiring day including lectures by faculty and alumni, the presentation of awards to distinguished alumni and awe-inspiring students, the very moving Service of Remembrance, a meeting of the Class Executive Committee and our annual dinner.

 

Reunions

I will not spend much time on Reunions now, as that is still a bit off in the future, but the dates this year are May 31 – June 3, 2018. You will be receiving more information later in the year from Fritz and Robby. Off-year Reunions are a real treat and if you have not attended one recently, do come back to Princeton this June. You will not regret the weekend.

 

Class Trips

We will be continuing our coveted Class of 1972 Trips. The fall trip on the Columbia and Snake Rivers with Princeton Journeys is September 30 – October 7. It is sold-out, but there is trip to Prague and the Czech Republic in the Spring that is being organized by our classmate, Helena Novakova (May 2 – 14, 2018), and there are still a few places available. This will be an exciting trip to a fabulous city and countryside, and a great addition to our growing list of international trips. Contact Robby for details.

Then in the Fall of 2018 we will be traveling to New Orleans on November 7 -11, 2018. Details will be made available later in the year. We will also be initiating some regional events in the months ahead, as we want to be sure to involve as many classmates as possible in activities of the Class. More about that initiative later.

All in all, we have a busy year ahead of us. I encourage all of you to participate in as many of the events and programs as you can as I believe that you will be reinvigorated with the spirit that is unique to the Class of 1972, and will thoroughly enjoy reacquainting yourself with old and new friends. Please let me know if you want to assist in planning any of these events and activities, and we will get you involved.

In the meantime, please accept my best wishes to you and your families for a very enjoyable Fall. I hope to see you soon, either at an event in Princeton or wherever our paths may cross.

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

August 2016


Dear Classmates:


Time flies. We’re headed into another major reunion. And the Class has never looked better. We are setting records in all directions and positioning ourselves firmly as THE class of the 70’s. I am very pleased and proud to be able to tell you about it, as well as about things to come this year.


Annual Giving 2015-16

Under Tom Hoster’s incredible leadership again this year, the Class accomplished an extraordinary feat even by the standards we have set for ourselves: over 65% participation -- particularly impressive given that the University’s average was below 60% (58.4%) for the first time in six years. Please read Tom’s report (attached). Thanks to all of you who participated, and a huge thanks to Tom, who is now the longest-serving Class Agent at Princeton after 24 years of service.


72 CE

Our Civic Engagement project is a significant legacy we will leave to Princeton. As you know, two years ago we announced this project as the outgrowth of Project 2022, and requested contributions and pledges to help us grow this endowed fund to a level sufficient to allow us to fund two internships in civic engagement – one international and one domestic – by our 45th Reunion. I am very pleased to tell you that we have met that objective; next summer we will fund internships with PICS (Princeton Internships in Civic Service) and IIP (Princeton International Internship Program). Thanks to Grif Johnson and Barbara Julius in particular for spearheading this effort and to all of you who have contributed. Please continue to honor your Project 2022 pledges and consider a donation to this worthy cause, either online through our website or by check with the card enclosed.


Class Trips

Alumni Association Award for Largest Class Gathering: This year I am proud to say the Class of 1972 won the Alumni Association award for the Class with the largest gathering of classmates outside of Princeton during the previous year. We won this award with our Civil War trip to Charlottesville (68 classmates and 41 guests attended).


Shenandoah Valley. Last fall, Andy and Ellie Dayton and John and Christine Van Horne led a contingent of 31 ’72 hikers and historians through the beautiful mountains of Shenandoah National Park (Cedar Run, White Oak Canyon and Old Rag) and on to Charlottesville and Monticello, where we enjoyed a full day of immersion in the life, genius, and varied fortunes of Thomas Jefferson in a program thoughtfully constructed by John and Christine. We ended our trip with a glorious sunset and dinner on Montalto, the taller mountain adjoining Monticello, in the beautiful home serving as offices of the Jefferson Foundation.


Santa Fe. In April, Sallie and I led a trip to Santa Fe that was enjoyed by 75 classmates and friends, including local classmates Michael Brown and Michael and Cindi Pettit, who were very gracious as local hosts and helpful with our trip planning. We spent an evening at the Pettits’ spectacular home in the hills outside of town, and enjoyed behind-the-scenes tours at the School for Advanced Research, where Michael Brown is president. We had a special private tour of Los Alamos National Laboratory, visited many of the fabulous Santa Fe museums, hiked Tent Rocks, climbed through cave dwellings at Bandelier National Monument, and enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour at the Santa Fe Opera.


Charleston. Plans are underway for what promises to be a terrific trip to Charleston, last visited by the Class in 2008 for the gridiron contest between the Tigers and The Citadel. Robby Robinson has planning well in hand. Charleston was recently rated the #1 destination city in the world by Travel & Leisure Magazine, and this trip may set a new record for attendance. If you are interested, check the class website and get in touch with Robby. We currently have 105 people signed up.


Undergraduate Teaching Initiative

After 14 years, we are still the only class that supports such an initiative. This year ’72 will fund two new courses again: John Danner’s "Designing Ventures to Change the World” (Kelly Center for Innovation in Engineering Education) and Alison Isenberg’s "Trenton-Princeton Project” (History). More information will be posted on our website.


Class Scholars

Our class supports one deserving scholar from each undergraduate class. Delaney Johnson ’17, Deion King ’18 and Sydney Jordan ’19 will be joined by a scholar from the Class of ’20 this fall. I hope you will have a chance to visit with these students at a class event on campus this year. They are very special young people and have formed a real bond with our class by the time they graduate.


Upcoming Events On or Near Campus

Annual New York Class Dinner (Friday, Oct. 21, 2016): The day before the Harvard game, this year’s dinner at the Princeton Club of New York will feature the legendary and beloved Pete Carril, head coach of the Princeton basketball team from 1967-1996, as speaker. A separate email will be forthcoming about the event, and information is available on our website. We hope to see many out-of-towners; make a reservation to stay at the Princeton Club!


Harvard Game (Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016): Join us as we beat the Crimson. We will have our usual Executive Committee meeting at 10:00 am (to which all are invited), after which we will adjourn to the University Tailgate at Fine Plaza from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. (The lunch and libations are good, and all you have to do is register online with the University; a reminder will be sent in the fall.) After the game, we will have our traditional complimentary Class reception hosted by Fritz Cammerzell. Last year’s optional dinner was popular, so we will again offer that as well.


Alumni Day (Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017): We will have an Executive Committee meeting at 4:30 pm after the Service for Remembrance, followed by a Class reception and dinner at the Nassau Club. Thanks to the efforts of Fritz Cammerzell, one of Princeton's most renowned professors, Robert George, has agreed to speak to us, so it will be a very special evening.


Reunions (Thursday – Sunday, Jun. 1-4, 2017): This year will mark our 45th since graduation. Robby Robinson and Fritz Cammerzell, Reunion Co-Chairs, will be sending you a letter shortly. I hope you will be able to join us. Mark the dates!


Class Dues

Please fill out and return the enclosed class dues card, or make your $50 payment online via credit card at princeton72.org. Dues are small but important as they are our only source of income to pay for the things that benefit all classmates: PAW, the Class website, our membership in the Alumni Association, as well as mailing costs. We have held dues at $50 for twenty years in a row. We would like to avoid raising them, but to do so we will need broad participation from the class. Attached is the list of those who paid their dues last year (we had 34% participation this year and we need at least 40%). At our 45th Reunion, we will provide recognition to all classmates who have paid their dues for this coming year and all three previous years (if you are unsure of your status, check the class website for each year or ask Chris Loomis or Doug Harrison.)

NOTE: Class dues, Annual Giving and ’72 CE contributions are all tax deductible, but they are all completely different from one another and serve different purposes.


Class Website

Our website has a wealth of information about the class and its activities – past, present and future. Log on and update your profile, add photos, etc. If you need help, contact Doug Harrison, Class Webmaster. princeton72.org.


As always, I would enjoy hearing from you. Please send in your dues check (and any news), watch for your Reunions letter, and plan to come to campus this year – especially for our 45th Reunion.


72 Cheers,