The Princeton University Class of 1969 Community Service Fund (CSF) is excited to announce its new partnership with the University’s Pace Center for Civic Engagement in support of Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). The PICS program was initiated by the Class at our 25th Reunion. Its mission is to provide Princeton undergraduates with an opportunity for substantive summer employment in non-profit and community service sectors with an eye to considering careers in public service.

 

Since the initial summer of 1996, PICS has placed 505 students in 564 internships with 160 organizations, with some students participating for a second or third summer. CSF’s new partnership with the University through the Pace Center will facilitate student awareness of PICS opportunities as Pace will manage the student application process. PICS will become the umbrella for administration of all alumni-generated student summer service programs.

 

The CSF alumni board will continue to be responsible for creating these civic service opportunities by recruiting and vetting potential organizations, insuring that all proposed internships meet substantive criteria and overseeing funding of them, coordinating the alumni interviewing of student applicants, and providing each intern with an alumni mentor during the summer.

 

PICS embodies "Princeton in the Nation’s Service and in the Service of All Nations” and the program has grown substantially. Support has evolved to include multiple Princeton alumni classes and groups; several classes now have seats on the CSF Board. Partnering with the Pace Center will increase the ability of PICS to expand the number of internship opportunities available for students and broaden the outreach to Princeton alumni committed to civic engagement. PICS has truly become an ongoing legacy to Princeton.

 

In spite of the rapid growth of the PICS program, student demand far exceeds available placements. Last summer 417 students applied for the 64 internships offered. PICS hopes for a significant increase in opportunities by broadening alumni participation in creating new internships and in fund-raising.

 

PICS is alumni-driven. Alumni identify and help create new internships with their local non-profit organizations. They conduct most of the interviewing of student applicants on behalf of sponsor organizations. They provide each intern with a friendly mentoring presence during the summer. PICS offers alumni multiple ways to become involved, not only in civic service but also in reconnecting with Princeton, leveraging alumni experience and community connections with the boundless energy and commitment of Princeton undergraduates to produce a uniquely satisfying program.

 

Chuck Freyer ‘69, chairman of the CSF states: "The Class of 1969 Community Service Fund is very pleased to be partnering with the Pace Center to improve access to the PICS program for Princeton undergraduates, and most gratified by the encouragement that we received from senior members of the University administration for this initiative to build on our 15 years of successfully enlisting alumni from a number of classes and regional associations to help meet the growing demand among Princeton students for summer internships in community service.”

 

Kiki Jamieson, Class of 1951 Director of the Pace Center said, "We are delighted to partner with the Class of 1969 Community Service Fund to support PICS, and expect this collaboration will enable us together to expand the number and quality of opportunities available to Princeton students. We have seen already some positive outcomes of such a partnership, reflected in the increased student and alumni interest in public service internships. We want to sustain and increase the momentum, and believe an integrated program of public service internships will serve the students, will welcome participation by more alumni, and will support and enhance the University’s commitment to service and civic engagement."

 

President Shirley Tilghman, addressing the Class of 1969 in May 2009, said, "Of all your contributions to your alma mater, none has been more widely appreciated than the Class of 1969 Community Service Fund. Since 1996, you have broadened the horizons of more than 400 interns, advanced the civic mission of more than 150 organizations at home and abroad, and drawn alumni from other classes to your cause. For this – and for all you have done for Princeton – you have my deepest thanks.”

 

For more information about CSF and PICS, contact Seva Kramer, Executive Director of 69CSF, at skramer@69csf.org or (609) 924-2890 or website www.princetoninternships.org . Students who are seeking internship opportunities or application information should contact Laura Spence-Ash, Senior Program Coordinator at the Pace Center, at lspence@princeton.edu or (609) 258-2682 or website http://pace.princeton.edu/pics . For more information about the Pace Center, contact Stephen Streicher, Communications Manager, at sstreich@princeton.edu or website http://www.princeton.edu/pace/home/ .