Dear Classmates,
Three cheers for Old Nassau once again, as we now observe the commencement of the 57th year since we first arrived at Princeton. While 2020 and 2021 with the omnipresence of COVID-19 has certainly presented unusual circumstances that have battered our best efforts at planning ongoing activities for the Class, we have continued to work around the pandemic in our planning for the present and the future.
Plans for the Next Year or so
With a somewhat limited 52nd Reunion now in the collective memories of at least a number of us and a 53rd Reunion on the not-too distant horizon, we are now turning to setting the Class agenda for the coming year, in the hope that we will provide options in terms of learning and experiences that align with your desires, and that COVID will allow in-person events.
Our first opportunity to get together in our 53rd Reunion year normally is the homecoming football weekend in the Fall, which is scheduled to be the weekend of October 23/24 this year, when the Harvard Cantabs (no doubt accompanied by “Ten Thousand Men of Harvahd”) will be making their way to Princeton for the annual gridiron battle.
We are planning to convene that weekend in a somewhat curtailed fashion, as the University is still considering what its policy is going to be in regard to inviting alumni/ae to campus this Fall, and has suspended its rental of spaces to alumni/ae groups until the policy is in place. As we would prefer not to be hostage to that decision, we have made tentative arrangements for the Class to gather for cocktails and dinner at the Springdale Golf Club in the evening after the game. The game itself is currently scheduled to be televised on ESPN this year at 1:00 on Saturday, but there have been some indications that the game may shift to 3:00. In order to firm up plans that won’t be greatly affected whichever way it goes, we are planning to convene for cocktails at 6:00 PM and to commence dinner around 7:00 PM. In order to avoid the necessity of tracking down a second location for a Class meeting we will conduct that meeting (which we expect will be brief) during the dinner. We are hoping that cocktails can be outdoors if weather permits; and dinner will be indoors. We are planning to require that those who wish to attend have been vaccinated, and those attending should bring a mask to wear, as NJ recently re-imposed a mandate regarding the wearing of masks at indoor events. In any event, please mark your calendars now – further details will follow via later email, at which point we will modify any of these arrangements depending upon the Covid situation in New Jersey as the date approaches.
The other event you might want to note on your calendars is Alumni Day. While the University has not yet formally announced the date for this event due to the uncertainties surrounding COVID, it likely will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2022 if the University follows its past calendaring tendencies. The University always arranges an interesting program of lectures for returning alums in the morning, including lectures by the winners of the James Madison Medal and the Woodrow Wilson Award. The Awards luncheon in Jadwin Gym focuses on announcing Alumni Trustee Candidates, reporting on Annual Giving and related achievements, introducing the winners of the Jacobus fellowships and the Pyne prize, and the winners of the James Madison Medal and the Woodrow Wilson Award. The achievements of the many winners are always impressive and give one a terrific sense for the strengths of the University and its graduates. The formal Alumni Day activities end with the always moving Service of Remembrance, followed by closing receptions. Assuming that this event is an “in person” event, that evening we’ll have a Class reception and/or dinner for classmates.
In addition, the aforementioned 53rd Reunion is scheduled for May 19 – 22, 2022. Also assuming that this is an “in person” event, we will convene as part of the combined reunion surrounding the Class of 1967’s 55th Reunion (along with the Classes of 1965, 1966 and 1968) in what hopefully will prove to be an opportunity to revive the many Reunions traditions that fell by the wayside once again this past May
We also are in the early planning stages for a mini-reunion or two, which we hope to offer sometime in 2022 if arrangements progress quickly enough. As many of you know, the “Canyonlands of the Southwest” Mini-Reunion scheduled for October 2020 was cancelled, and we were unable to reschedule the event for the Fall of 2021 due to the size of our group and restrictions on group size at the hotels where we hoped to stay. However, we have asked the National Parks Conservation Association and the Off the Beaten Path travel agency that were involved in the previous effort to secure dates in October of 2022 for a rescheduled trip. The plan thus far is to follow an itinerary that will include the same major stops as before (the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park). We also asked the NPCA and OBP to set about scheduling a second Canyonlands of the Southwest Mini-Reunion in October of 2023, to accommodate the significant interest that developed when we announced the 2020 version. Given that we were able to register 44 people for the event in less than 10 minutes, and a few hours later we had amassed a wait list with almost 30 people on it, we feel we have sufficient reason to believe that we may have sufficient interest in this trip to run two 45-person cohorts. I would like to thank LLOYD BROWN, THACHER BROWN, JEFF KAPLAN, KEN MERTZ and BRUCE ROSENBERG for their seemingly endless assistance in moving all of this forward.
As I mentioned at the 50th Reunion, we have another Mini-Reunion under active consideration. This would be a mini-reunion in California, focusing on both the California wine country (Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties) and on the Monterey Peninsula/Big Sur area. Given the slippage in the Canyonlands of the Southwest Mini-Reunion, the California Wine Country Mini-Reunion probably will be scheduled for the Spring or Summer of 2023, at a time when the threat of fires associated with the Santa Ana winds is reduced. We are still getting preliminary tour information and setting our priorities, but hope to circulate more specific information to you by late in 2022. The Steering Committee (in formation) for this trip includes TOM COOPER, JOHN HAWKINS, DAVE MILLER and WAYNE WILSON, and I want to thank them as well for their assistance thus far.
Review of Last Year
Unfortunately, the last year was one for the most part comprised of virtual gatherings and attending to administrative matters relating to the Class.
The academic year began with the August announcement that the entire Fall semester would be conducted remotely. As a result, the only undergraduates on campus were ones facing logistical housing or travel issues that made that made it necessary for them to be housed there. This decision also resulted in the curtailment of most activities that historically have drawn alumni/ae to campus, such as homecoming weekend football games. Out of respect for that decision, the Class did not schedule any events on campus in the Fall.
Instead we held a Class Meeting virtually on November 9th, which was attended by about 25 to 30 classmates. After attempting to overcome the various technical hurdles that some of us encountered with the Zoom format, we reviewed the state of Class affairs. For the most part the information conveyed related to topics covered below, but I did want to focus on the fact that this meeting included what turned out to be our final Secretary’s Report from PAUL SITTENFELD, in which he reported on the fact that 8 classmates had died since the beginning of 2020 (see the list below). Paul accompanied his report with the observation that too often it was the case that the Class learned only “a little after the cow was out of the barn, as it were” what an extraordinary lives our Classmates had lived and what remarkable things our Classmates had done. Hopefully folks will keep this in mind as they decide whether to update all of us on things that are occurring in their lives.
The next event was Alumni Day, which was curtailed for 2020, with the result that the primary focus was a virtual Service of Remembrance coordinated by the University. Our Class posted the following on the message board for the Service:
On behalf of all ‘69ers and their spouses and significant others, we want to pass along thoughts of and prayers for our Classmates who passed away during 2020 and their loved ones:
John/Cabeen Beatty July 2, 2020
Dave Bruner August 15, 2020
Jamie/Jim Gaffney May 26, 2020
Jim Green October 12, 2020
Tom Greig August 7, 2020
Art Hamm August 5, 2020
Jay Melosh September 11, 2020
Bob Wolfe March 31, 2020
Those who attended the Service of Remembrance came away moved by the moment, the memories and the music. For a virtual event, it was remarkably powerful. Since that date, we have also learned of the deaths of Paul Sittenfeld on March 17, 2021, Steve Houck on April 12, 2021, TOM WEIDNER on May 31, 2021 and John Sacret Young on June 3, 2021 – may they too rest in peace….
Our 52nd Reunion followed in late May, and again was a curtailed virtual event due to the presence of the pandemic, featuring a Class Meeting via Zoom, followed for the second year in a row by an interesting seminar on health, mental health, legal and economic issues associated with the pandemic during which Sam “Renaissance Man” Fager shared the fruits of his MD, JD and MBA degrees with about 50 Classmates and spouses. These events can be seen at the following link: https://bcove.video/3fG188S. While the format was a bit cumbersome in terms of allowing much socializing, we were able to close with a virtual version of “Old Nassau” successfully rendered by the Glee Club (https://vimeo.com/423243514). In addition, we had a special treat in the form of a truly reflective photo/music montage that was created by GEOFF PETERSON with able assistance from BILL CHARRIER (this montage can be enjoyed at: https://vimeo.com/424100189). Finally, some of us revisited the recording of DAVE FISHER‘s short video from the Battle of the Bands that took place at our 50th – it features the splendid musical efforts of “69 Spare Parts”, a band comprised of ‘69er Dave, ‘69er Bob Jones and their spare parts (Keith Lesnick and Scot Hornick). This video, which runs about 30 minutes, is up and running now, and one can tune in at any time to listen to their musical offerings: https://youtu.be/DaGyMPM9whU.
The University also put together a wide variety of Alumni-Faculty Forums (which can be viewed at: https://reunions.princeton.edu/aff-videos/), created a website where a sampling of all of the Class of ‘69 Reunions costumes (even the long-lost dashiki) can be viewed (https://reunions.princeton.edu/reunions-costumes/gallery/1969/#reunions-costumes), and somewhat surprisingly concocted a remarkably satisfying virtual P-Rade (which can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEam-oFkj4Q).
CLASS OFFICERS
This past year has seen a number of changes in Class Officers, some or all of which presumably are known to all of you.
Secretary
Most notably, we have lost our “Secretary for Life” Paul Sittenfeld, who served us so ably in a variety of roles since our arrival on campus in the Fall of 1965. As many of us have experienced firsthand, Paul had a huge heart, a wonderful sense for the right thing to do and the right thing to say, a piercing sense of humor, unending modesty and a dedication to the Class that is unparalleled in our history. He will be missed in so many different ways, and we are so grateful to have had him with us all these years. In honor of his passing, we have worked formally with the University to change the name of the “Class of 1969 Scholarship and Fund” to be the “Class of 1969 Paul George Sittenfeld Scholarship and Fund”. In addition, we have decided to honor Paul’s advocacy for the broadening access to education by repurposing the Scholarship and Fund to add the purpose of supporting first generation and low income students at the University. In doing these things we are hopeful that we can stimulate some additional giving by Classmates to the Scholarship and Fund, so that Paul’s goals can be achieved over time.
In searching for someone to replace Paul, we concluded that it was unlikely that anyone would be willing to take on all the Secretarial duties alone. Once that decision was made, we were successful in recruiting Bob Axelrod and Mike Gehret to act jointly as co-Secretaries for the Class; while they have not agreed to take on these duties for life, they have agreed to serve for a couple of years, and have left the question open for the moment in terms of their interest in serving beyond our 55th Reunion. For the moment, Bob is responsible for the Class Notes in the PAW, and Mike is responsible for researching and writing Class Memorials in the PAW. Their present plan is to rotate such duties from time to time.
Reunions Chair
As some of you are aware, we also have been attempting to replace the irreplaceable Dan Harman, who co-chaired our Reunions from the 42nd through the 45th year, and then chaired them alone through our 50th Reunion. While Dan remains ready, able and willing to assist in a somewhat less demanding capacity in future years, he understandably wants to remove the pressures associated with being the Chair. Again recognizing that we collectively are at a point where we need to divide assignments into more manageable sizes to attract talent going forward, we have been successful in attracting a “dream team” to chair our reunions for the next few years. The team is comprised of Clay McEldowney, who will be “Reunions Chair”, assisted by Andy Brown and Jeff Marston as able Reunions Vice-Chairs. As all three are veterans of many past reunions, and as Clay served as the ’69 Reunions Chair from our 6th through our 25th reunion, this is an excellent result, and hopefully we can look forward to seeing them in action next Spring at our 53rd Reunion! There is even some evidence that they want to start in early, and Jeff invited Clay, Andy and a few other Classmates to join him at his home in Annisquam in August to get the ball rolling. While Andy was not able to make it, RANDY SHEPARD, LARRY MORRIS, JEFF VAN ARX and yours truly did make it there for the fun! The picture below of Andy with his amant, BONNIE POST, during our South Africa Mini-Reunion will have to do!
Gift Planning Class Chair
One of the many Class roles left vacant by virtue of the death of Paul Sittenfeld was the position of ’69 Gift Planning Class Chair. As those of you who are members of the 1746 Society already know, this role involves reaching out to Classmates in order to promote class participation in that Society. That in turn involves personally recommending and endorsing the broad range of gift planning strategies and opportunities available through the Office of Gift Planning.
Our Class is fortunate to have in its midst MIKE KIESEL, who is well suited for this position both by reason of his long membership in the 1746 Society and his long career as a tax attorney in New York City (during which he has become quite familiar with and has even drawn up for his clients many of the “tax animals” that the Gift Planning Office is likely to recommend). He also has a perfect Annual Giving record (meaning that he has given in every year since 1969), and has participated in soliciting AG gifts from classmates for many years.
Mike has already taken up the reins, and all Classmates should be hearing from him shortly in regard to the many merits of the Society and the variety of options that the Gift Planning staff can make available.
Given the good fortune that we have had in our lives and the fact that most of us are still in a position to make decisions on such matters, it certainly seems like an appropriate time to focus on this subject in our planning activities.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair
Finally, we have been giving some consideration to adding a new Class officer to be in charge of matters relating to diversity, equity and inclusion. President Eisgruber has advanced the notion that each Class should have such an officer, and, while we are perhaps not the most diverse of Classes, there would seem to be some merit in doing what we can to advance these principles both within the Class and elsewhere. Within our Class there certainly are steps that can be taken to involve our Classmates in the Class more fully than they have been involved in the past, and outside the Class, there certainly are numerous ways in which our Class can assist the University and indeed society more broadly in attaining these goals.
Our vision is that this effort will necessitate appointment of a DEI Chair, and that implementation of these initiatives may require a broader committee. A number of people have indicated some willingness to become involved in these initiatives, but it seems appropriate, in the interest of diversity, equity and inclusion, to solicit interest broadly across the Class before making an appointment of a Chair and formation of any committee. If you have interest in the DEI Chair position or in serving on the committee, I would appreciate your contacting me at President@Princeton1969.org.
Annual Giving
The Annual Giving calendar was a busy one, beginning in October 2020. By November 9th, Andy Steele reported that he had 40 donors already, and that he had a team of about 12 Classmates ready to contact their fellow Classmates. He also announced that in pondering the then upcoming 52nd Reunion he realized that a “deck of cards” for this year’s AG efforts might be appropriate, then remembered that we had an excellent Class Beer Jacket logo designed many years ago by DAVE JOHNSON and DAVE HUTCHISON. After seeking and obtaining the express blessing of President Eisgruber himself for utilizing the logo in connection with Annual Giving, Andy adorned future AG correspondence accordingly:
The middle of the campaign was focused on a competition with the Class of ’68 to see which Class could elicit the most donors during the month of March 2021. Happily the ’69 team emerged as the winner, with 75 gifts for ‘69 vs. 65 for ’68, all for a good cause indeed!
In the end Andy reported that the Class had excellent results in terms of the FY 2021 Annual Giving Campaign, achieving a participation rate of 51.2%, and raising in excess of $263,000. These results compared favorably to the prior year, where the participation rate was 50.3%, and we raised $211,377.
None of this would have been possible without Andy’s efforts throughout the Campaign. He has indeed proven to be a diligent and talented Class Agent, and his long experience in development matters is clearly standing him in good stead. Thanks as well to his team of 17 Classmates who responded ably to Andy’s suggestions for success: Andy Brown, Bob Brown, Thacher Brown, Bruce DeBolt, Bill Earle, Bruce Freeman, Chuck Freyer, Mike Gehret, Jim Gregoire, Scott Kruse, Bob Loveman, Larry Morris, Bob Raymar, Bruce Rosenberg, Gary Sykes, Jeff Von Arx and yours truly.
In a year when the University was tested in so many ways, these results are not only cause for celebration, but also are a testament to the strength of the University community as a whole. Congratulations all around!
MENTORING OF THE CLASS OF 2019
Rick Kitto has reported in on mentoring initiative with Class of 2019. About 20 volunteers have stepped forward to mentor in some capacity. Chris Umanzour and Carly Bonnet from Class of 2019, whom we made honorary ‘69ers at our 50th, have continued to assist Rick, with the result that we now have about 12 mentor-mentee relationships initiated.
The expectation is that many ‘19ers will continue to be affected by COVID-19 and might benefit from some mentoring advice from us as to employment issues and networking opportunities. This effort hopefully would help us progress on our broader initiative of continuing to form a bond between the two Classes that has been a Class priority for the last few years, while also providing the ‘69ers involved an opportunity to serve these younger Princetonians. As Rick has pointed out, the support available from the University to younger graduates is limited, compared to the support that Princeton provides to its undergraduates, and this is a way that we might help to fill that gap. As there are about 1,500 members of that Class, the more the merrier! If you are interested in serving as a mentor and have not already communicated that interest to us, please let Rick Kitto know of your interest by emailing him at rcjkitto@gmail.com.
We continue to hope that many of you will be interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to contribute your mentoring services to these Princetonians who are confronting difficulties at such a young age.
PICS
CHUCK FREYER has reported previously on the PICS program, and its transition to administration by the University. That process was completed just as fiscal 2021 began last July, and has been a success in many respects. The PICS Alumni Advisory Council (AAC), which replaced the old PICS Board and functions like other alumni Friends groups, has successfully maintained the integral role of alumni in sourcing and funding more internship opportunities to better address overwhelming student demand. A significant number of those serving on the AAC are members of ’69, and the financial contributions of these and other ‘69ers are critical to sustaining and growing the program. But perhaps most importantly, the year has seen the rise of a new generation of PICS alumni leadership working alongside long-serving ‘69ers in the critical areas of internship development and operations, fundraising and communications. PICS is even sporting a new logo:
The cohort of PICS interns for Summer 2021 numbered just short of 200, about double the 98 interns placed in the Covid-ravaged Summer 2020 program. Although somewhat surprisingly the evaluations from interns and supervisors involved in the 2020 program were as consistently positive as those in preceding years, all involved are pleased that the PICS program was able in 2021 to return at least in part to an “in person” model. About 15% of the 2021 interns had in-person experiences, while the other 85% were still remote, as were all interns in 2020.
President Eisgruber keynoted the virtual PICS Fall intern reception event expressing the University’s gratitude to the Class for its efforts in coming up with the PICS program initially, growing it from zero to its present size and then taking the hard but necessary decisions to ensure that our legacy survives us as part of the University.
’69 still has an essential role in completing the continuing transition. Part of that is passing the baton by counseling a younger generation of alumni leaders through the AAC, but part of it is still financial. While the University has assumed PICS’ staffing costs, it will only provide a fraction of PICS’ more than $1 million stipend budget in 2022, which assures that every Princeton undergrad who ultimately participates in PICS can afford that PICS experience, regardless of financial aid status and/or family situation.
This past year two of our Classmates created a pilot program with $25,000 in matching funds for younger alumni, classes and regional associations to inspire them to create and fund new internships. It rapidly became known as the ’69 Match and almost as rapidly was completely committed, thanks in large part to the energetic leadership of the PICS AAC Development Committee. So as a Class we are repurposing our PICS dues-checkoff to expand and perpetuate the ’69 Match. The initiators of the ’69 Match will also match all gifts to PICS collected by ’69 through the dues checkoff (whether by check or credit card) dollar for dollar this fiscal year. All of these funds will be used to incentivize growth of the PICS Program and the broadening of its financial base to a wider range of alumni. Already we have seen more recent classes creating their own PICS internship funding schemes, including in some instances endowing them. This is one of the results we had all hoped for when we transitioned the program to the University.
So please consider including a gift to PICS in the check you send in with your dues card (which you will receive when you receive the “hard” copy of this letter). You can also make a tax deductible gift to PICS on the Class website.
If, however, you would like to have your gift to PICS acknowledged by Princeton, that gift (but not the Class dues or Class scholarship contribution) needs to go directly to the University:
(i) if by check at the following address, noting your desire that the gift support PICS:
Helen Hardy
Princeton University Advancement
100 Overlook Center, Suite 300
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
(ii) if by credit card, online at https://makeagift.princeton.edu/MainSite/MakeAGift, again with an indication in the “Special instructions or comments” field the that the gift should be restricted to PICS.
A gift made in either such manner will be acknowledged by the University. Note, however, that such gifts to the University will not qualify for the special match described above, which is focused on expanding the ’69 Match through dues checkoff donations.
Our appreciation is extended to Chuck Freyer and Bill Charrier, as well to the broader PICS Board for its stewardship over the last 25 years. Finally, congratulations to all for working out a long-term solution to these issues. May we all continue to do our part in the actions needed to ensure that PICS prospers in the future!
CLASS FINANCES
Our Treasurer’s report from Chuck Freyer indicates that the Class is in the black thanks to the fact that about 220 Classmates paid their dues last year, including a significant number who gave at the leadership level of $125 or more. However, receipts totaled a little over $25,000, while expenses were close to $20,000 in a year in which very little happened. That is just to say that we still need everyone who can to pay Class dues, particularly as we plan for more regional activities. Chuck also reported that we have adequate funds on hand in a separate account available to support pre-planning for the 55th reunion.
Your Class Dues Payment Card will be enclosed with the “hard” copy of this letter, along with an envelope. Dues have not increased in many years, and remain at the low rate of $50 for regular payers, and $125 or more for Leadership payers. The Dues Payment Card allows you to pay your dues, and at the same time to make additional contributions to the Class Scholarship Fund, as well as to the PICS program (as discussed in more detail above in the Section on PICS). If you are able, a donation to either or both of those causes would be much appreciated by all.
As an alternative to using the Class Dues Payment Card, one can also contribute through the Class website by logging in and then clicking the Class Dues & Donations icon along the left sidebar of each page. One advantage of giving through the Class website is that it keeps track of your payments to help prevent you from paying twice—an advantage that seems more significant in impact as the years go on.
We hope that all of you will consider showing up at the 53rd or at one of the other gatherings that will be occurring over the next year or so!
And in the meantime, remember the wise words someone passed along to me recently: “There are only three possible outcomes to the pandemic – one either will become a hunk, a chunk or a drunk.” I suspect it may be possible to combine a couple of those….
All the best,
