August 2005

Dear Classmates,

Having had the privilege of being your class President for a little over a year, I want to start this year’s letter by thanking all of you who have devoted your time and effort to helping Princeton and our Class. I am overwhelmed by the quantity, quality and variety of the contributions you make! With apologies in advance for the inevitable omission, I’d like to devote this letter to a survey of what you do to make our Class special.

Community Service Fund

During the summer of 2005, the CSF placed 40 Princeton student interns, its highest number ever, and a 33% increase over last year. Next year they plan to do even more by bringing the summer internship placements of the Class of ‘55’s similar effort, Project 55, into the program, so that placements could total almost 70. With Rick Kitto’s able leadership, we’re on our way to becoming the largest summer employer of Princeton students other than the University itself. The CSF is also trying to develop better ties between our classmates and interns. Sandy Rea hosted a dinner in July for Philadelphia area interns and classmate mentors, Steve Houck hosted a similar gathering in New York and Bill and Anne Charrier hosted one in the D.C. area. John Stossel also spoke to a group of interns and mentors at a lunch in New York arranged by . Becoming involved with the CSF enables ‘69ers to stay in touch with their classmates while getting a chance to meet the fine students who are attracted to our program. The CSF Board hopes more of you can become involved next year as the program expands. Call Rick at (609) 683-9718 (Kittorcj@aol.com) if you have any internship ideas and to get on the CSF team—if you are on a nonprofit board, maybe the CSF can get your organization an intern!

Annual Giving

Under the guidance of new Class Agent, Mike Gehret, the class enjoyed one of the most successful non-major reunion Annual Giving campaigns in our history. We raised $234,285 from 399 classmates (52.2% participation) and friends of ‘69. (The friends category included gifts from one-third of our Class Associates (widows of classmates).) That total was within $2,000 of our all time non major record. A number of classmates joined Mike’s new AG Volunteer team. Vince Farrell and former Class Agent Bob Loveman led the efforts for the leadership prospects, and Brooke Stoddard and Doug Yeager headed up the participation team. A total of 26 classmate solicitors made it all possible. Give Mike a call at 773-531-3131 (mgehret@crfeldstein.com) if you want to join in on the fun.

Honorary Classmates

In light of the positive feedback we received following the elevation of Professor Paul Muldoon and Librarian of Congress James Billington '50 to the status of Honorary Member of the Class of 1969, we decided that a more structured process to permit periodic consideration of possible candidates would make sense. I asked Marc Miller to head a small committee (very small: Marc and Jim Floyd!), which recommended Seva Jaffe Kramer to join our class. She was officially recognized by the Class at our 36th Reunion in May. As most of you know, Seva has been the Executive Director of the Class of '69 Community Service Fund for 7 years, and in that capacity she has served the class with as much skill and dedication as anyone, and has helped move our class to the top ranks of Princeton's community service projects. We're delighted to welcome her to our ranks. As this committee moves forward, we will welcome any classmates who wish to work with Marc on the committee or have nominees for honorary classmates (202) 842-2345 or mmiller@mwmlaw.com).

Reunions

With attendance bolstered by the proud parents of 12 graduating seniors, our 36th reunion boasted the largest off-year attendance in recent years. About 135 classmates, spouses, guests and offspring joined in the festivities and 81 attended the Saturday class dinner, held for the first time at Springdale Golf Club. Despite the late afternoon cloudburst, everyone enjoyed the special ambiance of the club and the cocktail hour overlooking the golf course. The Friday evening joint barbecue with the Friends of Theatre Intime in the ’69 Memorial Garden was also a hit and we have booked both venues for repeat performances next year. We will also be looking into some sort of lunch option just before the P-rade. So mark your calendar now for our 37th, June 1-3, 2006. Anne and Bill Charrier deserve our sincere thanks for a great weekend. If you have an interest in helping plan for next year, Bill can be reached at (240) 286-3839 or bcharrier@comcast.net. If you were at our 36th, be sure to check out the Class website (www.princeton1969.org), where Webmeister Chuck Freyer has posted some great shots. If you have any good material for the website, please forward it to Chuck at cfreyer@scppartners.com.

Mini-Reunions and Special Events

Coming off our 35th Reunion, we did not have a lot of regional events in the United States this year but some of our classmates have been very active in Europe. David Fisher and John Sease are both on the Board of the Princeton Alumni Association of Germany and they spearheaded three special events for all Princeton Alumni in Germany, as well as their traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Stop by and see them if your travels take you to Germany (Dave is DFT@PErsonaTEC.De). The PAA in Germany has also been very active in sponsoring a Summer Work Program, providing stipends for Princeton interns working in low pay/no pay positions in Germany. This program has helped dramatically increase interest in German at Princeton, with total enrollments in courses in that language almost doubling since the late 1990s.

Class Finances

Under Rick Belding’s steady hand, we had another good year financially, with 272 of you paying Class dues, including 86 who made Leadership Gifts-thank you! We also had a good response to our challenge for the CSF and Class Scholarship Funds. We counted 49 contributors donating over $13,000 to the Community Service Fund and used our entire $5,000 match. We had even more donors to the Class Scholarship Fund--76--totaling over $6,000. Due to some of these being pre January 1, 2005, we still have about $3,000 left in that match which we will carry over so check that box on your dues card and your contribution will double. Rick has recently accepted a new position and is going to be working in Chicago, so hopefully we’ll see more of him at Princeton events going forward.

Upcoming Events

The big Fall event will continue to be our Homecoming football game. This year it’s against Yale and late, November 12, so pack your orange and black woolies and hip flask! We’re planning our usual Class meeting and tailgate events, and hope to see many of you there.

As I reread this letter, I can only conclude that many of you have found a true passion in one or more of our Class related activities and our spirit of service to the Class, University and Community. With more of us getting a bit of additional free time in our lives, we hope the year to come can see our participation continue to grow. Please contact any of our classmates listed above if something strikes your fancy.

Your first dues card for the new year in enclosed. Please take a minute and send in your check so we don’t have to bother you again. Also, please note your email address on the card, if Princeton does not have it.

I look forward to seeing many of you on November 12.

Sincerely,

Dick Bott '69
President -- Princeton Class of 1969