Reunions and Beyond - Princeton Part III

The rest of Reunions was more typical – meals and talking and parties at the tent, ice cream, class picture, a couple of programs, Princeton University Band concert and reunion, stopping by Quad on Saturday afternoon, lawn concert and fireworks, Sunday farewell brunch, back home completely drained – with one exception. The P-rade happens on Saturday afternoon of Reunions weekend. All the classes march in their orange and black class costumes. The 25th Reunion class leads, followed by all the classes from oldest to youngest, ending with the graduating seniors. It’s like watching time march on backwards – first you applaud people because they are alive, then because they are walking, then you see old men, then less old men, then mid-career men – and women! – and then families with older children, and then families with strollers, and then young men and women – life passes you by in orange and black, with classes and people cheering for each other. The exception was that this year I carried our class banner. Usually this is something that people have to be forced to do (and for a long time we talked class offspring into doing it). Duane asked me to carry it because of my Peace Corps service, and he had me paired with Henri, a classmate who hails from Haiti and who went down there several times after the earthquake to help establish a children’s trauma center there. I think my service pales in comparison to his, but I couldn’t say no when asked like that! It’s always a thrill going past the cheering throng (even if they are cheering because we start a decade and it means the long P-rade is at what seems to be the halfway mark these days), and it was indeed an honor to carry that banner. But it was heavy, and I couldn’t talk and carry it at the same time (it took off like a sail a couple of times) and by the end of it I was quite tired!


Usually (at least traditionally), Reunions and the fall football game are the extent of my Princeton visits in a given year, but this year I’ve been twice more! During the summer, they have sports camps, and my niece went to fencing camp! Naturally, I was drafted to drive her there and back. For the drop-off, we arrived in time for a little campus walk, lunch and Thomas Sweet before check-in, and then I schlepped her stuff to her dorm room in Wilson College. It won’t be long before she goes to college…hard to believe (she’s 12 now). As we were walking around campus, I saw signs for the Streicker Bridge dedication. This is the Christian Menn-designed pedestrian bridge over Washington Road that will open this fall. After Sabrina told me I could leave, I decided to walk over to the bridge – turns out I had just missed the late-afternoon dedication. I saw someone in the administration who I knew, and he invited me to the reception! Naturally, Professor Billington, who had influenced the choice of Menn, was there, and I had a nice chat with President Tilghman too, telling her about my niece (when I called my sister, she seemed impressed that I knew the president. I told her I’m an involved alum! But the truth is that it’s President Tilghman who is special, not I). Timing is everything. The bridge was open only for the dedication, since the other side was still an active construction site – and I’m one of the first to have crossed it!





The pickup gave me an opportunity to have lunch with a staff member who is in charge of regions; we got to know each other when I was in Chicago. And it was a beautiful day to walk around the campus and take pictures. Last, even though my niece really wanted to just get home, she did feel there was time for a stop at Thomas Sweet first. It’s good to know I have some influence on her! Between Reunions and these trips I felt energized with Princeton volunteerism, and I enthusiastically made some Annual Giving calls from the Princeton Club of New York. I’m doing social media for my class, but will wait until I see where I am for Whatever is Next to see how involved I am going to be – there are RPCV groups to join, and other causes, and I still want to maintain some of that simple life of Morocco, with time to read and write and cook. Old Nassau is hard to say no to, though. I think the five-day camp had a positive impact on my niece, too - maybe both nieces will go to a sports camp there next summer!