August, 2010

Dear Fellow Members of the Class of ’64:

Fifty years ago next month we all were welcomed to the best old place of all. Since then, our careers have taken us in many fascinating directions. One thing that has, however, remained constant for so many of us is loyalty to the Class of ’64 and Princeton. Some highlights of our allegience follow:

Rob Snedeker reports that 393 classmates (54 %) paid dues this year which has been our average for the past 10 years. This group’s contribution ensures that all classmates receive the PAW. The dues further support class mailings, Alumni Association dues and costs associated with official activities of the Class.

Since the Book Memorial Fund is fully funded and dues have remained constant for more than ten years, more of you have seen fit to add something extra to support our scholarship fund which supports four recipients annually and which has a current book value of $1,600,000. Approximately 100 dues payers made a separate donation to benefit the fund in addition to a number of classmates paying down generous pledges to enhance our fund. Ty Dann continues to spearhead efforts to augment the fund with a goal of $2,000,000 to provide scholarship aid to more students. He welcomes new pledges.

Another example is our Annual Giving contributions this year. We are one year removed from our 45th, and as we all know, witnessing a severe economic drought. Despite that, our class set very ambitious goals of 64% participation and $350,000.00 in amount with participation being our prime objective. How does 66.8% sound? Think of it, over 2/3 of our Class contributed to the University on our behalf and we also raised almost $341,000.00. Our Class had the 3rd highest percentage of donors for non-major reunion classes between 1954 and 2000. It was our best non-major reunion percentage in over thirty (30) years.

Needless to say, in good times, this interest is unparalleled. In the current times, I deem it as extraordinary. A great deal of thanks goes to Don Brant and his AG team.

For those of you who participated I can only say thank you. For those of you who were unable to help, we hope next year will be brighter and your ability to contribute restored. For those of you who are reluctant to support AG for whatever reason you have, might I suggest sending a contribution to the scholarship fund instead.

Not meaning to repeat blast emails, the PAW and other news sources, I do believe a brief year- in-review is appropriate.

ALUMNI DAY
Jim Leach and General David Petreaus *87(our Honorary Classmate) were both honored as the recipients of the Woodrow Wilson Award and the James Madison Medal, respectively. Both joined our afternoon reception and met a goodly number of our ‘64 scholarship recipients.

MARCH
Patagonia trip with some Chilean earthquake excitement created a truly memorable adventure. Thanks again to Bill Walker for his organization of the trip.

REUNIONS
The initial Jo Johnson Spirit of ’64 Award was presented to Jo. Later that afternoon he was also honored as one of the recipients of the Alumni Council Award for service to Princeton. Quite a day and well deserved. Three cheers for Carl Ferenbach who completed a four year stint on the Board of Trustees and helped promote the University sustainability reforms.

JUNE 19th
John Streicker and family dedicated the magnificent Streicker Bridge which spans Washington Road. A wonderful ribbon-cutting and reception followed by a dinner party at Campus Club capped off a great day.

Please click here to see information about upcoming events.

As a final note, I must stress that any of you with an email address which is not noted in our 45th Reunion Class Directory or which may have changed since then, please update. At last count, there were approximately 200 classmates who have not yet provided an email address. I have to believe that sometime in the not-too-distant future, all communication with the exception of the PAW will be paperless.

My best to you all! Hope to see you at a game this fall.

Ed Murphy
President, Princeton Class of 1964