When he was a Princeton senior, Richard Just ’01, then editor-in-chief of The Daily Princetonian, collaborated with three other Prince staff members to raise money for and create a campus summer program that would train underrepresented and low-income high school students for careers in journalism. Over the years, it has done much more, exposing the students to the world of ideas, providing mentors, and helping the students enter colleges and careers they might have thought closed to them.
At Reunions, Just was one of four alumni honored with the Alumni Council Award for Service to Princeton.
Just, editor of The Washington Post Magazine, remains executive director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, which is now part of the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity. Graduates have gone on to become not just journalists, but authors, doctors, lawyers, diplomats, and at least one member of Congress, according to the award citation. His work has made “Princeton better, one student at a time, by telling them they belong there and developing his entire being to helping them get here,” wrote one of the people who nominated him for the alumni award.
Colleen Kelly ’77 was recognized for her leadership in her class and with the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, as co-chair of the Northern New Jersey chapter and a member of the national committee. The citation praised Kelly as a “master practitioner of inclusivity” who increased attendance at class events and had innovative strategies to expand the reach of the Princeton Prize. “She set up a booth at a New Jersey educators’ meeting to appeal one-on-one to teachers for nominations,” the citation said. “She encouraged the use of social media to reach schools directly, even persuading Sen. Cory Booker to tweet about the prize to his 200,000 followers.”
The Alumni Council honored Itohowo Ekpoudom ’03, who has assisted Princeton entrepreneurs both on and off campus. Through her advisory and consulting firm, Tigress Ventures, and as a partner at GingerBread Capital, “she works to engage, educate, and elevate the next generation of women business leaders and investors,” the Alumni Council said. The citation also noted that she has held key leadership roles for her class and the larger alumni body.
Robert Loveman ’69 received the award because of his work for his class; the Princeton Internships in Civic Service program, known as PICS; and the Princeton Club of Chicago, among other activities. Among the co-founders of the PICS program, Loveman led the effort to endow a PICS internship program in Chicago and built a partnership between Princeton alumni and a high school in a working-class neighborhood of the city.
“The program was a model for community service, bringing Princeton alumni and other volunteers to the school to tutor students, mentor them, help with college preparation and career exploration, and more,” the citation said.
Service Award winners: Richard Just ’01, Itohowo Ekpoudom ’03, Robert Loveman ’69, and Colleen Kelly ’77