Assessing a renewed focus on grad students, alumni

I read with interest the PAW article (Campus Notebook, July 6) and letters (Oct. 26) about increasing grad-alumni participation in Princeton. They provoked conversations with friends who received graduate degrees at non-Princeton institu­tions: “How would you characterize your interactions with your graduate alma mater?” The uniform answer was: “Poorly — I have no feeling for the institution at large.” All felt their prime interaction was with their department (broadly), or (more narrowly) with their thesis prof’s research group. This response cut across age/academic disciplines. (My Ph.D. is in chemistry, but I actually spoke with a Princeton Ph.D. in ­English.)

Bottom line: Weak ­grad-alumni-institution interactions are the norm. Princeton’s situation is typical. After they receive their degrees, there’s no strong reason for grad alumni to remain in contact with one another, with their departments, or with the institution at large. The Woodrow Wilson School seems to be an outlier, because there are professional (networking) reasons for its graduates to maintain contact with one another. I suspect graduate alumni of schools of medicine, law, and business administration may have relatively strong post-degree interactions, but this doesn’t help Princeton.

A modest proposal: Since interactions seem to be department-based rather than institution-based, I suggest that Princeton create department-based “graduate alumni secretaries” (GAS) whose functions would parallel those of the undergraduate alumni class secretaries. A GAS would be a graduate alumnus, not a faculty or departmental staff member. The GAS might collate and disseminate news about graduate alumni, organize annual poster sessions for graduate alumni, etc. They also might help recruit the best and brightest seniors from their undergrad alma maters into Princeton graduate ­programs.

I loved my three years in the grad school, and because a couple of my friends in the department were resident advisers in undergrad dorms, I felt very connected to the rest of the campus — I attended parties, dances, and dinners at some of the clubs and got to know many of the undergrads, one of whom is still a friend after 40 years.

One of the problems with connecting with grad alums is that many of us hold academic positions and are not exactly rolling in cash, compared to those in sciences, engineering, and business with a Princeton bachelor’s degree. If the goal in reconnecting is to increase substantially Princeton’s endow­ment, I don’t think this is a good way to go about it. We have wonderful memories and degrees to be proud of, but most of us in the humanities won’t be leaving any endowed chairs in our wake.

Stephanie Turner *04 was overly restrictive in her description of Princeton graduate students as “future professors in training” in a letter to PAW (Oct. 5). Although many of us have made or are making careers in colleges and universities, a large number of graduate students pursue other paths in govern­­ment, the private sector, elementary and secondary schools, and nonprofit organizations. I think we need to keep this fact in mind when discussing any aspect of graduate education at Princeton.

What’s all this fuss about a lack of grad-student cohesion with the rest of the University (letters, Oct. 5)? For the 1954–55 Triangle show, Tunis, Anyone?, one of the lead roles — that of government lawman J. Edgar Westinghouse — was filled by grad student John C. Macrae *55. I’ll admit that there were some who were queasy about director Mike Stewart’s choice, including the Triangle president (me), but Macrae was a big hit. After Triangle, Stewart further proved his show-biz chops by winning a Tony for scripting Hello, Dolly! 

Perhaps current-day Trianglers will consider emulating ’55’s willingness to accept grad students at auditions.

As a graduate student at Princeton from 2000 to 2006, it was only by making a particular effort — in my case, by serving as a founding member of Princeton Stand-Up Comedy — that we felt the sense of inclusion that one might expect. I am always delighted to hear about the University in the news and elsewhere, and look forward to more events that are focused not just on graduate students but are inclusive of all alumni, as well as a more complete integration of graduate alumni into the many Princeton alumni networks. Like others, I would love to see more graduate alumni named to Princeton’s board. All told, however, this is a great step in the right direction, and most appreciated!

Thank goodness this issue is getting some serious attention. Graduate students certainly can be involved in campus life, but they are excluded by default. It is important that the University start finding ways to integrate the graduates and undergraduates into a cohesive overall culture. When it comes to Princeton grad-student social life, the Graduate College is by far the most important institution. Unfortunately, most grad students are forced to leave the GC after a year or two, due to lack of overall housing space and individual living space, and once people end up at the far-flung apartment complexes, the culture incubated by the GC tends to evaporate. Aside from better integration with the main campus, the University should look into ways to build on the community of the GC.

As one of the few graduate alums to head a major Princeton alumni association (the Princeton Club of India, or PCI), I am glad to see the University beginning to re-engage more strongly with its graduate alumni (Campus Notebook, July 6). However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and I think substantive change will only come about when there are more graduate alumni on the Board of Trustees. The commission was entirely right in recommending a 25 percent target for the board, and I hope that this is eventually achieved. The PCI actually won an APGA Regional Association Award in 2010 for our efforts to more fully engage graduate alumni: Do check out the awards section on our website, http://tigernet.princeton.edu/~pcindia/index.html.

Additional outreach to graduate-school alums is a most welcome development, and I am extremely happy to learn that Princeton will be focusing more regularly on all its alumni. I do hope that more graduate alumni are named to Princeton’s Board of Trustees. 

As a graduate alum, I’d also appreciate the fuller integration of alumni into all alumni networks that serve Princetonians, including local Princeton alumni clubs, affinity organizations, and on-campus events (P-rade, Reunions). I watch all Princeton news with interest and appreciate updates on all newsworthy events relating to the University — my interest is not confined to graduate-school news.

I’m glad that the grad students are ­getting more attention. When I was at Princeton, I felt that we were pretty ­isolated from the general campus ­experience.

Pizza parties and Facebook pages are all well and good, but the graduate experience at Princeton will not be changed by such lip service. Graduate students are future professors in training, of whom the University should be proud, not treating as if they were ­invisible. I am still stinging from a student tour guide’s remark, which I overheard my first year as a graduate student, that “all classes are taught by professors.” What about the hundreds of graduate teaching assistants? No ­professor ever set foot in the French 101 class I taught or the German 101 class I took. The only change I have noticed is that I am asked more frequently to donate. When someone from the administration contacts me to ask why I, and many like me, did not complete the Ph.D. program and chose to stop at a terminal master’s, then I will know that attitudes are really changing.