Essay: The Class of 1972 Built a Tradition of Traveling Together

In 2003, a couple of years after participating in several successful small class trips abroad, Jim “Robby” Robinson ’72 had an idea to enhance the experience. He had a conversation with Professor James McPherson, one of the preeminent living scholars on the Civil War, to see if he could lead a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Robby, his wife Chris, and McPherson made it happen over a three-day weekend in the fall of 2004 in which 60 classmates and companions participated.

Throughout that October trip, the class hiked across the numerous battlefields including the Seminary Ridge, Wheatfield, and Devil’s Den, while consulting our packets of 28 maps. At each stop, McPherson gave an in-depth history lesson and answered all of our questions. We left that Sunday wiser, inspired, and delighted to have had such a successful trip.

About a year after that trip, Mcpherson contacted me, our class secretary, to see if we were interested in another one, as he had really enjoyed our group. He also asked if he could bring his wife Pat along. We ended up doing seven more trips, and both Jim and Pat McPherson were made honorary ’72ers!!!  

What happened on that first ’72 Civil War trip started a tradition of taking trips together that expanded and continues to this day. Outfitted with ’72 Tiger hats designed by our own Ed Strauss for virtually every trip (as well as other related gear), we’ve taken one to two trips each year with over 200 classmates and six honorary class members for a total of 36 travel adventures in the last two decades. At this point, we have a longer list of trip ideas than we probably have years left to take them. 

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With the success of the Gettysburg trip, and a follow-on trip two years later to Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, a Civil War snowball had begun rolling. Another five battlefield trips ensued over the course of the next 18 years, each led by McPherson. As we toured almost all of the major battlefields of the Civil War together, our class forged close bonds with each other and the McPhersons.

As Robby and Chris were honing their class trip skills with our Civil War trips, we began creating other great travel opportunities for classmates.  

We started interspersing “city” trips into our adventures, with the first of these to Washington, D.C., in 2005 and subsequently Philadelphia; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans; Quebec City in Canada; San Antonio, Texas; Savannah, Georgia; and Asheville, North Carolina. Each time local classmates either ran the trip or helped host activities. 

We also started nature-focused trips, with the first being to Mt. Princeton — organized by Bob Wright in 2009 with key assistance from classmate Merc Morris. The objective was novel: to allow (and challenge) our classmates to climb our namesake mountain, one of the classic Colorado “Fourteeners” (14,000-plus feet in altitude) in the Collegiate Range. With our first trip to the western United States, and our first hiking adventure, we found ourselves attracting, in addition to many previous trip stalwarts, a whole new set of classmates from different parts of the country. 

The western hiking experience spawned more varied outdoor adventures and diversity of geographic locations: Examples include Napa Valley and America’s Cup races, the Little Big Horn, Shenandoah Valley/Monticello, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and a cruise of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. We have also ventured beyond the U.S. to Canada (Banff and Quebec City) as well as more exotic destinations like the Galápagos Islands, Cuba, France (twice), and the Czech Republic (twice, organized by classmate Helena Novakova). 

While most trips have been organized by Robby or other classmates to keep costs down, we have used Princeton Journeys on several (the Galápagos Islands, Cuba, and our Columbia and Snake Rivers cruise).

Our outings have won several Alumni Association awards including the 1898 Trophy for any gathering during the year between Reunions involving the largest percentage of class membership in 2019 (6.2%) and 2020 (5.1%),  and we earned the 1928 Trophy four times for the largest gathering of classmates between Reunions for our trips to Charlottesville (2016), Santa Fe (2017), New Orleans (2019), and Glacier National Park (2020).

The success and vitality of our trip program over what is now so many years could not have occurred without the infectious enthusiasm and consistent dedication and hard work of Robby and Chris Robinson, as well as Bob and Sallie Wright and the many other classmates who have helped organize trips or host events for them. What better way to encourage class spirit and participation? We strongly believe that these trips have enhanced attendance at Reunions and other campus events, as well as our demonstrated record of broad and generous Annual Giving and other support of Princeton. These expereinces have also instilled a spirit of collegiality among an ever-increasing number of classmates and their companions that is unique even among Princeton classes. 

We are now working with the Alumni Association to establish a database for the benefit of all classes to help them put together their own trips by taking advantage of the experience of ’72 and all other classes that have created opportunities for their classmates to adventure together. Start the ball rolling and put a trip together for your class; you won’t regret it!

Five Tips to Plan a Class Trip

1. Designate a “mother hen.” If there’s someone in your class who enjoys planning trips and organizing all the small details, that person will be very helpful to lead class trips.
2. Find common interests that can draw members of the class together.
3. Find classmates who live in or near desired destinations. They can help with the planning.
4. Ask for help and use your resources.
5. Start with shorter trips.