Commitment to Giving

In President Eisgruber’s interview in PAW’s May issue he described being a Princeton graduate as a “lifetime bond” or commitment. When I matriculated at Princeton and, prior to that at my prep school, I didn’t register that I was making lifetime commitments, but I have honored them in gratitude for the education I received.

In PAW’s June issue I read with interest Mark Bernstein’s article, “The Giving Plea,” as one who has annually paid class dues and contributed to the class scholarship fund, to Annual Giving, albeit usually modestly, and to the Princeton University Rowing Association through the Princeton Varsity Club. I joined the 1746 Society with a provision in my will to donate a portion of my estate to Princeton if funds remain after health care and end of life expenses have been paid. 

I appreciate that for political reasons some graduates may decline to contribute — I have read that even a Supreme Court justice has minimized his connection to Princeton — and a classmate at our 50th reunion said, given the size of Princeton’s endowment, that he declined to give.

Like many of us, I am overwhelmed almost daily with envelopes arriving in the mail requesting donations for worthy causes. We each have to decide what is important to us. I do what I can with Princeton and my prep school at the top of my list. Since Putin’s brutal and criminal invasion of Ukraine I have contributed extensively to organizations aiding Ukraine.