Princeton Club of New York to expand summer outreach to undergrads

Founded in 1899, the Princeton Club of New York aims to provide a variety of services to University alumni, ranging from guest rooms to squash courts and a library coordinated with Firestone for both print books and e-books. Skip Rankin ’72, the current president of the club, said he felt that his experience with the organization as an undergraduate helped him appreciate Princeton even more.

“I spent some summers in New York myself, and it was always nice to have a place to meet people and feel comfortable — the Princeton Club was always an inviting place for you,” he said.

But as the years went on, Rankin said, the Princeton Club made less of an effort to reach out to undergraduates, focusing instead on fostering alumni connections. “People forgot to reach out to undergraduates and make sure they exist,” he said.

This year, however, the Princeton Club is attempting to make current students feel welcome and increase the number of young alumni coming into the club immediately upon graduation. According to Rankin, the Club hopes to provide an environment in which students feel at home in the city.

“We find that often undergrads in the city don’t have a place to go to or don’t quite know how to meet up with other Princetonians,” Rankin said, “so we’re open to accommodating them and facilitating interaction with other students.”

To that end, the Club plans to host a variety of events, including a sailing trip, a Great Gatsby-themed summer soiree and talks by authors such as Anne Lee and Philip Seib ’70. Students interested in visiting the club should inquire at the front desk and show their proxes, Rankin said.

Another alumni club, the Princeton Club of Washington, D.C., plans to continue offering summer assistance to University undergraduates as it has in the past, according to Reginald Galloway ’11, the Club’s programs chair. However, the nature of the Washington Club’s interaction is somewhat different, Galloway explained.

“The big difference between the Princeton Club of Washington and the Princeton Club of New York is that the Princeton Club of New York is an actual club, an actual building, whereas the Princeton Club of Washington is more of a social club in the sense that we don’t have a building or a central location at which to gather,” Galloway said.

As such, the Princeton Club of Washington focuses on lending its assistance to the Princeton in Washington program, whose goal is to bring together “Princeton alumni and students who are interning or studying in Washington, D.C., for the summer,” according to its website. The events, which are free, include lectures by alumni and networking events.

As programs chair, Galloway said he wants to make sure that “the current Princeton in Washington students and PiW coordinator are aware that the programs that are available for members, non-members, that I’m organizing are available to them as well.”

The Princeton Club of Washington mainly assists by helping students and PiW coordinators network.

“Club members really do make an effort to the PiW undergraduates as resources,” Galloway said. “If the undergraduates have an interest in a particular field, for example, or if the Princeton in Washington coordinator wants to organize a talk or event with a Princeton alumnus in a particular field or area, we’d definitely help them make that connection.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Galloway said that the Princeton Club’s effort “reinforces the sense of community amongst graduates, and it shows them that the Princeton experience doesn’t end with graduation. It continues for life."