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Fellowships
Each year, ReachOut 56-81-06 awards two
fellowships to graduating Princeton seniors to take on a
year-long public service project after graduation. Candidates
for the ReachOut 56-81-06 fellowships join with a public service
organization of their choice to devise a year long service
project. The fellowship program has been around since 2002 and
is funded with donations to ReachOut 56-81-06. The current
fellowship amount is $30,000 per fellow. 2011 Fellows
Celebrating its tenth year of granting
fellowships, ReachOut56-81-06 gave fellowships for 2011 to four
Princeton University seniors for year-long public service
projects.
One has been awarded to Hanna Katz ’11, who proposes to create and manage a program
that supports youth involved with the criminal justice system,
under the auspices of the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood center
in New York City.
The 1956 ReachOut International Fellowship, which is being
granted this year for the second time through the generosity of
a ’56 class member, has been awarded jointly to
Karen Campion '11 and
Clare Herceg '11. They have proposed a series of educational
and other projects to serve impoverished and refugee children in
Nablus, Palestine, through Tomorrow’s Youth Organization.
In addition, a special 1956 ReachOut International Project
Expansion Fellowship has been awarded to
John Torrey ’11. He will carry forward and expand the peer
education program and other activities in Sierra Leone initiated
by current ReachOut Fellows, Fatu Conteh ’10 and Katie Hsih ’10,
under the auspices of the Global Action Foundation.
Daniel Gardiner ’56, chair of ReachOut56-81-06, said: “We are
delighted to provide fully-funded fellowships for a year to
outstanding graduating Princeton students who present projects
of innovative and significant social value. The 2011 winners –
outstanding seniors with fine records of achievement and public
interest activity – have proposed ambitious projects that
epitomize our goals. These thoughtful projects identify and
implement solutions for societal problems, in the tradition of
‘Princeton in the Nation’s Service and the Service of all
Nations,’ our mission.”
ReachOut56-81 is an effort by members of the Princeton Classes
of 1956 and 1981 to underwrite the performance of valuable
public service by graduating seniors, generally for the benefit
of small existing non-profit organizations. It was initiated by
’56 class members ten years ago, and to date over 125 classmates
have contributed fund to sustain its activities. The program
became trans-generational in 2008 through the joint venture
established with members of ’81. In addition to granting
fellowships, the organization engages in a number of other
community service activities (discussed below).
Candidates for the traditional domestic ReachOut56-81 Fellowship
perform their own research to find a suitable public service
organization in the United States that will agree in advance to
make a position available. The candidate and the organization
then work together to devise a significant project or function
for the year of the award.
"Since ReachOut56-81 furnishes the $30,000 of funds to pay the
Fellow's living expenses during the year," said James Freund
'56, who is co-chair of the Fellowship process with Jean
Telljohann '81, "we prefer to select organizations that wouldn't
be able to afford the help otherwise. We consider this an
excellent means by which our financial contribution serves a
real purpose, through the energetic efforts of a talented
public-spirited graduate."
Candidates for the 1956 ReachOut International Fellowship (which
also awards $30,000 to the recipient) can present project
proposals to be performed anywhere in the world, with or without
a sponsoring organization. Special weight is given to projects
of social significance that are innovative, creative and/or
entrepreneurial. According to Jean Telljohann ’81, in this
second year of its existence, over a dozen worthy applications
were received for the international fellowship, several of them
involving two-person projects.
In inaugurating the 1956 ReachOut International Fellowship last
year, we indicated the potential for extension of the project
beyond one year, if the project’s significance and viability is
found to justify longer-range support. This proved to be
precisely the case with the Sierra Leone project undertaken last
year by our current international fellows. Thanks to the
generosity of a ’56 class member, we are awarding this special
Project Expansion Fellowship for the first time this year.
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