Nader returns for 50th

Ralph Nader's work is never done.

Though Nader, a member of the Class of 1955, may be most famous for lobbying for increased auto safety or his repeated presidential campaigns, his activist career began half a century ago, right here on the grounds of Old Nassau.

After finding several dead birds on campus lawns, Nader pushed the administration to ban the use of toxic DDT chemicals on trees. And when local restaurants challenged the license of a popular hot dog vendor, he attempted to rally his fellow students to protest the restaurants.

On Saturday, Nader will make his case again. In a speech titled "The future for you," Nader, who is returning to Princeton for his 50th Reunion, will urge reform of the American political system, including increased citizens' activism.

"The government having been essentially taken over by large corporate power has impeded the citizens' groups' ability to improve their country," he said in an interview this week with The Daily Princetonian. "We have to focus once again on strengthening democracy by and for the people."

Nader spoke at length about the role of universities in the democratic process and — in light of the recent student-organized Frist filibuster, which garnered national media attention — the role of student activism.

"The University should be an enabler of its constituent parts," said Nader, one of the founders of Princeton Project 55, a nonprofit that supports student and alumni community service and "civic leadership" activities. "It should be an enabler of students, faculty and administration in exercising their political and civic rights."

Nader had some praise for the University administration's stance on certain issues — in particular, President Tilghman speaking out on women in science — but said there remains much to be done.

"We never learned any civic skills," Nader said of his time at Princeton. "We never even learned about our civic or consumer rights."

One solution for Nader is an academic department of "civic practice," an idea for which he hasn't received much support. "You've got the Woodrow Wilson School, but that's policy, it's not implementation," he said.

Nader said he views the creation of institutions — including the proposed department — as critical to solving the "extraordinarily disappointing" issue of student activism.

"You've got about 1 percent of students who can be considered active and only 5 percent who might show up," he said, noting the recent exception of the Frist filibuster. "But most of students are into defining their higher education as vocational and social and athletic."

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"You shouldn't go through college and university years without one passionate commitment against social injustice," he added. "There're a lot of hours in the day. And we learn to waste a lot of time."

While a student at Princeton, Nader was famous for taking up to eight courses each semester. He also had his own key to the Wilson School's library.

"The amount of time my classmates spent playing pool at Whig-Clio or drinking at the clubs — it was just horsing around," he said. "Those are very anti-intellectual years."

Nader will speak at the Nassau Presbyterian Church. He's joined by journalist Chris Hedges, a lecturer at the Council of Humanities, and Carl Meyer '81, a local activist and former Princeton Township Committeeman.