Princeton seniors may be too deeply involved in the never-ending rat race, but we can be fairly certain that a much greater portion of freshmen, sophomores and juniors will be shut out of this less exciting financial landscape. With the end of investment banks, the undergraduate classes of Princeton are now in the process of engaging with their remaining preferences, once relegated to a distant second or third place in their hearts. The good news is that in this mess of a situation, Princeton has an opportunity to deeply influence these students as they arrange a new list of priorities.
The University, now more than ever, should match its rhetoric of universal public service with a far-reaching publicity push. The goal would be to forge a new order amid the chaos confronting the confused hordes here in Old Nassau. For the first time in years, the school leadership has an opportunity to drastically alter the dominant career culture, a popular obsession with immediate financial success, to one where a commanding majority of students seriously engage in public service. School officials would be right to counter that Princeton has already made a concerted effort to push students in the direction of public service, but what I am arguing for is a renewal of an existing framework that is certainly no pushover.
The easiest adjustment that can be made right now is a stronger effort to publicize the programs that already exist on campus. I have done successive summer internships in Chicago, New York and Budapest, Hungary, with the Class of 1969 Community Service Fund and the International Internship Program. I have been amazed each fall semester by the number of dumbfounded Princeton students surprised about the origin of my "connections." Too few know about these programs or the extensive opportunities offered by institutions like the Pace Center. If these programs made their presence better felt over the next few weeks in student hotspots like Frist Campus Center and the residential colleges via noticeable booths, announcements at lectures, sign-up sheets, posters and other methods, the response in the current environment would probably be overwhelming. We have to know, however, that eliminating student ignorance may not necessarily be enough.
It's rude to discuss money, but increasing the base stipend for existing summer internship programs and proposed unpaid internships would be a bold move. If the University wants to compete with private business, an increase from the roughly $5,000 usually given to $8,000 or $10,000 would move us to a new paradigm on campus. Increased funding is not about students wanting a lavish lifestyle, but an acknowledgement of the high cost of living in urban areas where many service opportunities are located. A desire to have money to put away at the end of summer may stop students from applying for a service internship in New York or Los Angeles. We should not maintain the existing lower stipends on the sometimes-correct assumption that students will miraculously find a good deal on living arrangements through a family friend or elsewhere. Craigslist does not always come through, and adventurous students looking to work away from home may not have a family friend with a free summer loft in Georgetown or SoHo.
Some University programs are cognizant of these realities. Popular post-grad programs like Princeton Project 55 and the international fellowship programs come to mind. For example, Princeton Project 55 base stipends differ in consideration of costs of living that vary by area. The only problem is that these programs can be counted on to attract students who have been the most civic-minded over their four years despite the existing weakness of the public service framework, while the younger and initially less interested students are neglected to an extent.
To change the dominant career culture, Princeton has to get students intimately involved in public service much earlier in their undergraduate careers, and this is best achieved during the summers in between. If we neglect student outreach and offer little more than the prospect of decreasing students' summer savings expectations by 50 percent, many students will look back to private business once this current economic downturn ends. Those summer jobs with JPMorgan and Bain Capital will turn into permanent career aspirations, and another generation will be lost. We cannot hope for what is currently adequate to suffice because we know that big business always makes a comeback in a big way.
David Smart is a history major from Los Angeles, Calif. He can be reached at dsmart@princeton.edu.
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