At Princeton’s 250th anniversary celebration 27 years ago, Dorothy Bedford ’78 and economics professor Burton G. Malkiel GS ’64, devised a plan to construct a new center that would support the University’s commitment to service and community connections. Today, this hub is known as the John H. Pace Jr. ’39 Center for Civic Engagement with a dedicated space and staff in Frist Campus Center.
“[The Pace Center] will show that community service is not simply a useful add-on, a discretionary extracurricular activity, but rather an essential part of a liberal education,” Malkiel stressed at the time.
Since its establishment, the Pace Center has expanded to provide students with various pathways for civic engagement, leadership, and career development. Through its evolution, its goal has remained the same: to cement the University’s informal motto, “Princeton in the nation’s service and the service of humanity.” Still, many students today remain critical of whether the Pace Center does enough to uphold the motto's commitment.
Early beginnings
After a generous first gift from John H. Pace Jr. ’39 and various contributing gifts from John C. Bogle ’51, Carl Ferenbach ’64, and Peter Ochs ’65, among others, the Center was officially founded in 2001 and named after Pace Jr. and his wife Augusta.
Kiki Jamieson, who became director of the Pace Center four years after its establishment, explained that the Center’s “goal is to connect public service with the academic mission of the University, and we do so by facilitating learning, teaching and action in the public interest.”
“Service at Princeton has always been student-driven. Students started the Student Volunteers Council, Community House, and Community Action. And, over the years, the University has provided more support for service, recognizing that it is a valuable part of the Princeton student experience,” Kimberly de los Santos, the current executive director of the Pace Center, said in a statement to the ‘Prince.’
As a testament to this vision, the Center houses four student-led boards: Community House, the Student Volunteers Council (SVC), the Civic Leadership Council (CLC), and the Princeton Advocacy & Activism Student Board (PAAS Board). Additionally, the Center strengthened its ties to the University. In 2005, the Pace Center collaborated with the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) to organize "Princeton in the Nation’s Service" — a month-long program of service-based activities for students. It also created the Pace Council for Civic Values, a team of civic engagement student representatives that sought to enhance the University’s ties to leadership and community service. They did so by implementing creative service projects on health, education, and more, as well as by hosting speaker events and skill development workshops.
Two years after the USG collaboration, in 2007, the Pace Center joined forces with Community House, which continues to stand as a board today. First established by Princeton undergraduates in 1969, Community House is an organization that aims to support underrepresented populations, both academically and emotionally, through student-led service projects and mentorship programs. This initiative catapulted the Center’s mission and paved the way for how service and partnerships are looked at today. Community House is currently housed in the third floor of the Carl A. Fields Center. That same year, SVC also joined the Pace Center.
Although the Pace Center demonstrated expansion throughout its early years, this trend was threatened in 2009. Within a context of economic recession, the Pace Center’s budget was cut by 83 percent. In response, the student body voted “yes” on a USG referendum to direct that year’s $60,000 fall social budget, which funds Lawnparties, toward the Pace Center.
Orientation and career programming
One of the larger aspects of the Pace Center’s footprint is Community Action (CA), which is primarily known in its capacity as an orientation program for incoming first-years. Although CA was founded in 1987, de los Santos explained that “When [a unified University approach to] Orientation began in 2016, Community Action expanded to welcome hundreds and hundreds of first-year students.”
Last summer, Mira Eashwaran ’26 worked as one of five CA Fellows, an experience she called “both fun and rewarding.” In this role, she assisted with the coordination, programming, and scheduling of the program.
Eashwaran is a staff Features writer for the ‘Prince.’
Eashwaran described the kinds of service work students complete through Community Action, noting that it depends on the theme of service they engage with. “In the Sustainability theme, some groups engaged with presentations and learned from the work of experts in their fields, and some students worked on service projects with partners.”
Despite CA programming being planned around the goal of exposing students to service-related engagement, some students remain critical of its ability to do so meaningfully. In Fall of 2022, the ‘Prince’reported the discontent of some members of the Class of 2026 with CA
“The title of Community Action is just that — a title,” a student said in a speech obtained by the ‘Prince’ at the time. “We need to recognize that two hours of subpar community service is not sufficient to start legitimate change.”
CA leader Paul-Louis Biondi ’24 described a similar experience to the ‘Prince’ in 2022, saying “I think we were more of a burden than a help.”
Still, Eashwaran says she remains confident in CA. “I do think that students have made an impact through their community engagement, through learning and working with partners,” she noted. “Community Action also knows that there is only so much one can do in the span of four days, but we understand the importance of experiential learning, and how being exposed to important topics, learning from partners, and hearing from professors can motivate students to pursue further service post-CA.”
The Pace Center has also partnered with Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) to bring opportunities for students to connect with nonprofits and alumni through a collection of summer internships. Founded by alumni from the Class of 1969 at their 25th Reunion, PICS officially became a University program with the Pace Center in 2019. Today, undergraduates can use funded PICS internships to explore public service careers amid the campus debate regarding the large percentage of Princeton students going into the private sector after graduating.
Drawing data from the 2023 Senior Survey, Davis Hobley ’27 stated in an Opinion piece for the ‘Prince’ that “nearly one in five Princeton graduates of last year’s undergraduate class will be or are pursuing a career in finance or consulting, sectors known for engaging in unethical market practices.”
“The social environment that is encouraged at Princeton is antithetical to its mission, prompting students to chase prestige and socioeconomic status,” Hobley stressed.
Socioeconomic concerns around nonprofit internships can be particularly salient for first-generation low-income (FLI) students, wrote Ndeye Thioubou ’25 in an Opinion article for the ‘Prince.’ Although PICS provides students with a stipend that the Pace Center website states is “designed to cover essential living expenses,” funding is capped at $6,000 regardless of differences in cost of living across the country. In response, Thioubou suggested a partnership with the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity that would allow FLI students to secure additional funding.
Despite these criticisms, PICS internships remain popular among both students and partner organizations, with over 250 offerings available for the summer of 2024 through Princeton’s Global Programs System. “Last year, more students than ever before were able to engage in paid summer service internships,” noted de los Santos.
Davina Thompson ’25, a student in the School of Public and International Affairs, completed a PICS internship with the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program last summer. Thompson said she chose the nonprofit because she “liked the mission and values of the organization and it aligned well with her career plans.”
Much of Thompson’s work revolved around supporting a youth initiative that connects science and social justice. When asked what she learned from her experience completing her PICS internship she noted, “I learned grant writing, marketing, non-profit management, and event organization. I learned a lot of skills that I’m sure I will apply to future internships and jobs.”
In fact, Thompson has continued to work with the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program following the conclusion of her PICS experience, now as a program coordinator.
“I think service and civic engagement are extremely important. I think it’s one of the best ways we can contribute to the communities we are a part of. All students should make more of an effort to participate in service and I think PICS is a great way to be involved at Princeton,” Thompson remarked.
New initiatives and the path ahead
Beyond facilitating service-based internships through programs such as PICS, the Pace Center strives for students to couple their professional experiences with service learning in the classroom.
“When the University adopted its strategic planning framework in 2016, it provided an opportunity to bring together students’ curricular and co-curricular service experiences, and Service Focus was created,” shared de los Santos.
Service Focus brings together students who have completed an eligible service-based internship and who have taken or intend to take a service-based course — such as through the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) —for small group discussions throughout their sophomore year.
More recently in 2021, the Princeton Advocacy and Activism Student (PAAS) Board formed to oversee and foster approximately 20 active student groups surrounding advocacy and activism.
Alyssa Lloyd ’26, one of two PAAS co-chairs, described her experience. Lloyd herself has her hands in several advocacy initiatives on campus and beyond. “I do a lot of work with systems-impacted youth (i.e. foster care and juvenile justice system) as well as teen dating violence and domestic violence prevention,” she expressed.
Lloyd is an assistant Features editor for the ‘Prince.’
“It is a newer and developing board which means that I could play a role in shaping how it impacts campus, and I like a challenge,” Lloyd explained. “I have stayed because my team is amazing, the groups we help to support are driving social change, and my advocacy skills have only strengthened since the start of my term.”
In practice, she describes this board’s advocacy as inclusive and broad. “We host programming and hold end of semester check-in celebrations. We also host structured events and trainings related to advocacy work and what it entails, usually accompanied by food (i.e. how to run a successful protest, the history of activism on campus, etc.), and we support groups in their activism efforts,” Lloyd stated.
Over two decades after its establishment, the Pace Center looks to expand its impact on campus.
“Students are the absolute driving force of the Pace Center and I have been so inspired by students who connect with the world in a way that motivates them,” said de los Santos.
Elma Cesic is a Features contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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