Of course, when all is said, it is not learning but the spirit of service that will give a college place in the public annals of the nation. It is indispensable, it seems to me, if it is to do its right service, that the air of affairs should be admitted to all its class rooms. I do not mean the air of party politics but the air of the world's transactions, the consciousness of the solidarity of the race, the sense of the duty of mankind towards mankind, of the presence of humans in every problem, of the significance of truth for guidance as well as for knowledge, of the potency of ideas, of the promise and the hope that shine in the face of all knowledge. -- Woodrow Wilson
August 5, 2025 Zoom: Our focus was on classmates in service. The discussion converged primarily on those who served either in the military or in clandestine service. We will have another Zoom to emphasize other forms of service.
Doug Weil shares:
Your question about Princeton in the Nation's Service made me reflect on my life. Although Iwill have have an obituary full of communal contributions, when I reflected on my life this afternoon I realized that I was capable contributing much more to making the world a better place. And thus fell short on meeting the ultimate challenge of a Princeton education.
I also relaized that the one event that may have caused a difference was Robert Kennedy's assassination in 1968. Had he won the Presidency I would have likely had a job in his administration since I was in charge of an Indiana congressional district in 1968 presidential primary and close to his staff because of work I did on President Johnson's low income housing commission. Not only did the event affect me personally but I think it is the one event in our lifetime that had the most impact on the country.