Service and Outreach

Princeton offers all members of its community a wide range of opportunities for volunteerism, outreach, and work in public service. In addition to the programs listed below, individual graduate and undergraduate organizations, residential colleges, eating clubs, academic departments, and alumni classes promote service through various activities. Here is a sampling of some programs (listed in alphabetical order):

Community and Regional Affairs (CRA), Office of. Members of the CRA staff serve as liaisons between the University and the communities in which it resides on a wide variety of local and regional issues. CRA staff participate in the creation of special events such as Communiversity, parades, workshops, symposiums, and other programs enjoyed by tens of thousands of campus and community members each year. The office partners with other campus and community organizations to provide service opportunities and initiatives. One such program coordinated by the CRA is the Surplus Equipment Program, which helps charitable nonprofit organizations acquire furniture and equipment no longer used by the University.

Community-Based Learning Initiative (CBLI). A collaborative effort of students, faculty, administrators, and community experts, the CBLI facilitates community-driven research projects.

Community House. Community House is a student volunteer service organization that is made up of a diverse group of students who are primarily, although not exclusively, interested in providing service to minority communities. Community House’s programs focus on improving education for underserved residents of Princeton.

International Internship Program. Offering numerous summer internships abroad arranged especially for Princeton undergraduates, the program places students with international organizations, volunteer programs, and non-governmental organizations, with special emphasis on internships in community service.

Pace Center. As the campus advocate for civic engagement and public service, the Pace Center supports Princeton’s commitment to be “in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations.” The Pace Center facilitates learning, teaching, and action in the public interest and advances the components of civic engagement. By hosting a comprehensive civic engagement database and working with hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners, the center envisions, articulates, organizes, and implements civic engagement initiatives and educational outreach opportunities.

Princeton-Blairstown Center. Known as Blairstown, the Princeton-Blairstown Center, affiliated with the University for nearly a century, has a mission of helping underserved youth develop self-confidence and a sense of personal and group responsibility. In addition, Blairstown serves as an experiential education facility all year long for schools, community agencies, and members of the University family.

Princeton Environmental Oversight Committee. In 1995, the Princeton Environmental Reform Committee (now the Princeton Environmental Oversight Committee), a student, faculty, and staff collaboration, began doing “environmental audits” that provided the inspiration and impetus for the University’s many “green” environmentally conscious initiatives. As a result, recycling is now standard throughout campus, Dining Services has significantly reduced the amount of food waste brought to landfills, and indoor air quality has been improved with increased air circulation and air changes.

Princeton in service programs. Three independent nonprofits affiliated with the University—Princeton in Asia, Princeton-in-Africa, and Princeton in Latin America—place Princeton students and/or recent graduates in service internships and fellowships spanning four continents.

Princeton Project 55. Princeton Project 55 is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes alumni, students, and others in a variety of programs to promote the broad public interest. Its Public Interest Program has placed almost 1,300 graduating seniors in summer or year-long fellowships of significant responsibility at more than 350 innovative nonprofits since 1990.

Princeton University Class of 1969 Community Service Fund. The Princeton University Class of 1969 Community Service Fund is a summer internship program that is supported by Class of 1969 alumni and other class organizations, including the Community Service Funds of the classes of 1970, 1975, and 1977. The program provides the opportunity for students to explore careers in public service through work in the nonprofit sector, including group advocacy, legal services, public policy, the environment, health and social services, community development, education, and the arts.

Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP). Funded by the University and founded by members of its faculty and staff, PUPP is a three-year learning and enrichment program for Mercer County high school students who are educationally motivated and rich in intellectual curiosity but who are financially disadvantaged. PUPP is administered by the Program in Teacher Preparation.

Program in Teacher Preparation. In addition to training Princeton University students to be K–12 teachers, the Program in Teacher Preparation provides professional development programs for teachers in area schools. In addition, this program manages the high-school-student academic-enrichment program that allows students who have completed their course work and received permission from their respective high schools to take free courses in computer science, foreign languages, mathematics, and music.

Student Volunteers Council (SVC). Through the SVC, undergraduates participate each year in more than 45 student-led community service programs, assisting thousands of residents in the Trenton/Princeton, Mercer County, and Philadelphia area.