The refrain, “See you at our 10th Reunion,” became significant in a different way for members of Princeton’s Class of 2010. Graduate alumni from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs were looking forward to celebrating their milestone until COVID-19 made returning to campus this spring unsafe. Undaunted, the “rag-tag” foursome of Tracey Ross *10, Adam Petkun *10, Jocelyn Yin *10, and Alex Flores *10 sprang into action to deliver on that promise, salvage some celebration and do some good as well.
Ross, inspired by a Zoom work meeting with 60 staffers, decided her class should host a Zoom reunion on April 4, complete with “events” like a lightning round of 30-second personal updates, a discussion of a class donation to address COVID-19 and a BYOB closing toast.
The idea was to bring the group together even when having to stay physically apart, and to help address some of the immediate needs caused by the current public health and economic crisis. Ross noted what her classmates suggested as worthy causes during the online reunion discussion and after doing some research, she identified the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund as an organization that hit all the right markers. Petkun, Yin and Flores — all living in different states from Ross — volunteered to organize a four-day fundraiser scheduled three weeks after the online “Woounion.”
Together, the four handled the logistics and communications for the campaign. Nearly 60 MPA and MPP classmates (and one classmate’s employer match) donated $30,000 to NJPR.
“It’s the most connected I’ve felt in a long time,” Ross said. “It exceeded my expectations. Now we’re all looking forward to our *10* Reunion next year.”
NSF RAPID grant awarded for study of how anxiety affects the spread of COVID-19 information
Princeton researchers have been awarded a National Science Foundation RAPID grant to study how anxiety about COVID-19 influences how we learn and share information about the pandemic. Read more …
University president uses medical degree to help inform university COVID-19 response
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel ’79 ran an immunobiology lab for 20 years and is a board-certified internist. That background helped him see the potential scale of the pandemic, and to make decisions about students overseas and in-person instruction, sooner than he might have otherwise. He was also better equipped to communicate with experts through that process.
Read more about how he and other university presidents responded here.
Q&A: Laura Kahn *02 on COVID’s Spread and How We Defeat It
Laura Kahn *02, a physician and research scholar at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, studies the politics of infectious disease, including how leaders can make better decisions during outbreaks and how global-health policy can better prevent and mitigate zoonotic diseases, which are transmitted from animals to humans. In this article, she answers questions about how governments should respond to such pandemics and how the world can stop them from happening again.