Charlies Gillispie on the formation of the Sachs Scholarship
from the 50th Reunion Book of the Class of 1960
My connection with Dan started as his freshman-sophomore faculty adviser. It soon turned out that we both had family backgrounds in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was also a factor that his father had died in the service just after the war, and we soon became close friends in a way going beyond faculty-student relations.
When his illness first struck in the summer of 1964 everyone hoped that it could be contained. By early 1967 it was clear that it could not. Consequently his friends, both classmates and those from football, began to worry about what would happen to Joan and Alexandra. It fell to Jack Horton and me with Bob Goheen’s permission to raise funds of which the initial purpose was to help support Joan and Alexandra with the income and, when and if that should no longer be needed, to revert to the University to found the Daniel M. Sachs Graduating Scholarship. That came about when Joan remarried in 1968. Dennis Sullivan ’70 was the first Scholar. Alex Barnard ’09, the second Scholar to win the Pyne Prize, is the 40th. The two most widely known are Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80, currently. Chair of the Policy Planning Commission founded in the State Department by George Kennan ’25, and Elena Kagan ’81, Solicitor-General of the United States. By no means are they the only ones of whose careers we are proud. Far from it. The definition of the Scholarship is that it should go to the candidate whose prospective career is most likely to be of benefit to the public. The purpose is to enlarge his or her experience of the world, as the Rhodes Scholarship did for Dan. The Scholar may choose to attend Dan’s college, Worcester College at Oxford, as the majority have done, or to embark on a program abroad of his or her own devising.
The income from the fund has never quite sufficed. Bob Goheen and Bill Bowen were close friends of mine, knew Dan’s reputation at first hand, and made up the difference out of the President’s Discretionary Fund. That could not be expected of Harold Shapiro when he became President in 1987, the year of my retirement. It seemed providential that under Parker Harrell’s presidency, the Class then instituted without my request the annual check-off of dues for the support of the Scholarship. That has yielded from $8,000 to $10,000 annually and has enabled us not to go into principal. Former Scholars are generously increasing their annual support, but that cannot be expected to replace the amount generated by the Class, which obviously will not outlive its members. Certain members of the Class have hoped, as have we, that the Class may raise enough endowment by the time of the 50th to provide comparable income as time goes on. There have already been a few generous contributions.
As to governance, I wanted Dan’s approval before setting up the plan. I told him about it a few weeks before he died. He smiled and said, “That has scope.” I also asked whom he would like to be responsible. He named his brother, Bill ’66, Jack Horton, myself, and two close Oxford friends, Matthew Nimetz and Bob Orrill. Our position was Advisers to the Trustees of Princeton. The funds can be used only in the way the Advisers specify. At the time of my retirement, we handed that responsibility over the the Former Scholars. They elect an executive committee, which has long been chaired by David Loevner ’76. In effect he is the administrator of the Scholarship. The members of the Selection Committee are all former Scholars and change each year. Harry Lord is the Class of 1960's Representative to the Scholarship and usually participates in the annual selection.
Finally, the connection is highly valued by Worcester College. The current Provost knew Dan. The College has named Dennis, Elena, Anne-Marie, and myself Honorary Fellows.