Concerned Alumni of Princeton
Encyclopedia
The Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP) was a group of politically conservative
former Princeton University
students that existed between 1972 and 1986. CAP was born in 1972 from the ashes of the Alumni Committee to Involve Itself Now (ACTION), which was founded in opposition to the college going coed in 1969. Some claim that CAP was founded to bring the ROTC back to the Princeton campus after the ROTC building was burned down by anti-war activists and the Princeton administration refused to rebuild it. However, the ROTC had returned to campus by the time CAP was founded. The primary motivation behind CAP was to limit the number of women admitted to the university. CAP also opposed affirmative action
designed to increase minority
attendance at the Ivy League
institution. http://www.isthatlegal.org/images/cap1.pdf CAP also exhibited strong support for Princeton's eating clubs
, which were male-only at the time.
The existence of the organization attracted wide notice in January 2006 during the nomination of Samuel Alito
, who was a former CAP member, to the Supreme Court of the United States
, as Alito included his membership in the organization on a job application to work in the Reagan
administration in 1985 http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/alito/8105.pdf. No mention of Alito has been found in CAP files, apart from his own written 1985 statement of membership. Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano
was a founding member. Former Senator Bill Bradley
, a liberal Democrat
, was a member until 1973, when he resigned because of the tone of the organization's magazine, Prospect. Republican Senator Bill Frist
, at the time a recent Princeton alumnus, contributed to a report that labeled the organization as far-right and extremist.
– New York Times, March 3, 1974.http://www.isthatlegal.org/images/cap1.pdf
on the United States Supreme Court.
The result of an extensive search of CAP documentation demanded by Ted Kennedy
on January 11, 2006 was that no mention of or connection to Sam Alito was found.
http://www.princeton.edu/~puband/photo-album/formations.htmlhttp://www.princeton.edu/~puband/media/1974.html, and the university's chaplain in 1973 defended himself against charges of radicalism for his involvement in supporting draft dodging http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1973/v30-1-criticscorner1.htm.
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
former Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
students that existed between 1972 and 1986. CAP was born in 1972 from the ashes of the Alumni Committee to Involve Itself Now (ACTION), which was founded in opposition to the college going coed in 1969. Some claim that CAP was founded to bring the ROTC back to the Princeton campus after the ROTC building was burned down by anti-war activists and the Princeton administration refused to rebuild it. However, the ROTC had returned to campus by the time CAP was founded. The primary motivation behind CAP was to limit the number of women admitted to the university. CAP also opposed affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
designed to increase minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
attendance at the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
institution. http://www.isthatlegal.org/images/cap1.pdf CAP also exhibited strong support for Princeton's eating clubs
Eating clubs
The eating clubs at Princeton University are private institutions resembling both dining halls and social houses, where the majority of Princeton upperclassmen eat their meals. Each eating club occupies a large mansion on Prospect Avenue, one of the main roads that runs through the Princeton...
, which were male-only at the time.
The existence of the organization attracted wide notice in January 2006 during the nomination of Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
, who was a former CAP member, to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, as Alito included his membership in the organization on a job application to work in the Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
administration in 1985 http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/alito/8105.pdf. No mention of Alito has been found in CAP files, apart from his own written 1985 statement of membership. Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Paolo Napolitano is a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge and now a political and legal analyst for Fox News Channel. Napolitano started on the channel in 1998, and currently serves as the network's senior judicial analyst, commenting on legal news and trials...
was a founding member. Former Senator Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
, a liberal Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, was a member until 1973, when he resigned because of the tone of the organization's magazine, Prospect. Republican Senator Bill Frist
Bill Frist
William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
, at the time a recent Princeton alumnus, contributed to a report that labeled the organization as far-right and extremist.
Opposition to coeducation
In 1974, the New York Times reported on CAPs support for quotas guaranteeing that male students would receive most of the available admissions slots, and its earlier and continuing opposition to Princeton allowing women to attend at all. In the following excerpt, "Mr. Bushnell" refers to CAP co-chairman Asa S. Bushnell, and "Mr. Jones" refers to T. Harding Jones, CAP's executive director.Whether or not the administration satisfies CAP on the faculty issue, the recent decision by the university's Board of Trustees to eliminate sex-based admissions quotas jolted these conservative alumni, many of whom wanted Princeton to remain an all-male institution in the first place.
When the trustees approved co-education in 1969, there was a widespread understanding that the male enrollment would be maintained at 800 per entering class. The subsequent adoption of an equal-access admissions policy last Jan. 19, along with the decision to retain undergraduate population at current levels, are expected to result in a decrease in the number of males matriculating each year.
"Many Princeton graduates are unhappy over the fact that the administration has seen fit to abrogate the virtual guarantee that 800 would continue to be the number of males in the graduating class," Mr. Bushnell said.
"Co-education has ruined the mystique and the camaraderies that used to exist," Mr. Jones added. "Princeton has now given into the fad of the moment, and I think it's going to prove to be a very unfortunate thing."
...
Alumni response to the equal-access decision may offer a reliable gauge of CAP's influence among the university's graduates. The changing composition of the undergraduate population concerns many Princeton alumni, especially those who cherish memories of a relatively homogenous student body. Both supporters and critics of the new policy have initiated extensive campaigns to publicize their arguments.
CAP leaders trace this year's 10 per cent decline in gift-giving to alumni disaffection that emerged during an era of liberalization, an era that reached its culmination in the equal-access decision.
"Annual giving has been hurt very substantially by the equal-access vote," Mr. Jones said. "And it will be hurt more next year as more people find out about it. For many alumni, it was the last straw."
– New York Times, March 3, 1974.http://www.isthatlegal.org/images/cap1.pdf
Alito hearings
In the confirmation hearings, CAP attracted attention because of its public stance against affirmative action and co-education at Princeton. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who were questioning Alito suggested that his involvement in this group could shed some light on his stance on minority and women's rights issues, which may come before him if he is confirmed as an Associate JusticeAssociate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
on the United States Supreme Court.
The result of an extensive search of CAP documentation demanded by Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
on January 11, 2006 was that no mention of or connection to Sam Alito was found.
Quota system for males
CAP supported quotas preserving admission spots for males. http://www.isthatlegal.org/images/cap1.pdfReaction by undergraduates, faculty, and staff
CAP appears to have been treated as a nuisance or danger by some of the Princeton community contemporaneous to its most active period. Faculty members were wary of participating in a CAP-sponsored political survey. CAP was repeatedly mocked by the school's bandPrinceton University Band
The Princeton University Band serves as the marching band and pep band of Princeton University. Like most other Ivy League bands, it is a scramble band. To members and fans, it is often known as the PUB or simply The Band...
http://www.princeton.edu/~puband/photo-album/formations.htmlhttp://www.princeton.edu/~puband/media/1974.html, and the university's chaplain in 1973 defended himself against charges of radicalism for his involvement in supporting draft dodging http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1973/v30-1-criticscorner1.htm.
External links
- Alito joined conservative alumni group from the Daily Princetonian
- PFAW Seeking Access to Records of 'Concerned Alumni of Princeton', from People for the American WayPeople For the American WayPeople For the American Way is a progressive advocacy group in the United States. Under U.S. tax code, People For the American Way is organized as a tax-exempt 501 non-profit organization.-Purpose:...
- Alito needs to shed his CAP from the Daily Princetonian
- Alumni group targeted women, minorities, from the Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
(Link dead as of 05:38, 15 January 2007 (UTC)) - Conservative Alumni Act to Alter Princeton Image, from the New York Times, March 3, 1974 (pdf format)
- Alito's CAP Connection from The Nation
- Don't Rush to Judgment from National Review Online
- Samuel Alito and the Concerned Alumni of Princeton from "Yahoo News", January 14, 2006 (Link dead as of 05:38, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Alito: A Last-Gasp Democratic Gambit Fails from National Review Online
- Setting the Record Straight: Alito's Role With CAP from HumanEvents.com.