Cap News | August 2021
Greetings Cap Members,
We hope you’re enjoying the summer. It’s going by too quickly!
The club is preparing to open this fall, and we’re planning for a Homecoming Celebration on Saturday, October 23rd, the day of the Princeton-Harvard Football Game. We’re watching the COVID news carefully, and following Princeton’s guidelines to be as safe as possible for our undergrad members, our staff, and our alums.
Each spring, the Cap and Gown Board of Trustees elects Board members and executive leadership. We have 35 Board members for the 2021 - 2022 year under the continued leadership of Chair Tom Fleming ‘69. “Meet” the Board of Trustees.
Board membership is very popular with our young alums, and the Board has become increasingly diverse to better represent the demographics of our members. The Cap Board met more often this past year, on Zoom, as a result of the coronavirus. Board members worked hard through a number of sub-committees and with our Club Officers and Club Manager, Dennis Normile, to survive this most challenging year. We were fortunate that Princeton provided supported for all 11 eating clubs to cover our fixed costs this past year. Additional Board initiatives this year include the creation of a Cap Financial Aid Fund and the formation of a Board Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
We elected five new Board members this spring, and we’re delighted to have them “on board” as we re-open and continue Cap’s role as a leader on the Street.
MEET OUR NEW CAP BOARD MEMBERS
Greg Burton ‘90
I’m honored to serve the Cap and Gown community and give back to a club that has provided me with friendships to last a lifetime.
I served as Bicker Chair for the Class of 1990, and our intention (even back then) was to make the club a welcoming and inclusive place for all Princeton students who wanted a special experience. I currently live in Philadelphia and have had the opportunity to come back and visit the club several times over the years. It’s amazing to see the improvements and some familiar faces still working there today!
I have a special interest in the Diversity Committee. I currently work in the nonprofit space managing marketing and communications initiatives for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I was fortunate to help rebrand the organization on a national level, to better support social justice and political issues impacting the lives of disadvantaged youth. I also run our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and recently completed a DEI Certificate course from the University of South Florida.
The first part of my career was in financial services where I worked for The Bank of New York (New York, NY), Rabobank (Philadelphia, PA), and PHH Mortgage (Medford, NJ), before making the decision to do something more personally fulfilling in the nonprofit arena. Outside of work, I teach martial arts to children and adults through Seido Karate Philadelphia, and organization I co-founded. I believe I can add multiple perspectives to the board and help with strategy, communications, engagement and more.
LaDonna Gooden ‘90
Now, some thirty years since my graduation, my oldest and dearest friends from Princeton are members of the Cap and Gown community. I welcome the opportunity to reconnect and work to advance this unique Princeton institution.
I believe I can have the greatest impact in the following areas: Governance, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Alumni Relations. I am happy to serve and use the skills I have developed over the course of my career to promote the club.
Relevant highlights among my professional experience include the following:
Act as advisor to the Mayor of Kansas City to reimagine public Board structures to improve outcomes and enable a more responsive government;
Created and launched DEI programs for Fortune 500 companies; and
Designed communication and marketing campaigns to engage stakeholders for wireless and youth brands.
It’s an honor to engage and support current and future members of the Cap and Gown community. I am thrilled by the prospect of serving in this capacity.
Christine Hunsicker ‘99
For the second half of my college experience, Cap was the center. A center that grounded me, fed me, housed me during my senior year when I was the Treasurer for the class of 1999, and helped create some of my fondest memories with my closest friends.
I am regularly on campus as I guest lecture once or twice a year in the Computer Science department and frequently come back for Field Hockey games. I’m particularly interested in Financial Aid (I was a financial aid recipient when I was a student), and anything that helps the younger members get the most out of the connections and mentoring that the alumni base should be happy to offer. Additionally, I’m on a number of company Boards currently, so I know how to be an effective board member while driving meaningful progress.
Christine Hunsicker on LinkedIn
Joie Hand ‘13
I have a special interest in the Alumni Relations and Membership. The undergraduate members of the club are the future lifeblood of Cap and Gown, and it is never too early to help them connect with that responsibility and privilege. Alumni members need more intuitive and consistent touch points with the club, and we can help provide it. Along with its many challenges, the pandemic provided an opportunity to reconsider the ways in which we manage relationships, and it demonstrated that we have the tools to remain connected wherever we are.
During my time as an undergraduate member of the Club, I served as the Social Chair. In that role, I saw it as my job to work with my fellow officers to create a fun experience for my section mates. As an attorney, I approach all problems from an analytical and pragmatic perspective. My practice is focused on litigation, and that experience helps me to evaluate and minimize risk while pursuing the group’s greater objectives.
My time at Cap and Gown was one of the most memorable aspects of my Princeton education, and my relationships forged through the Club have been transformational in my life.
Karthik Ramesh ‘21
As Cap President this past year, I grappled with the unique challenge of guiding the club through the COVID-19 pandemic and maintaining a vibrant virtual community. My fellow officers and I were forced to reimagine the social calendar and reformat the bicker process to best fit the virtual environment. This process yielded several insights on how to improve in-person social events and bicker that I would love to work through as a member of the board. My officer corps also worked with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee to better understand what issues are the most important to undergraduates and to recognize how Cap can improve in the future. Further, I worked to expand Cap’s alumni engagement offerings through the Cap Connections initiative.
I believe that, at the moment, I would be best suited to working with the membership, alumni engagement, or DEI committees. I hope to be able to support the board’s efforts during this challenging time as we strive to continue to make Cap a place that current members enjoy and an institution that will survive for many years to come.
I look forward to the opportunity to return to Cap whenever it is safe to do so. My time at this club has been, without a doubt, the highlight of my Princeton experience, and I will treasure any chance to give back to this community that has given me so much.