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Prep for Prep Milestones

We invite you to join us on Prep for Prep's journey and look back at milestones accomplished in over four decades of the organization's history! Many trailblazing students, alumni, faculty, staff, and board members made this journey possible for the over 5,000 members of today's Prep for Prep Community. Thank you for your courage and commitment. 

Suggest a milestone: This page is a work in progress, and we'd love to hear from our community. Would you like to share a Prep for Prep organizational milestone for consideration? Please email us at communications@prepforprep.org. 

  • March 1978

    Teachers College Columbia University sponsors Prep for Prep as a pilot project. Headmaster Robin Lester offers the use of Trinity School’s facilities. Prep's founder Gary Simons launches the Talent Search for Contingent I in the South Bronx and Harlem.

  • July 1978

    First Summer Session begins with 25 students and 3 teachers.

  • September 1981

    Enrollment of Prep for Prep students at independent schools reaches 100.

  • June 1985

    The Summer Advisory System is reorganized as an all Prep student and alumni corps, with Frankie Cruz of Contingent I as Head. Prep celebrates its first contingent to graduate from independent schools. 

  • May 1986

    The first annual fundraiser, the Iris Ball (subsequently named Lilac Ball), honors Samuel Peabody.

  • December 1986

    Prep for Prep and seven boarding schools form PREP FOR
    PREP 9 Consortium: Andover, Choate, Deerfield, Exeter, Hotchkiss,    Lawrenceville, and St. Andrew’s

  • August 1987

    Prep launches Leadership Development Program to serve 11th and 12th graders. 

  • September 1987

    Contingent IX Commencement celebrates the first graduating contingent to exceed 100 students.

  • June 1989

    Ruth Del Valle (I) is hired as a Post-Placement Counselor and becomes the first full-time Prep alum staff member.

  • September 1989

    Frankie Cruz (I) is awarded the first annual Alumni Prize.

  • December 1989

    Prep college students establish the Alumni Association.
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Additional Materials

Alumni Prize Recipients:
List as of Fall 2020
Telegraph, February 1987:
Launch of PREP 9
Telegraph, March 1988: 
Launch of Leadership Development Program 
Telegraph, March 2001:
Launch of NYMRLA

    • Frankie Cruz and Prep for Prep Advisors, 1985

    • Lilac Ball, 1999

  • Summer 1990

    Prep's Summer Jobs Bank places 27 juniors and seniors in its first year.
    John L. Vogelstein is honored at the Lilac Ball, and raises more than $825,000 for Prep. He is elected President of Prep's Board of Trustees. 

  • April 1991

    “Getting Children To The Starting Gate” Conference launches Students Advocating for Young Children (SAYC).

  • June 1992

    Prep celebrates its first high school graduating class to exceed 100 students and its first PREP 9 Contingent to graduate from boarding schools. 
    The Special Gifts Campaign is launched to raise $1.5 million in gifts committed over three years; direct financial support of Prep by its Board of Trustees doubles in a year, exceeding $1 million annually.

  • August 1993

    Louis Bonilla (II) is elected the first Chairman of the Prep for Prep Alumni Association.

  • October 1993

    Field-testing begins on the first of eleven curriculum modules that will comprise Aspects of Leadership.

  • Autumn 1994

    Prep launches the Network for Undergraduate Affairs & Professional Advancement.

  • January 1995

    Prep purchases a double brownstone on West 71st street to accommodate growing program needs. The 91st Street brownstone will remain home to Admissions and Preparatory Component, while other programming and administrative functions will move to the new location after renovations are completed.

  • November 1995

    71% of Prep's college graduates participate in the first Annual Alumni Giving Campaign, raising over $11,000.

  • May 1996

    Frankie Cruz (I) becomes the first alumnus elected to Prep for Prep’s Board of Trustees.

  • June 1996

    The Lilac Ball honoring Trustee Leon Black nets a record $2.9 million.
    10 undergraduates are awarded the first Picower Summer Internships for the Exploration of Career Fields.

  • June 1997

    Bo Tan (VI) obtains a $10,000 grant from Alliance Capital, becoming the first alumna to secure a corporate grant for the program.

  • Fall 1997

    Trustee Enrique Foster Gittes makes a gift of stock that subsequently sells for over $3.1 million, the largest single gift Prep has received to date.
    The Executive Committee of Prep's Board launches the 20th Anniversary Challenge with the goal of obtaining five-year commitments from Trustees that would total $3 million of annual support for the program - a goal achieved by Spring 1998. 

  • June 1998

    With the high school graduation of the Class of 1998 and the admission of Contingent XXI, the Prep for Prep Student & Alumni/ae Community grows to more than 2,000 individuals.

  • Fall 1998

    Sarah Sayeed (III) defends her dissertation and becomes the first alumnus/a to earn a PhD.

  • June 1999

    The Lilac Ball honors Board Chairman Martin Lipton and Board President John Vogelstein, and nets a record-shattering $3.5+ million.
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  • January 2002

    Aileen Hefferren (who in the past had served as Prep’s Director of Operations and thereafter as Director of Development) returns to Prep as Chief Executive.

  • December 2002

    Sue Meng (XV) becomes Prep for Prep’s − and The Brearley School’s − first-ever Rhodes Scholar.

  • May 2003

    Be The Dream, a collection of essays by Prep alumni/ae compiled by Prep's founder Gary Simons, is published pro bono by Workman Publishing. 

  • July 2003

    Dan-el Padilla Peralta (XVIII) wins Princeton University’s Freshman First Honor Prize. This prize is awarded annually to one Princeton student (out of a class of over 1,100 students) in recognition of exceptional achievement during freshman year.

  • June 2005

    The Lilac Ball, honoring Trustee Daniel S. Loeb, nets a record $4 million.

  • May 2006

    Steve M. Del Villar (P9 II) becomes the first PREP 9 alum to be elected as a Trustee to Prep’s Board.  

  • November 2008

    Mayor Michael Bloomberg declares Saturday, November 28, 2008 “Prep for Prep Day” in New York City to honor the program’s 30th Anniversary.  

  • June 2009

    Diahann Billings-Burford (VI) is appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as New York City’s first Chief Service Officer.  The position is the first of its kind in the nation. 
    Nicole Campbell (P9 V) is named a White House Fellow, Prep for Prep’s first.  She is one of 15 Fellows to serve in the Obama Administration.

  • May 2010

    Kimberley Knowles (IV) becomes the first Prep alum judge when she is sworn in as a Magistrate Judge in Washington, D.C.  Two years later, United States President Barack Obama nominates her to serve as a judge on the D.C. Superior Court.  Her appointment is approved by the U.S. Senate.

  • October 2010

    Nia Froome (XXVII) wins the $10,000 Grand Prize at the 2010 NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New York City for her business, Mamma Nia’s Vegan Bakery. Nia donates a portion of her prize money to Prep.
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    • PREP 9 25th Reunion

    • Prep for Prep's CEO Ruth Jurgensen

  • June 2011

    After 28 years at the helm of Prep’s Board of Trustees as either President or Chairman, John Vogelstein announces that he is making way for the next generation of Board leadership. On July 1 he joins Martin Lipton as Chairman Emeritus of the Prep Board.  Scott Bok becomes Chairman and Lisa Smith Cashin takes on the role of President.

  • May 2012

    Kevin Su (XXVIII) becomes the first Prep student named a U.S. Presidential Scholar, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.

  • November 2014

    Prep proudly welcomes its first-ever alum Corporate Trustee: Dale Allsopp (VII) is elected to represent Google on Prep’s Board.

  • Autumn 2015

    Prep's Alumni Association Council relaunches with Leslie-Bernard Joseph (P9 XI) serving as its President.

  • May 2017

    Natalie Hutchinson (XIV), a member of Prep's Associates Council, becomes the first Prep alum elected to the Board as an Individual Trustee.

  • June 2017

    As called for in its 2015 strategic plan, Prep increases its STEM offerings by partnering with tech leaders to provide students more and earlier opportunities, including programming with Bloomberg Start Up, Google Code Next, and Upperline Code; and career seminars by the likes of Dropbox, Oxeon, and STV Engineering.
    26% of Prep's summer internships now have a STEM focus.

  • June 2018

    The 2018 Lilac Ball launches Prep for Prep’s 40th anniversary celebrations by honoring Chairmen Emeriti Martin Lipton and John L. Vogelstein. The two former board chairs have collectively served more than 65 years as Prep Trustees. They help raise a record $5.3 million for Prep's programs.

  • Autumn 2018

    Prep for Prep hosts its 40th Anniversary Alumni Summit at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NYC. Panels are live-streamed on YouTube for guests outside of New York.
    The number of Prep college graduates surpasses 3,000.

  • July 2020

    After 25 years of service, Aileen Hefferren steps down from her role as Chief Executive. Ruth Jurgensen is appointed CEO of Prep for Prep after a national search. Yahonnes Cleary (V) and Christopher James (IX) are appointed Co-Presidents of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees -- the first time in Prep’s history to have alums to serve in that role.

  • January 2021

    Kristen Clarke (P9 II) is nominated by United States President Joseph R. Biden to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Prep for Prep's mission is to develop future leaders by creating access for young people of color to first-rate educational, leadership development and professional opportunities.