Some Brown alums demonstrate strong ties to their alma mater by attending reunions or interviewing applicants. But nearly 300 alums stay connected to the University by paying thousands of dollars to travel to exotic locales such as Bhutan, Provence or the Galápagos. They are the Brown Travelers.
"We go everywhere," said Beth Goldman Galer '88, who heads the group as director of alumni travel. "We've done Antarctica, Australia - you name it."
The Brown Travelers program began in the mid-1970s and seeks to combine the excitement of worldwide travel with an opportunity for learning. Participants explore the globe as Brown staff and faculty - often professors emeriti without teaching responsibilities - act as trip leaders, delivering lectures on topics relevant to the location.
The experience is both very enriching and very "Brown," Goldman Galer said.
"I'm very grateful that the University does this. It's a lot of fun," said Phyllis Santry '66, a graduate of Pembroke College and a seasoned Brown Traveler who has been on over a dozen trips with the group over a span of 25 years.
Brown is not alone in offering educational trips for its alums. All Ivy League schools offer similar trips, as do many schools in the Big Ten Conference and a host of other colleges. Most of the alums opting to take Brown trips are retirees, blessed with free time and the means to spend a week in Guatemala learning about the "World of the Maya."
"The main purpose of (the trips), far above anything else, is the educational content (for) the alumni," Goldman Galer said. "It's a way for them to stay connected to Brown and to each other. And it's an incredibly powerful connection."
Santry cited the trip leaders as one of the program's highlights. "The professors always bring a lot to the group," she said. "It's not just lectures. They travel around with you and make comments and observations."
But what keeps alums like Santry coming back year after year? While some might prefer the five-day, $3,095 excursion on the French Riviera, Santry said she appreciates visiting exotic locations she might not otherwise see.
"I like the ones that are to strange places like Antarctica (or) Galapágos," she said. "I've gotten to go some places I would not go on my own."
But the University is by no means operating a travel agency, Goldman Galer said. Travel companies organize the trip's logistical details, while Goldman Galer tailors the itinerary for Brown, finding appropriate professors and staff who can speak knowledgeably about the region.
Trips range from a $2,295 tour of Tuscany to a $6,995 tour through Egypt, Greece and Turkey, which is titled the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" and led by Martha Joukowsky '58 P'87, professor emerita of old world archaeology and art.
For those with even more cash on hand, a private jet trip offers 10 alums the chance to visit five continents and survey the Taj Mahal, Serengeti Plain, Egyptian pyramids, Machu Picchu, Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the Smithsonian museums in the space of less than a month for a mere $49,950 per person.
But the trip is the first of its kind organized by the Brown Travelers, and the program itself is not a cash cow for the University, Goldman Galer said.
"We don't make a profit," she said, adding that any revenue the University receives from such trips is poured back into the program and not used for other Brown projects or expenses.
University professors and staff members, like Peter Harrington MA'84 - who curates the John Hay Library's Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection - provide the traveling alums with relevant educational content.
"The nice thing about Brown is there are a lot of specialists," Harrington said. "You can usually find people who are real authorities on the destinations and topics."
Harrington will lead a $6,795 trip to India from Oct. 27 through Nov. 11, his fifth trip to date. Though he will be giving three lectures on Indian culture and history, Harrington said his primary role on the trip is to serve as an intermediary between the alums and Brown.
"My task is to act as an ambassador - a direct link to the University," he said. "I get a lot of questions."
Like all trip leaders, Harrington is briefed before each trip by Goldman Galer, who prepares him for the slew of questions he will receive from curious alums.
In addition to perennial questions about the admissions process, Goldman Galer said alums pepper trip leaders with queries about the Campaign for Academic Enrichment and Plan for Academic Enrichment.
Though this attention to detail is geared toward improving the experience for those who have left College Hill, the organizers and travelers alike said the program also benefits current students.
"It's a win-win situation," Harrington said. "The alums get a great trip out of it, but they also get to reconnect with the University, and, in terms of development and fundraising, it's a good way to remind the alums that the University is here for them."
Santry agreed. "The program makes the alumni want to come back to the school, it makes the alumni want to give money to the school, and it makes the alumni want to send their children to the school," she said. "They know there's going to be a connection with this place for the rest of their lives, not just the four years they're there."
