Princeton Announces The Chi Family Fund For Excellence And Inclusion

Youngsuk (YS) Chi '83 P11 P13 has spent his career as a successful international businessman and philanthropist. He knows without hesitation where his best investments have been, however.

"It's investing in people," he says. "It's helping them grow."

To that end, Chi is combining that growth-minded mentality with his love and loyalty for the Princeton Tigers and his quest for social justice and equality in the form of a highly impactful gift for the Department of Athletics.

The Chi Family Fund for Excellence and Inclusion will provide vital support to the athletic department in several key areas related to excellence and inclusion. In addition to the establishment of the endowment that will support these efforts in perpetuity, Chi's gift will also have an immediate impact on education, training and programming.

"We could not be more grateful to YS for his tremendous generosity and commitment to Princeton and Princeton Athletics," says Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux Samaan '91. "YS has been one of our most supportive and committed Athletics volunteers through his work with the Princeton Varsity Club and various Athletics Friends groups and his work mentoring student-athletes. His passion for Princeton Athletics is infectious, and his commitment to our mission of Education through Athletics and the role athletics plays in complementing the mission of the University is clearly represented in this extraordinary gift. His generosity will provide both short-term and long-term funds to support important work around inclusion and excellence at this critical juncture in time and into the future. We are working diligently on ways of creatively and impactfully using these funds to build upon our current initiatives aimed at providing a model environment that fosters personal growth and excellence for all."

Specifically, the gift will directly benefit Princeton's steadfast commitment to recruit, develop and retain coaches and administrators from broad and diverse backgrounds; create professional education programming that builds high performing employee teams that value diversity; and continually foster a workplace in which all feel valued and supported to pursue their full potential and contribute their best.

"I've been very lucky," Chi says. "Princeton gave me an awful lot, and I've been lucky post-graduation as well. I've been lucky to see my daughters go to Princeton and grow there. This is an extension of our investment in people. We want to provide the Department and its leaders some extra funding to recognize excellence, and inclusion is an important part of attaining that excellence. Mollie has said she really wants to take charge and get ahead of the curve. If I can help, I'm just lucky to be able to do so."

Chi has been one of the biggest supporters of Princeton Athletics and its "Achieve, Serve, Lead" values through the years. He has been a Princeton University trustee, an active leader of the Princeton Varsity Club Board of Directors and a benefactor of the Friends of Princeton Golf, as well as a member of the Princeton Schools Committee, Campaign Executive Committee and many other volunteer and leadership positions at the University.
His love of Princeton Athletics goes back to his days as an undergraduate. He has long been one of the biggest fans of all of the Tiger teams, beginning when he loyally attended all of the home games for Princeton football, basketball, soccer and lacrosse as a student. "I'm not built to be an athlete," he says. "But I love athletics. I grew up playing sports. I played soccer for 30 years. I played tennis. I swam. I played volleyball. I've always appreciated athletics as something that promoted good health, something that was character building. It's an incredible social medium to be on a team with the people you meet."
Chi is based in London now, but he is a frequent visitor to campus. He also follows Princeton online and social media. He also has stayed as close as he can to the Princeton athletes, including caddying for former Tiger Kelly Shon '14 in professional events including the U.S. Open and seeing the Princeton rowing teams at Henley.

"I've tried to be a mentor to hundreds and hundreds of students through the years, many of them athletes. Following their on-field work has been a meaningful part of mentoring."

He previously helped start the Chi '83/Ingram '83 Endowed Fund along with his classmate John Ingram '83. The Chi/Ingram endowment provides the Department of Athletics with supplemental funding for a team or teams whose coach or coaches demonstrate excellence in teaching and developing student-athletes not only as players but also as people.

To that he now adds the Chi Family Fund for Excellence and Inclusion.

"This is not about me," he says. "This is about the people who impact our students' lives. This is all about them. Princeton Athletics is all about excellence, and hopefully this will help the departmental leadership continue to be able to achieve that excellence while helping to mentor and promote a spirit of inclusion."

The department is currently working on a tangible and impactful action plan for its work around diversity, inclusion and equity and the Chi Family Fund for Excellence and Inclusion is a tremendous step forward in achieving its goals in all of these areas.

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