Who is John Prendergast?

Quick: What do the following four individuals have in common?

Kofi Annan
Colin Powell
Bill Gates
John Prendergast

Judging from the first three names, you might venture to answer that they are all recipients of Princeton's Crystal Tiger Award. In that case, you would be correct. You might also ask the question: Who is John Prendergast?

John Prendergast may not be a household name, but anyone who's seen Hotel Rwanda or worn a 'Save Darfur' shirt will only come to understand the extraordinary impact of this one man. In his lifetime, Mr. Prendergast has served as a human rights activist, White House adviser, State Department diplomat, NGO founder, Hollywood liaison, and Lord Byron-esque warrior poet. Instead, the question should be: Why haven't we heard of John Prendergast?

I almost made the mistake of writing off Mr. Prendergast as the 'Bradley Whitford' of Crystal Tiger recipients -- that is, until I learned of the incredible work accomplished by this incredible person. Go see it for yourself. Indeed, if the Crystal Tiger is all about "recogniz[ing] those who have demonstrated a strong commitment to enriching the human experience and who have inspired students at Princeton to pursue the same goal", then the selection committee is dead-on this year, and Mr. Prendergast is a worthy recipient, worthy of our attention.

Who knows? John Prendergast may go down in history as the 'Maroon 5' of Crystal Tiger recipients: obscure at Princeton, but a rockstar later on.

The Crystal Tiger Award Presentation is taking place in McCosh 50 on Monday, April 21st. Tickets to the presentation are free and available to the public at Frist between 12-6pm from April 14-16.