reaching for happiness in life. Happiness in life can come from service to God or service to fellow man, or best of all, both. If you just spend all your life just trying to make money, you're not going to be very happy. "Freddie" was many decades ahead of his time with respect to diversity. By the 1970s he recruited boys from ~30 countries each year of diverse economic backgrounds, not merely the less well-off. During two hours of daily "instruction" (ad hoc "classes" that ran for one day to two weeks daily) campers were encouraged to debate the entire gamut of political, economic, and social ideals. The United States was indeed exceptional, he espoused. Thus, campers from other nations lived with American host families prior to arriving at Camp Rising Sun and, prior to their departure home at the end of each summer, "Freddie" would bring all of the overseas campers to Washington, D.C. for several days to demonstrate to them the history and the uniqueness of the American experiment and the values of the American democratic republic, to which he hoped they would aspire in their home countries. its imperfections notwithstanding. Awards Queen Juliana of the Netherlands presented Jonas with the Order of Orange-Nassau, the highest Dutch award bestowed on a citizen of a foreign nation. In November 1977, the year before his death, Jonas was awarded the Alexander Hamilton Medal, the highest award given by his alma mater to an alumnus or member of the faculty. Other recipients of the award include Lionel Trilling, Meyer Schapiro, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Legacy In his lifetime, Jonas worked with over 2,000 boys from 37 countries. Along with the affectionate nickname, Jonas acquired legendary status among the campers, who frequently referred, even decades later, to how he and the camp had changed their lives. The Camp Rising Sun Alumni Association of Denmark created a foundation to operate a European version of CRS and named its foundation after Jonas. References External links Camp Rising Sun, The Louis August Jonas Foundation Camp Rising Sun Europe American people of German descent Founders of educational institutions 1897 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American philanthropists Columbia College (New York) alumni