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People to People: "Ambassadors" or Tourists?

Parents Object to Student Lists

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 20, 2006

People to People International An Investigative Report by Lisa Wade McCormick • Introduction • P2P: Ambassadors or Tourists? • P2P CEO "Mortified" • Parents Object to Student Lists • Not Everyone's Happy with People to People Trips • Fast Facts About People to People International • Update 12/06: It Happens Again • Deceased Cat Invited to be Student Ambassador --- News about P2P • Feds Asked to Probe Student's Death on People to People Tour • Student 'Ambassador' Dies Neglected & Alone • People to People Invites Dead Girl ... Again • People to People Executive Sentenced to Prison • People to People "Clarifies" Its Invitation Policy • Student Travel Service Still Misleading Parents • Student Travel Service Agrees To Modify Marketing --- • Consumer Complaints • Consumer Compliments

Tracie Y. of Niagara Falls, New York, is outraged by the marketing tactics a non-profit organization -- founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower -- used to promote its educational trips overseas.

The organization sent Tracie's ten-year-old son an invitation to participate in one of its trips and claimed he was specially chosen for this honor.

But Tracie says no one nominated her son. She learned the organization bought his name from a list service -- an action she says violated his privacy.

"I think something should be done so kids' names aren't being sold," says Tracie, who contacted legislative officials in New York about this issue. "What happens if some whacked-out person buys a list with the names of kids on it?

"It bothers me that all this information is out there about my ten-year old son. His information should be private."

Other parents, whose children received the same invitation for these overseas trips, share Tracie's concerns.

"I think it's bad that they're selling lists that have the names of kids on them," says Regina G. of Brooklyn, New York. "They're infringing on my personal life by buying this mailing list."

Patricia S. of New Windsor, New York, agrees.

"It's concerning to me that someone is selling my son's name," she says, adding he's only ten.

The non-profit organization behind the letters is People To People International, based in Kansas City, Missouri. It uses the Ambassador Group -- a for-profit company based in Spokane, Washington -- to market its trips and send invitations to students nationwide.

We learned the Ambassador Group buys the names of prospective students from a national list service -- the American Student List.

Tracie says People To People initially refused to disclose that information.

"When I called People To People and asked them how they got my son's name, they blew me off," she says. "That's how this all got started. They were avoiding my questions and not answering me."

Tracie says the organization finally sent her a letter stating: "We receive the names of potential Student Ambassadors through a variety of sources ... in (your son's) case we received his name from a student listing organization, specifically American Student List."

Tracie and other parents say People To People should disclose -- in its letters -- that it buys students' names from a national list service. Instead, the letter states students are nominated by a teacher, former Student Ambassador, or national academic listing.

"Why didn't they just say they got my son's name from a mailing list?" Tracie asks. "Their letter should specifically state 'you were chosen from a mailing list.'"

Mary Jean Eisenhower, president and chief executive officer of People To People International, apologized to parents and students upset with her organization's letter.

She says People To People recently changed the letter's wording. It now states children are 'invited' to participate in one of the Student Ambassador programs.

Of its ties to the Ambassador Group, Eisenhower says "we've had a long, legitimate relationship with them."

Eisenhower also says the Ambassador Group is selective about the names of students it buys from the list service. The company's mailing list, Eisenhower says, contains the names of academic achievers and students who are receptive to learning about other cultures.

But Tracie says People To People -- and other organizations -- should be prohibited from buying any child's name.

"I don't believe there should be a mailing list that has the names of children on it," she says. "I believe children's information should be private.

"This whole experience has really opened my eyes about how companies are buying the names of our children. And that shouldn't happen. These are just kids."

Next: Not Everyone's Happy with People to People Trips

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