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The Alumni Association is working on a long-range plan that updates the organization’s objectives and focuses it more tightly on the goals of the College.
The plan has four main objectives, which include anchoring the Alumni Association’s efforts to the College’s strategic plan, Beyond Threshold 2000. A second is to increase and diversify programs to engage more students and encourage them to see themselves as lifelong members of the Lafayette community. Accomplishing this will require outreach to boost alumni involvement in programs such as externship and internship hosting as well as attract alumni in underrepresented fields.
“We want to be more inclusive and recognize that as our student body continues to develop and change, we need to recognize that diversity and promote a broader range of activities,” explains Bob Sell ’84, president of the Alumni Association.
A third objective is to increase the number of young alumni playing an active role in the College and Alumni Association. A fourth is to strengthen traditional activities such as Homecoming, Reunion, and Volunteer Weekend.
Work began in fall 2003 on the first phase of the plan’s development, which was led by DeeJacob ’74 and Ed Alkire ’58. The transition team shepherding the revised plan in the current period before implementation is comprised of Sell; Jim Dicker ’85, vice president of development and college relations; Jamie McLaughlin ’76,president elect of the Alumni Association; and Pam Holran ’88, vice chair of the Alumni Association.
“We’re identifying ways in which students develop affinities in college that carry through their adult lives and why they would want to be involved with their college,” says Sell. “The challenge is to recognize that the Alumni Association is predominantly a volunteer body, yet there’s a lot to be accomplished — with exciting results anticipated.”
Adds Dicker, “I’m enthusiastic about the direction of the plan and confident that it will help us engage both undergraduates and young alumni more fully in the life of the College.”