Alumni news
Dear Clark Alumni,
I hope that you are enjoying the summer and are able to spend some quality time with your friends and family.
As your newly elected Alumni Association president, I am excited about representing you and your interests over the next two years. The Association¹s Executive Board and I will do our best to keep you informed, involved and engaged in the numerous events and programs that occur throughout the year.
One person who has been very involved as an alumna since 1976, and whom I would like to thank personally and on behalf of the Association, is Faith Linsky. As the Association¹s immediate-past president, Faith has been committed to serving Clark. Ever since I met Faith during her 10th reunion year‹my first year at Clark‹I was impressed with her enthusiasm and dedication to Clark. During Faith's tenure as president, the Executive Board and Regional Alumni Communities have been more active and involved. I have enjoyed her friendship and guidance as my mentor, and I look forward to her continued assistance in her new role as immediate-past president.
During the Alumni Association meeting at Reunion, I was proud to introduce Chay Atupem '82 as the Association's president-elect. Chay will start his term in 2008. I was also pleased to announce that Barbara Dyer '73 is our newly elected alumni trustee. Thank you to those who voted in the alumni trustee election. Your involvement and participation are essential. As such, the decision has been made to continue with the current ballot process. We look forward to getting more of you involved in the process and will challenge ourselves to find ways to increase participation.
My sincere thanks also goes to Bill Bennett M.P.A. '97 and his staff in the Alumni Office. Bill has been an outstanding director of Alumni Affairs over the past 16 years. His tireless dedication and commitment to Clark are most appreciated. While many of us will miss Bill, as he begins his new role as director of the Clark Fund, we know that he will remain involved and committed to the Alumni Association. I also want to thank President and Mrs. Bassett for their continued support and encouragement to get even more alumni involved with the University. I look forward to working with them on your behalf over the next two years.
In addition, I am excited to be working with Clark's new Vice President of University Advancement, Andy McGadney. Andy brings a great deal of experience and enthusiasm to this leadership position, as well as new ideas that will help move the Alumni Association to the next level.
Reunion 2006, held May 19 to 21, was a great success! More than 1,000 alumni and friends returned to campus for the festivities. During this special weekend, we presented the Alumni Association's two highest awards. I would like to congratulate the friends and family of the late Patricia ³Patti² Love '81, who accepted a well-deserved Distinguished Service Award on her behalf. Congratulations are in order to the Custom Made Theatre Company's Leah Abrams '96 and Brian Katz '94 for receiving the Distinguished Young Alumni Award. It was also a moving experience for me to present this year's Oustanding Secondary Educator Award to Lisa Dyer '92, M.A. '98 and to watch members of the Class of 1956 and the 50-Year Association lead the commencement procession. Read more about Reunion 2006 on pages 1417.
The coming year promises to be challenging and exciting. I encourage you to become more involved with Clark. If you haven't already, sign up for the online community, volunteer for one of the existing committees, and attend a Clark event in your community or on campus. Please continue to support quality education at Clark by giving to the Clark Fund, which provides tuition assistance to many undergraduates who would otherwise be unable to attend the University. Together we can move the Alumni Association forward.
Sincerely,
Rich Caswell '89
Alumni Association President
richcaswell@comcast.net
News from the Alumni and Parent Admissions program
During this year of transition and change, the Alumni and Parent Admissions Program (APAP) has grown from 603 to 788 active members and has become stronger than ever. The number of college fairs boasting alumni and parent coverage increased over last year, with APAP representatives staffing 151 of the 378 college fairs Clark attended. Our alumni members exceeded the challenge of the Board of Trustees to offer 1,300 alumni interviews. Of the 1,632 applicants we matched with alumni, our alumni volunteers offered 1,320 interviews and submitted those reports to us. In addition, APAP members opened their homes and offices for various receptions, participated in online chats, served as panelists for special events, and made themselves available as alumni and parent contacts for our admitted students and their parents. Preliminary numbers indicate that 580 students plan to enroll in the Class of 2010. Congratulations on a job well done!
As program director, I am fortunate to have support from so many folks at the University who understand the important role APAP plays in our recruiting efforts and from a dedicated pool of volunteers who bring Clark to life for prospective students and parents. Each APAP member, in their own way, contributed to our success this year. Consider these few examples of the many ways our volunteers extended themselves on behalf of the University:
One member interviewed 22 applicants. |
| Stay-at-home moms hired babysitters and sacrificed their evenings to represent Clark at college fairs. |
| Several members drove across state(s) to cover college fairs and interview students. |
| Members extended their work days to offer interviews and cover college fairs.
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| Some members met with our staff to brainstorm ideas for new programs. |
Every single contribution was meaningful and illustrates how much our volunteers give back to Clark.
Looking to the future, we anticipate more students will apply to Clark each year. Our membership must expand to 2,200 in the next five years in order to adequately accommodate the current and increased demands of serving our prospective students, their families and the University. This year, we set the bar higher than ever and demonstrated that we can meet such high expectations. On behalf of the APAP staff, I invite you to continue to be involved in this very important work and ask you to invite other alumni and parents to join our efforts. Your gifts of time and self are truly appreciated!
As inspiration for our work together in the coming year, I leave you with the words of Michelangelo: "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark."
Warm regards,
Judy Earls
Director, Alumni and Parent Admissions Program
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