Greetings Alums! As your new board chair, I wanted to share with you how excited I am about this upcoming year. I feel honored to have an amazing board composed of diverse and dynamic alums committed to New College. We have an ambitious agenda, but I know we will achieve it! I want this to be a year of improved interaction, not only between the board and alums, but also among the alum body itself. By this time next year, I want every alum: ► To have a better understanding of who your board is and what we do. ► To feel like your board is more approachable than ever before. ► To better believe that your board is responsive to the needs of alums. I want to create opportunities for alums to reconnect in person. To assist with that, the Board has made revitalizing our local chapters a priority! But to make this work, we also need alums in the chapter cities to help us plan and reach out. If you would be interested in welcoming new alums to your area, posting on the chapter FB page about
upcoming events and news of interest to your local alum or maybe even meeting with prospective students and their families, please let us know. Finally, I want to substantially improve the percentage of alums who donate, no matter the size of the gift. There is no doubt that New College played a fundamental role in our personal development and we all share a special affinity from as a result of our experiences. A recent grad can meet a charter class member, and despite the many differences—in age, place in life and, to some extent, their individual New College experiences, there is still a connection—a tribal bond—that transcends all factors that would otherwise divide them. Every alum I have met has shared their love of New College with me; however, only 21 percent of us supported New College financially in the last fiscal year. For New College to remain New College, and not just another state university, we depend on private support; state funding is far
from sufficient. And our alumnae/i programs that benefit both alums and the college are wholly dependent on private funding: ► Alumnae/i Fellows which brings alums back to teach in areas that bridge the gap between current faculty offerings and course needs ► Student Travel and Research Grants which assists our students with the important research necessary to complete their thesis ► Scholarship funds for out of state students ► Chapter events, reunions and commencement events Your engagement and support is not about competition. It is about maintaining something special that we as alums have the responsibility to foster for future generations of NovoCollegians. Thank you and I look forward to connecting with you on campus, in your area and on social media this year! In service, Spozy Susan Sapoznikoff ‘83
THEN & NOW
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