St. Andrew’s Alumni Council Program Continues to Expand

Dear Fellow Alumni, It’s been a busy year for St. Andrew’s alumni, one filled with new initiatives, expanded programming, and packed reunions. All-in-all, St. Andrew’s alumni continue to shine and lead the way in the arts, sciences, finance, sustainability, and pretty much every field imaginable.

As you read the alumni features in this magazine and look through the class notes, I hope you take the same pride I do in having attended a school that inspires its students to head out into the world and have a positive impact on their communities, both locally and globally.

Our LinkedIn and AlumniFire professional networks continue to grow and connect alumni with each other and even with current students interested in learning more about a particular profession. In April, the school held its first-ever Alumni Giving Day, which will become an annual opportunity for us to give back to the school in honor of the teachers and coaches who made an impact on our lives. Thank you to everyone who made a gift. For many alumni, access to a St. Andrew’s education happened in part because of the generosity of those who came before us. I know many current students are grateful as well for the support they receive.

Financial gifts aren’t the only way for alumni to give back. This year, many alumni came to speak at St. Andrew’s, both virtually and in person. Young Alumni Day in particular has an impact on seniors as it gives them a chance to ask college-aged alumni about what to expect when they leave the safety of the St. Andrew’s campus. The last alumni voices they will hear as students come during senior week, when publisher Brian Bies ’14 will speak at the Senior Banquet and filmmaker Neha Shastry ’09 will speak at graduation.

Also this spring, the school held its firstever alumni trip, a civil rights tour of Selma,

Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama. A group of alumni visited key sites in those cities from the civil rights movement including lunch with the Mayor of Montgomery, a walk across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and Sunday worship in Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor from 1954-1960) led by Brad Bennett ’86, a Deacon at the church.

My two-year term as President of the Alumni Council is coming to an end. This summer, current Vice President Jennifer Hawkins ’99 will take over as President. It has been a privilege to serve you and I know Jennifer will do a terrific job in her new role. Please join me in wishing her well as she continues to grow the Alumni Council.

Jennifer Hawkins ‘99 has already served on the Alumni Council and is currently a member of the St. Andrew’s Board of Trustees. This summer, she takes on a new role as she begins a two-year term as President of the Alumni Council.

Hawkins, who was commencement speaker to the Class of 2021, is a Senior Women, Peace, and Security Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where she helps create and implement policies that impact women around the world.