Letter from the President

SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE

By Jeff Webb ’95

Each day I am privileged to serve our alumni community alongside my colleagues, I do my best to stay mindful of our core purpose as an organization—to serve those who have chosen lives of service to the nation as Naval Academy alumni.

Now in my role for two months, I am starting to sense the cadence of our Enterprise as we work hard to deliver on that purpose. Much of our work is quite visible—I-Day events, reunion support, communications like Shipmate—but I have come to appreciate the quality of work and commitment that goes on behind the scenes: our Foundation team on the phones doing important stewardship work; our Treasury team rushing a purchase order to meet a discount deadline; our IT team methodically hitting its punch list rebranding our website. You would be so proud of their work below the surface and behind the camera—my colleagues serve those who serve well.

As I scan our fall horizon, I’m excited to see the many opportunities we have as a staff to engage our alumni community around our shared values and shared experiences as midshipmen. I look forward to strengthening my relationships with reunion classes throughout the fall at both home and away football games. Classes are one of our centers of gravity for building and sustaining relationships and bonds that endure through and across generations. We count among our alumni classes those who were trained and commissioned by those who fought at Iwo Jima, Tarawa and Midway, and they made their own legacies in Vietnam. Three of those classes—1962, 1966 and 1967—return for reunions in Annapolis for Navy’s home opener against Delaware over Labor Day weekend. The class they trained and commissioned to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1987, will also be here that weekend. When I welcome them and all of our reunion classes back to Annapolis, I will do so with great pride to honor their legacies of service and will remind them of their connections with each other across generations.

Also this fall is our annual Honor Our Fallen Heroes event the weekend of 8 October. This event honors and perpetuates the legacies of our Shipmates who gave their “last full measure of devotion” to our nation. In this case we serve the families of those alumni by welcoming them back to Annapolis. The event has particular significance to me as it grew from my Class of 1995 engagement with Byron Marchant ’78, then-President and CEO, to do more for our Shipmates we have lost.

An important milestone for the future of the Enterprise occurred on 21 July. The final structural beam was placed by the construction crew building the Alumni Association and Foundation Center. It was an exciting moment as our future home took one giant step closer to completion. We can’t wait to host you at your new home next year.

On 11 August the Board of Trustees approved our 2030 Strategic Plan Committee membership: Jim Schwab ’88 as chair; Major General Leo Williams ’70, USMCR (Ret.); Captain Kevin Stone ’76, USNR (Ret.); Terri Maginnis ’82; Henry Stoever ’88; Tony Sanchez ’91; JoAnna Sohovich ’93; Enochia Anderson ’94; Colonel Maria “MJ” Pallotta ’94, USMCR; Jen Tyll ’01; Donnie Horner ’08; Lieutenant Adam Johnson ’13, USN; Lieutenant Craig Veech ’13, USN; and Evan Forrester (USNA Parent). Their objective is to develop and present to the Board for approval a Strategic Plan (Plan 2030) to guide our Alumni Association efforts over the next decade. My sincere thanks to these outstanding volunteer leaders for the important gift of their time and talent.

If you or an alumni you know and respect resides in the Eastern or Central regions and would like to get involved in our work, we are now accepting nominations for the Regional Trustee positions from those regions for the Alumni Association Board of Trustees. Email our Nominations Committee to learn more at nominating_committee@usna.com.

We are also accepting nominations for the 2023 Distinguished Graduate Award until 15 October. Scan the QR code at right to learn more about the nomination process. We know there are graduates serving in unconventional ways, without fanfare, and having great impact in their professional fields and in their communities. Please put those servant leaders forward as nominees. Remember we also consider it vital that our Distinguished Graduates have given back to the Naval Academy community in time, talent or treasure.

You may be thinking about how you can join us in serving those who serve. That is exactly what drew me to this enterprise 15 years ago as a volunteer leader. Let me and my colleagues help you find your passion project—join our Alumni Mentoring Program, make a small gift to a USNA initiative you believe in, or volunteer for a Board of Trustee standing committee. It starts with an email or phone call to me or my colleagues—see the staff directory on page 144 for contact information.

Enjoy the sights and sounds of fall and Go Navy! a

Jeff Webb ’95 participated in the topping off milestone event at the Alumni Association and Foundation Center on 21 July, where construction crews placed the Center’s final structural beam.