Washington College Magazine
Marchant '63 To Lead New Alumni Board
In ratifying its new constitution and bylaws, the alumni body has created a larger, more broadly based and mission-focused Alumni Council. Governance will come from a newly created Alumni Board. Holt "Jay" Marchant '63 will serve as the first Alumni Board Chairman. Marchant previously served two terms as an alumni trustee on the Board of Visitors and Governors and played a pivotal role on the WCAA Task Force that designed a more diverse, vibrant alumni organization to fully engage and represent alumni of all generations and backgrounds.
Alumni volunteers will be enlisted to assist with institutional priorities such as student recruitment and young alumni outreach.
Joining him on the Alumni Board are: Chairman Elect Dick Fitzgerald '60, a former member of the visiting committee; Secretary of the Board Bonnie Travieso '66, a former College trustee; and committee chairs Valarie Sheppard '86, past president of the Alumni Council, and Timothy Reath '96, who will chair the nominations committee.
The reorganization of alumni governance came about in response to an outside study that surveyed a representative cross section of all alumni and benchmarked WC's alumni program against those of peer institutions. "That survey indicated nine out of ten alumni have very favorable feelings about their experience as students," notes Marchant. "What we're attempting to do now is to better connect to our group of extremely satisfied former students. That level of satisfaction makes our job much easier."
In restructuring the alumni organization and identifying alumni leaders, organizers turned first to the original Alumni Council. "We have some new folks on board," says Marchant, "but we are also engaging the people who have brought us where we are today. We're putting together a best practice model, and I'm very excited about where it's going to take us."
If you would like to get involved, contact the alumni relations staff at 410-778-7846.
300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, Maryland 21620 | 410-778-2800 | 800-422-1782