Washington College Magazine
Expanding visibility of the College's George Washington Book Prize to include prospective students, the Alumni Association is recruiting alumni to promote a book award program in secondary schools.
Several Philadelphia-area alumni raised a birthday toast to George Washington in February. Pictured at the Fork Restaurant are (left to right) Jeff Colen '01, Andrew Stein '99, Chelsea Prior '07, Julia Fedorova '05, Carolyn Myers Staszak '04, Ryan Staszak '01, Becky Binns '06, Sarah Cornacoff '06, Mariah Stump '00, Matt Mebert '01 and Wayles Wilson '03.
Calling All Alumni
According to a recent survey, alumni want to make meaningful contributions that impact the success and the future direction of the College. This spring, the Alumni Association is launching a program that will empower alumni to promote Washington College by recognizing top students interested in studying history.
The idea behind the Washington College Book Award is to develop a network of alumni who represent the College at secondary schools of their choosing. By raising the visibility of the College and promoting its strengths to high school students, alumni help the College's recruiting efforts.
The Book Award targets high-school juniors who have produced outstanding written work in the field of history. Alumni are invited to contact high school administrators and to present the Book Award at spring awards assemblies at public high schools and preparatory schools across the country. Each year, the gift volume will be the current George Washington Book Prize winner—the year's best book on the Revolutionary and founding era.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for alumni to support their college, to endorse Washington College in an important segment of their community, and to engage the high school or prep school of their choice," says Jay Marchant '63, chairman of the Alumni Board. "It might be your high school, your grandchild's prep school, or the school in your community. The more alumni sponsors we have, the more opportunities for us to have a role in spring award assemblies across the country."
Participants are asked to underwrite the cost of the book award with a gift of $50. The College will provide a "tool kit" to help them implement the program at the school(s) of their choice and will communicate with book award recipients as they undertake their college search.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Lorraine Polvinale, assistant vice president for alumni relations, at 410-778-7812, or e-mail lpolvinale2@washcoll.edu.
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