Over 300 officers, hailing from Class of 1929 through the Class of 2005, attended last weekend's Class Officers Weekend, an event aimed at educating new officers, sharing techniques and energizing the classes.
The Alumni Governance Task Force also proposed changes this weekend that would make the Alumni Association more egalitarian, it said in a statement it released.
"Currently there are two alumni governing bodies: the Alumni Association and the Alumni Council," Rex Morey '99, assistant director of young alumni and student programs, said. "We're trying to combine the groups and have one constitution."
Vice President of Alumni Relations Stanley Colla '66 Tu'86 added that the new constitution will shift power from the Alumni Council, which has 96 members, to the Alumni Association, which is composed of the roughly 65,000 living alumni of the College.
"It's allowing for more direct leadership of the Alumni Association, and I think, we would say that it is in fact a more democratic organization. It gives alumni across the board a stronger voice," Colla said.
One of the most significant aspects of the constitution, Colla said, is that it allows alumni to cast their votes through any medium. They had previously only been allowed to vote if they were in attendance at meetings.
Colla said the new constitution is currently being disseminated to the alumni for debate and feedback and will come up for final approval sometime in the first half of 2006.
Overall, this year's Class Officers Weekend saw record attendance, Morey said.
"It shows that there's a lot of enthusiasm out there among the class officers," Morey said.
Colla, who helped organize the weekend, said the alumni events are held for various reasons.
"We invite the class officers, which is our largest alumni volunteer group, to come back annually for probably three reasons: training, recognition and renewal," Colla said.
Events for the two-day program included a wireless network presentation, a bus tour of new campus construction, awards presentations and various meetings, discussions, training sessions and speeches aimed at energizing the class officers.
According to Morey, the event allows newer class officers to learn from their more experienced counterparts.
"It's an opportunity for class officers to return to Hanover and educate new officers and share best practices with the other officers," he said.
Kaitlin Jaxheimer '05, treasurer for her class, singled out the "Decade Discussions" as a productive event.
"The alumni classes split into groups by decade and spoke about what the College could do better for them," Jaxheimer said.
"The overall message was just communicating with not only with the 10 youngest classes but being able to convey to older alumni that the College is still a great place and that we're doing the best we can, we're still having a great experience and love our school," she said.
As the youngest graduate present at the event, Jaxheimer said she enjoyed her unique role.
"It makes me very hopeful for the future of the alumni, because there are great things that are going to be coming about," she said. "Everyone was so welcoming and trying to give advice."
Colla agreed that the weekend was a success.
"We're always energized to have our alumni back on campus. They're one of the prime sources of support, both financially and emotionally, for Dartmouth College," Colla said.
