While flair-bedecked students celebrated Winter Carnival, about 170 alumni leaders gathered for the Dartmouth Club and Group Officers meeting. The meeting, organized by the Office of Alumni Relations and the Club Officers Association, promoted communication among alumni groups, assisted young alumni leaders with group management and provided updates on campus happenings.
At the annual event, attendees elected Howard Hodel ’75, president of the Dartmouth Club of Hawaii, as the Club Officers Association’s next president, and chose Dartmouth Club of Central Massachusetts president Cherie Comeau ’02 as its next vice president.
Dartmouth Alumni in Entertainment and Media president Schuyler Evans ’10 said he noticed this year’s conference provided more programs promoting communication among alumni group leaders. Alumni also talked to current students through the College’s Center for Professional Development.
Alumni Relations director of communities Mark Hoffman said the weekend also featured a speed networking program, during which various Alumni Relations staff members explained their roles.
On Friday, the first day of the conference, alumni attended information sessions about leadership and event planning, including a presentation about the Dartmouth on Location program, in which professors visit regional alumni clubs to lecture on current issues.
Later that evening, College President Phil Hanlon discussed the College’s efforts to maintain its reputation for undergraduate teaching, emphasizing the use of technology in the classroom and initiatives to engage students in active and experimental learning.
He also spoke about recent changes in student life on campus, pointing out the drop in the number of medical transportation of students with high blood alcohol content, sexual assault prevention efforts and the promotion of residential communities within upperclassmen dorms.
On the second day of the conference, various workshops and activities taught group management tools.
Caroline Kerr ’05, president of the Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Alumni/ae Association, said she was delighted that the conference included discussion of campus climate, student diversity and the role of alumni in campus conversations.
Mark Heller ’70, former Club Officers Association president, said the conference plays a significant role in connecting alumni leaders to the College, especially by helping them understand its developments.
“The annual meeting is a way of refreshing acquaintances,” Heller said. “It’s a way of finding what is new on campus, way of hearing and interacting with current students. It’s a way of getting new techniques, new methods, better ways of operating and being together.”
Evans said he learned about different techniques and resources to better manage his group. He also met with students interested in media careers.
“The broadest thing that I’m trying to do here is to connect better with school and other alumni groups and see and share best practices of how we support our constituency in the school,” he said. “One of our big focuses is to become a bridge between Hanover and Hollywood.”
Kerr said a lunch on Saturday allowed her to talk to students who receive financial aid from regional or affiliated clubs. She also heard about campus events and current students’ experiences.
Heller said that the sense of the College’s close-knit community continues among alumni after they graduate and that alumni leaders seek to remain connected to the College and to understand the direction in which it is moving.
