Hi ‘08s,
I hope that the holidays gave you a chance to rest up since I last wrote in December and that your 2011 is off to a great start. In this note I’m going to update you on some highlights from the 201st meeting of the Alumni Council (AC) in Hanover last month and remind you of the upcoming election for the next Class of 2008 AC Representative.
The two highlights from the December AC meeting I’d like to discuss are the start of a constructive dialogue about alcohol on campus and some real progress on alumni career and life development resources.
On alcohol: this is an important issue to many of you based on your responses to my note in December. Numerous classmates wrote in with concerns varying from the level of drinking to the recent increase in tensions between local law enforcement and S&S/students. I was impressed with the response to this cohort of issues as discussed with AC – the College finally appears to be taking a serious and pragmatic look at the problem. The town and College have organized a joint task force consisting of Hanover law enforcement, local legislators, and Dartmouth students and administrators. Members of this group spoke to the AC; while they did not have “the answer” to this tough set of problems, it’s a step in the right direction for these constituencies to tackle this problem together instead of in isolation (the approach of recent history). President Kim himself articulated strongly his view on the seemingly-dysfunctional enforcement environment where Good Sam calls are occasionally followed by arrests: “I think the current approach of Hanover PD is putting students at risk every night.” Without knowing all of the facts myself I cannot fairly editorialize, however I can support with certainty Jim Kim’s objective of shaping College policy [something he can control] around keeping Dartmouth students safe regardless of the choices that they make [something he cannot control].
On alumni career and life development resources: you may remember that this is an issue I’ve been working on for two years and have mentioned in my updates repeatedly. After much research and many meetings and presentations, Phil Mone ’02 (another alumni councilor) and I made the argument that the College should consider a substantial restructuring of its offering of career resources for alumni, as we are lagging behind our peers in this area and failing to take full advantage of one of Dartmouth’s greatest assets-its tight knit alumni network. I can now proudly report that, based on remarks from Carrie Pelzel (SVP of Advancement) and Jen Murray ‘09 (Presidential Fellow), it appears that our long term goal of establishing a position at the College dedicated to alumni career advancement will be realized over the next 1-3 years! I’ve pasted the note that Phil and I sent to the Young Alumni Committee below for more details and I invite you to read on if you’re interested.
Lastly I want to make sure you know that my three-year term on the AC is nearly up and that the Class of 2008 will be electing a replacement this spring. Be on the lookout for emails from Lauren Bennett, our class president, asking for nominations through the end of February and then asking for your participation in a class-wide election shortly thereafter.
Thanks for reading and as always let me know if you have any questions or concerns about Dartmouth. In any case I’ll be in touch again before the spring AC meeting.
Regards,
Zack
For additional details on the recent Alumni Council (AC) meeting click here!
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