What are the duties of a class secretary?

The primary duties of a class secretary are to produce an annual Class Letter; submit news to Bates Magazine; inform classmates of events and news; and update Bates on class activities. In classes without secretaries, these tasks fall to the co-presidents.

Here's an essay from the 1920s about the good feelings created by class secretaries. What was true then is true now.

Who is my contact for magazine Class Notes?

Heidi Gagnon (right) of the Alumni and Parent Programs office, and Jay Burns (below right), editor of Bates Magazine, work together tracking the flow Class Notes and the status of Class Letters:

• Heidi Gagnon*, coordinator for Alumni and Parent Programs, 207-786-6486, is your contact for help seeking news items from your classmates and producing a Class Letter.
  
  * If you are a secretary or co-president in a class that graduated within the last 10 years (Bobcats of the Last Dedade, or "BOLD"), your Class Notes and Class Letter contact is Alli Lambert, assistant director of Alumni and Parent Programs, 207-786-6239.
  
• Jay Burns, editor of Bates Magazine in the Communications and Media Relations office, 207-786-6331, can answer questions about policies/practices regarding Class Notes.

When should I send news to Bates Magazine?

The best answer is "whenever you want." Though if you wish to submit notes as close to publication as possible, here are the deadlines for the triannual Bates Magazine:

• November 30 for Spring 2008 magazine (mails first week March)
• March 30 for Summer 2008 magazine (mails first week July)
• July 30 for Fall 2008 magazine (mails first week of November)

How do I send my news to Bates?

Class Notes: E-mail with a Word attachment to Bates Magazine, or postal mail to 141 Nichols St., Lewiston ME 04240. Short news items can be simply sent in the body of an e-mail.

Class Letters: E-mail with a Word attachment to Heidi Gagnon or postal mail to Alumni and Parent Programs, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston ME 04240.

What is the relationship between annual Class Letters and magazine Class Notes?

It's a long relationship. Since the magazine's founding in 1921, the Class Notes section has published shorter versions of your freewheeling Class Letters.

The magazine must shorten Class Letters for space reasons: Just two normal-size Class Letters could fill the entire magazine Class Notes section, which is limited to 20,000 words!

Class Letters actually predate the magazine, and their spirit hasn't changed. In the Class of 1909's letter published in 1918, Ralph Kendall talks about attending a Red Sox World Series game at Fenway Park with classmate Albert Johnson.

And here's a photo published in the Class of 1906 letter after its 10th Reunion in 1916 showing classmates and their children in the Alumni Parade.

How many items should I send to the magazine?

Our goal is to have every class represented each issue with at least one note. So, sending just one item before deadline is a good start. If you have a Class Letter in the works, the magazine will use those notes. If not, try to put together up to 10 notes.

How do I gather news items magazine Class Notes?

Heidi can work with you to initiate a "Call for News" (CFN) to your classmates, either through a print mailing or an e-mail blast via the Bates Online Community. Here is a sample Call for News for a Class Letter.

A CFN is great for a Class Letter, where the goal is many submissions. But because your space in the magazine needs only up to 10 notes to be successful, and because we want to avoid Call for News "fatigue" among your classmates, we suggest that you use your class roster to contact personally a few classmates prior to each deadline, seeking their news. Reaching out to seek news is a nice gesture, and it's uniquely suited to a class secretary. (Read this somewhat quaint essay from the 1920s about the good feelings created by class secretaries.)

Another tactic to find news is to request classmates' holiday letters, but do ask permission to publish their news.

How is the Bates Online Community used for Class Notes?

Alumni can post class news to the Bates Online Community. Before each issue, the magazine staff downloads only the posted notes that the submitter has approved for publication. (Approval occurs at the time of submission by means of a checkoff.)

When should I do a Class Letter?

Typically, each class produces a Class Letter annually. Heidi Gagnon, coordinator for Alumni and Parent Programs, 207-786-6486, can help you schedule yours.

How do I report marriages, births/adoptions and deaths?

To report any news of this kind, you can e-mail the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs, postal mail to 2 Andrews Rd., Lewiston, ME 04240, or phone toll-free 888-522-8371, fax: 207-786-8242.

• For marriages: forward the date, full names and class years (if applicable) of the bride and groom, and any other information.
• For Bates group wedding photographs: e-mail high resolution JPEGs of Bates group weddings to Bates Magazine or postal mail prints to 141 Nichols St., Lewiston ME 04240. Please include names and class years of all persons as well as the wedding date, location, and any other news. Weddings photos are printed in the order they arrive.
• For births or adoptions: forward the child’s full name, date of birth and adoption, and parents’ names. Parents are invited to publish photos of their children at the Bates Online Community.
• For deaths: if you learn that a classmate has passed, and you have a printed obituary or a Web link, please forward it to Bates. In turn, the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs notifies class secretaries of classmate deaths as we learn of and confirm them. By policy we cannot publicly announce the deaths of members of the community without first confirming the information by means of a printed obituary or direct notification from a relative.

What news is inappropriate for class notes?

The main rule is to avoid reporting hearsay; that is,news that an alum might tell you about another person.

Sometimes notes appear in my class column that I did not send. Where do they come from?

Alumni often send news items directly to the College, and we also receive press releases from businesses or other organizations announcing alumni achievements. While Bates does not actively search for alumni news online, we do subscribe to online clipping service that yield news items about Bates alumni. Items such as these are edited and placed into the appropriate class section.

How do I put my notes together? How do I alphabetize? What do I bold?

For Class Notes and Class Letters, you might keep in mind three important rules:

1. When using a classmate’s name, please put it in bold. Here are some examples:

• Patty Duke Astin ’59 class year not in bold
• John and Patty Duke Astin ’59 non-Bates spouse not in bold
• John ’60 and Patty Duke Astin ’59 spouses in different class years

2. Alphabetize by an alum's maiden/Bates name, so Jane Adams Smith is placed with the A's, and Sally Zen Alpha would go with the Z's.

3. Use figures for ages and place in parentheses: Husband Rick and I are have a daughter, Rose (3), and two sons, Leon (1) and Brian (6 months). Otherwise, spell out numbers under 10 and use figures for 10 and higher.

Are there other rules?

Your Class Notes and Class Letters undergo fact checking and editing for grammar and style. Achieving consistent style allows the reader to concentrate on content without being distracted by variations in abbreviations, spelling, capitalization, punctuation and the like. Here is the detailed Bates style guide.

What prompting will the class secretary receive as a deadline approaches?

About a month before your deadline (listed above), we will e-mail you a reminder. This reminder will also ask you to verify your address information for the magazine.