Bates College Alumni Council — 2022 Impact Work

Kevin Moore ’93, Alumni Council Vice President
Kevin Moore ’93, Alumni Council Vice President
Jen Crawford ’01 Alumni Council President
Jen Crawford ’01, Alumni Council President

Below you will find some highlights from the work of the Alumni Council this past academic year.

Through our annual awards, we are recognizing ten alumni this year for their commitment to the college, service to their communities, and distinction in their careers. Their names are listed below and we hope we will be able to honor these distinguished alumni in person this year. Please nominate outstanding alumni for us to consider in 2022.

Three members of the Alumni Council completed their terms in June 2022; we are thankful for the dedicated service of Jeremy Chase ’91, Mike Hogan ’85, and Tracy Peacock ’94. As we say goodbye to these stellar volunteers, we welcome four new members to the Alumni Council, whose names are listed below. If you are interested in serving on the Council in the future, please consider submitting a nomination.

Thank you for making our work representing Bates alumni so rewarding. Please do not hesitate to reach out to alumni@bates.edu if you are looking for ways to be more connected or have feedback — we are here for you.

It’s a great day to be a Bobcat.

Jen Crawford ’01, Alumni Council President
Kevin Moore ’93, Alumni Council Vice President


2021 Alumni Council

The Bates College Alumni Council is the governing body of the Alumni Association and serves as the primary liaison between the Association and the Bates administration, faculty, and student body. The purposes of the Alumni Council are to

  • Support the mission, vision, values, and strategic directions of the college, advancement office, and alumni engagement
  • Be a positive, energetic ambassadors for Bates
  • Demonstrate the highest levels of commitment of personal capital to the college and alumni engagement

If you have questions or suggestions about alumni engagement, the Alumni Council can be one of your most effective means of communicating your ideas and concerns. Please send your feedback to us at alumni@bates.edu and check out our website site at www.bates.edu/alumni/alumni-council/


Impact Work – FY22 Accomplishments 

In FY22, the Alumni Council continued to work mostly in a virtual setting and focused on virtual outreach and engagement to support the college’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. We have used this as an opportunity to continue to evaluate our processes to ensure that we are both representative of and representing the entire Bates alumni body to the greatest extent possible. We look forward to utilizing some of our new practices as we transition back to in-person events to be able to serve the alumni community.

Increase engagement and volunteer options for alumni through the support of regional networks and support career development opportunities for both alums and students.

Council Champions: Monica Rodriguez ’12 and Michelle Pham ’15


Highlighted FY22 accomplishments:

✔ Collaborated with staff to provide feedback and suggestions to make the Bates Alumni webpage more user-friendly

✔ Supported the college’s career advancement programs including the Bates Bridge and advocated for participation and engagement with the platform

✔ Participated in conversations to support the Professional Development series and offered suggestions for next year’s programs and new topics for Lighthouse Career Associates to consider

✔ Identified regional leaders and initiated conversations to promote uniformity throughout the regional networks. This includes a plan to start calls (2-3/year) with regional leaders this summer to talk about what has been most successful in their areas re: programming/promotions/etc. and what they would like to try for programs as we move into in-person/virtual/hybrid-style events

✔ We had a very strong Alumni Council presence and participation at each of the regional events with President Spencer. For these events, we had four members attend in Boston, three members attend in NYC, and one member attend in Washington, D.C. We also had one member participate in a virtual event, sponsored by the class of 1985

Ensure that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are a central component of the Council’s work

Council Champions: Leah Elsmore ‘12


Highlighted FY22 accomplishments:

✔ Worked to create an Alumni Council Equity and Inclusion mission statement to ensure that these principles are a central component of the work of the Council

✔ Supported Bates staff on broader strategic direction of DEI and alumni engagement, providing input on alumni events and engagement strategies

✔ Promoted DEI events by sharing and promoting upcoming events with alumni networks

Recognition of Alumni Excellence

Council Champions:  Jen Crawford ‘01


2022 Alumni Award Winners:

Alumni Community Service Award: Carlton Finch ’45, Carolyn McNamara ’08, and Amanda Webb Dickerson ‘01

Distinguished Young Alumni Award: Allen Kendunga ’18, and Mikey Pasek ‘12

Sesquicentennial Prize: Jeff Tulis ‘72

✔ Bruce Stangle Award for Distinguished Service: David Morris ‘89

✔ Helen A. Papaioanou Distinguished Service Award: Sally Ehrenfried ‘89

Alumni Professional Recognition Award: Lisa Marshall Schwiebert ’86, and Natalie Adler ‘92

Governance – FY22


Process Improvements:

✔ Continued to utilize a schedule of shorter, yet more frequent virtual Council meetings to continue our work more efficiently and effectively through the COVID-19 pandemic

✔ Began the process of a thorough bylaw review to ensure that all procedures are reflective of the evolution of the Alumni Association.

✔ Reevaluated our new member nomination and vetting processes to better ensure genuinely diverse alumni representation on the Alumni Council.

Membership:

✔ We received 25 nominations in FY2022 for the Alumni Council.

✔ New members who will be joining the Alumni Council this fall: Chuck James ’78, Natalie Rodriguez ’92, Matthew Bogyo ’93, and Patrick Quirk ‘03

✔ The following members have completed their second term on the Alumni Council and will be rolling off: Jeremy Chase ’91, Mike Hogan ’85, and Tracy O’Mara Peacock ’94

FY22 Guiding Principles of Leadership


✔ Continued to increase the Alumni Council profile among the Bates community by advertising awards and new member nominations, alumni events, and giving opportunities

✔ Ensured that the Alumni Council has 100% participation in the Bates Fund to support the operations of the college

✔ Participated in in-person events when possible as the college began to pivot back to pre-pandemic networking opportunities


Meet your Alumni Council – Membership 2021-2022

23 alumni representing 6 decades, 18 classes and 11 states

Jennifer Crawford ’01 – President
South Boston, MA
Serving since 2015

Kevin Moore ’93 Vice President
Hanover, MA
Serving since 2017

Dan Barsky ’03
Miami Beach, Fla.
Serving since 2019

Steve Brackett ’85 P’22
Boston, Mass.
Serving since 2019

Jeremy Chase ’91
Larchmont, NY
Serving since 2016

J.J. Cummings ‘89
Virginia Beach, VA
Serving since 2021

Cat Djang ’13
Brooklyn, NY
Serving since 2017

Leah Elsmore ’12
Denver, Colo
Serving since 2019

Fadia Felfle ’15
New York, N.Y.
Serving since 2019

Mahvash Hassan ‘90
Piedmont, CA
Serving since 2021

Katie Hawkins Vail ’05
Portland, ME
Serving since 2017

Mike Hogan ’85
Boston, MA
Serving since 2016

John Howard ’86
Cos Cob, CT
Serving since 2018

Karen L. Finocchio ’92
Marblehead, MA
Serving since 2018

Don McDade ’74
Portland, ME
Serving since 2018

Tracy O’Mara Peacock ’94
Wilmette, IL
Serving since 2016

Michelle Pham ‘15
New York, NY
Serving since 2021

Erica Seifert Plunkett ’86
Holliston, MA
Serving since 2017

Benjamin Robinson, III ‘86
Charlotte, NC
Serving since 2021

Monica Rodriguez ’12
New York, N.Y.
Serving since 2019

Arsalan Suhail ’09
Charlotte, NC
Serving since 2017

Louis Weinstein ‘68
Charleston, SC
Serving since 2021

Graeme Welds ‘15
New York, NY
Serving since 2021


Contact Us

Alumni Engagement
2 Andrews Road
Lewiston, Maine 04240
Phone: 1-888-522-8371 alumni@bates.edu