Alumni Board Initiatives You Can Get Excited About

Excitement has surrounded each recent Alumni Board meeting. This enthusiasm stems from a renewed sense of direction accompanied by several recent successes.

The Alumni Board represents the greater alumni body and partners with the director of Alumni Relations, Alex Schmidt, to set the vision for alumni programs and projects. Recently, the Alumni Board has set some aggressive goals to provide different venues for alumni to re-connect. By sharing our current plans -- to bring alumni together on campus with an alumni house, bring alumni together where they live through regional chapters, and bring alumni together 24/7 through an on-line community -- we hope to gain your involvement in these initiatives. Your participation and support will ensure success.

The Alumni Board's largest undertaking involves the development of an on-campus space to call our own. The Alumni House will serve as a central gathering place and check-in point for alumni when they arrive on campus for any occasion. It will also offer general meeting space and will provide a symbolic presence on campus. The highly visible Bass Mollett house is the ideal choice for a GC Alumni House. Most alums will remember it as an elegant, historic home on the hill just north of campus. Sadly, the years have worn on the building. At this time, all systems need to be updated and the interior and exterior need renovation. The estimated cost to transform Bass-Mollett into our Alumni House is $750,000. However, we hope to complete the project for much less. Our goal for the project is simple: “every alum a donor.” We hope all of you will contribute to this project through donations of time, talents or resources. It is our hope that the Alumni House will be created for alumni by alumni. We will officially kick off the project during the 2005 Homecoming events.

Successful collaborations are energizing, and the Alumni Board's initial attempts at founding regional chapters have proven to be fruitful. First, the Regional Chapters sub-committee worked hard to create a model for the establishment of GC Alumni Chapters. Then, Pam Taylor, director of Advancement in the GC Advancement Office supplied coordination support. Finally, and most importantly, an ambitious and persistent alum, Chris Peters ('91) took the lead and started our first Regional Chapter, the National Capital Panthers in the DC area. That chapter is sponsoring its first local event this November! We hope to establish many more regional chapters throughout the nation, and invite you to take the leadership initiative in your area.

Lastly, we look forward to establishing and maintaining consistent communication between our alumni through the use of our new online community. Alumni.greenville.edu was created for you with your needs in mind. With options such as an online directory, real-time posting of class notes and alumni news, and updated information on news and events, we hope you will stay connected to the college and to each other. Contact Alex at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you need log in information and look for more information and registration materials in your mailbox this fall.

We will keep you updated on the status of these three initiatives as they progress. Thank you in advance for your continued support and we look forward to serving you, 

Your Alumni Board President,
Amanda (Fuqua) Wiegand ('94).