Berry College Alumni Council
Minutes
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The council meeting began at 8:30 a.m. with a breakfast and tour of the new Stephen J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center.
Bill Roseen, President, called the morning general session to order at 10:20 a.m.
Valerie Loner opened the meeting with a prayer.
Chris
Watters, Director of Alumni Relations, reviewed the agenda for the day,
noted a change to the agenda – Centennial Report will be given in the
afternoon session.
Chris
also introduced the guest speakers for the morning session: Todd
Brooks, Director of Athletics; Randall Goble, Director of the Stephen
J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center;
Chris Clarke, Member of the Men’s Basketball Team; Laura Moore, Member
of the Women’s Basketball Team; and Joe James, Student Government
Association President. The guests spoke about the Cage Center and what its opening means for the entire campus and the future of Berry.
Frances
Richey-Goldby, President Elect, talked about the success of the Alumni
Association service project “Puffing the Cage”. Around 80 alumni
participated in the project and over 200 hours of service was recorded.
Milton Chambers, Director of Alumni Development, presented a new fundraising effort to raise money to go towards the Cage Center - 100 seats for 100 years for $100,000.
Bill
presented the minutes from the last meeting to the council for
approval. Drew Landis made a motion that the minutes be approved;
Carolyn Smith seconded the motion, the motion passed without opposition.
Bart
Cox, Parliamentarian, presented the proposed changes to the
Constitution and Bylaws. He first thanked the committee for all of
their hard work. The committee consisted of: Bob Aiken, Celeste
Creswell, Dr. Ouida Dickey, and Whit Whitaker.
Proposed changes to the Bylaws:
· Punctuation corrections
· Wording changes
· Duties of the parliamentarian – advises rather than interprets
· The awards committee will recommend honorary awards as necessary instead of annually
· Corrections: Martha Berry created the Daughters of Berry
Barbara
McCollum made a motion to accept these changes to the Bylaws and the
motion was seconded and it passed without opposition.
Whit Whitaker presented the proposed changes to the Constitution:
· Currently
2/3 of the council must be present to have a quorum to conduct
business, propose to change Article 6, Section 3 to majority of council
must be present in order to conduct business
A
motion was made to refer the proposed changes to the Constitution to
the Association for their vote at the annual meeting by Cecily and
seconded by Betty, and passed without opposition.
Bill thanked Bart and his committee for their work.
Frances
brought the list of nominations for members for the 2008-2010 term
before council. A motion was made to approve the list of nominees by
Clara and it was seconded. The motion was passed without opposition.
Bill recognized two new vice presidents – Leann Yoda and Allyson Chambers.
Brenda Jenkins was thanked for all of her hard work putting together the “Puffing the Cage” project.
Dates for the upcoming council meetings:
· Saturday, September 6, 2008
· Saturday, November 8, 2008
· Saturday, February 7, 2009 – week after Founder’s Day
Founder’s Day 2009 will be January 29 – 31 and will be the Alumni Centennial closing.
Bill thanked the council for all of the hard work the committees have done this year.
Valerie led a blessing before we adjourned for lunch and committee meetings.
The afternoon session was called to order at 2:55 p.m.
Dr. Ouida Dickey gave a report of the Centennial Committee
· Will be launched during Alumni Weekend 2008
· Already have several pre-events: “Puffing the Cage”, Reunion Zero, Graduation
· Celebration will conclude during Founder’s Day 2009
· Walter Johnson portrait unveiling will take place at the Grand Birthday Party
· Piano concert by Roberto McCausland-Dieppa
· Michael Hendricks concert
· Alumni Art Show – led by Tommy Mew
· Gift to the college – 100 seats for 100 years for $100,000
· Special Alumni history exhibit to be displayed in Krannert
Committee Reports
Harlan Chapman – Historic Berry
· 4 papers were presented
· Jennifer Dickey talked with the group about ways the committee can support Historic Berry
· Talked about Alumni Centennial plans with Dr. Ouida Dickey
Barbara McCollum – Financial Support
· Scott Breithaupt did a planned giving presentation
· Ed announced that we are at 75% participation rate for Council giving
· Annual fund goal for this fiscal year is $2,500,000; college grad contributions have increased by 15%
· Whit provided an update for funding of the Cage Center, 18.2 million has been raised to date
Valerie Loner – Young Alumni and Student Relations
· February 19 Event – seniors and young alumni, panel will present topics such as investments, renting vs. buying, and insurance
· Relay 4 Life at Berry College – goal of 50 teams and $100,000, sponsor a young alumni team, theme: Lights, Camera, Relay
· Electronic
communication – committee proposes adding links to the alumni webpage
to Facebook and Linked In, along with redesigning the webpage, promote
the Alumni webpage in the Alumni Accent and Berry Magazine
Betty Whitten – Events
· Use the people that returned blue forms at Mountain Day as part of the volunteer corps
· Study week during Alumni Work Week discussion has been tabled
Clara McRae – Awards
· Selected the candidates to be sent to the community panel
· Ethics statement to be added to the nomination form and application materials
· Committee
wants to have the ability to change the award someone is nominated for
if the committee feels they qualify for another award
· 22 people were nominated for awards this year but only 15 returned their application packets
· Information on nominees is sent to archives after awards selection is complete
The
list of Honorary Alumni was presented to the council with a motion by
Clara McRae that was seconded. The motion was passed without opposition.
Chris informed the council that nominations for honorary doctorate degrees were now being accepted for May 2008 graduation.
Bill thanked the Alumni Relations staff for all of their hard work over the year.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:29 p.m.