Alumni Gather for Virtual Spring Volunteer Conference

On April 3-4, 2020 members of the Alumni Council, Fund Directors and BRAVO National Advisory Board came together - virtually - for a unique Spring Volunteer Conference. Under normal circumstances, these groups gather together on campus every spring for three days of meetings, opportunities to meet with students, faculty and staff, and at least one Bowdoin Log. Most of these things were accomplished virtually, sadly, the Bowdoin Log did not teleport successfully.

Alumni Council

All members of the Alumni Council - 31 alumni, two students (one dialing in from Pakistan) and a faculty representative - joined together over two days to participate in committee meetings, plenary sessions, and a Town Hall style discussion with President Clayton Rose and Scott Meiklejohn, senior vice president for Development and Alumni Relations.  The noontime Town Hall was shared with past members of the Alumni Council, and current Fund Directors, and Bravo National Chairs. Meeting highlights include:

• Plenary Session I  featured a brainstorm on ways to keep alumni engaged with each other and the College during this time of virtual connecting.
• The Awards Committee selected recipients for the Alumni Footprints Award, the Foot Soldier of Bowdoin Award, the Polar Bear Award and the Young Alumni Service Award. 
• The Nominations Committee selected nine new Alumni Council members whose service will officially start on July 1, 2020. 
• The Diversity Committee and Career Committee met with representatives from Career Exploration and Development (CXD) to discuss ways alumni can support members of the Class of 2020 entering the work force.
• And the Plenary Session II highlight was recognizing and thanking those councilors rotating off of the Alumni Council in June.

Fund Directors

All 14 Fund Directors were in attendance, with calls coming in from Maine to Portland, OR. The group had one meeting on Friday to discuss the current state of the Alumni Fund, and Fund Directors shared what they're seeing and hearing from their peers right now. The conversation focused largely on engagement - how to engage alumni during these unprecedented times and what stories to tell. Fund Directors plan to have several more calls this spring to conduct the typical day-long schedule of meetings. 

BRAVO National Advisory Board

Six members of the BRAVO National Advisory Board were in attendance throughout the day. The morning session, “What We Know,” was an opportunity discuss and reflect on the 2019-2020 year through the lenses of the  College, the Admissions Office, and BRAVO. In the afternoon, the conversation considered “Where We Go,” with an emphasis on membership and engagement among volunteers, particularly when the current pandemic has reframed the work in Admissions and necessitated a greater reliance on remote connectivity and content delivery for prospective students, families, and counselors.