Alumni

Creating a United Front

An Alumni Association board member renews her own commitment to the College while creating a plan to reach out to alumni.

By Kay Smith Severns ’59

Two events brought me back to Lake Forest College. Forty years after I arrived on campus in 1955, I took a summer class called Women in Literature. Then, I helped implement a grant that offered scholarships to four female Hispanic students, all incoming freshman at Highland Park High School, to attend an academic computer camp at the College. During this process, the president of Latinos Unidos, a student group that promotes Latin culture, gave me a campus tour along with the students, their parents, and a teacher. Both experiences unleashed a flood of memories and set the stage for becoming a part of the Lake Forest College community once again.

In 2003, semi-retired and living near Lake Forest College, I decided to renew my connection to the College. I had both the time and the inclination to give back to the place where a small town girl, ill-prepared for the rigors of college, found direction and goals that prepared me for a fulfilling career in education and introduced me to areas of interest that only a liberal arts college can provide. I called up the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations and volunteered. My first role was as a member-at-large on the Alumni Association Board, where I made phone calls, sent thank you letters for donations, and the like.

I was attached but still did not feel the sense of connection I had hoped for, even though I now had become a full Alumni Association board member. I discovered that disparate groups seemed to be doing their own thing, and no united front existed where alumni, faculty, administration, and the present student body all worked for common goals.

Despite solid results from a 1998 five-year alumni engagement plan—a 418 percent increase in Homecoming attendance, a 38 percent  increase in regional gatherings, a 42 percent growth in the number of alumni volunteers, and the appointment of the Alumni Association President as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees—I felt adrift, as if our many strands operated only tangentially as a unit.

However, I was about to embark on a process that would reenergize my commitment to the College and allow the Alumni Association Board to better engage alumni.

Becoming a Genuine Force

The start of 2005 provided much hope as I read the College’s Five Year Plan, an institutional blueprint for 2005–2010. One of the five goals—extensive alumni engagement with the College—signaled the expanded role for alumni. This was our chance to redefine the role of alumni within the context of this new view and bring us into partnership with faculty, the student body, and the administration. Instead of being isolated, the Alumni Association now had an opportunity to become a genuine force in shaping the next five years. Suddenly I felt grown up—the Alumni Association was going to sit at the adult table and gain full standing in the College community.

With this changed mindset came a great challenge: the Alumni Association Board had to draft a new document that would outline our role and push us to become a resource available to the College community. We hired the Alford Group to conduct an extensive survey of alumni, hold focus groups, and conduct 100 alumni phone calls.

The results showed that alumni have a passion for the College and want to be engaged. Armed with this information, we held a full-day retreat on a very cold, snowy January day (I am sure you all remember those kinds of days in Lake Forest!) that affirmed the need to align our vision with the College’s plan. Board President Molly Grudzinski, appointed a Vision and Strategic Planning Task Force with eleven members.

Developing VISION 2010

Now I felt a real sense of purpose, an infusion of energy that would equip the Alumni Association to become a full fledged participant in the College community. The Task Force took time, but important time, to yield solid results. We called the plan VISION 2010 and three significant goals emerged from our deliberations:

1. Enhance the effectiveness of the Alumni Association
2. Increase the alumni connectivity/affinity and sense
of pride
3. Build the perception of the philanthropic worthiness of Lake Forest College and create a giving culture.

These goals and the many strategies and tactics associated with them will enable the Alumni Association to become a force in helping interested alumni find various ways to serve. First and foremost, the College needs dollars and the Alumni Association must forthrightly address that issue. No gift is too small, for each gift says, “Thank you and I believe in Lake Forest College.” Second, the Alumni Association needs help—you will hear of ways to volunteer. Third, we need you to reconnect to the College. Homecoming always provides a great opportunity and the sesquicentennial celebration in 2007 will offer a great chance to see what is happening on the campus and honor 150 years of the College.

To help us reach out to alumni, the College invested significantly in the area of alumni relations in the past year. A reorganized Office of Alumni and Parent Relations and the addition of department assistant Delores Lotysz allows for better coordination and help with the work load. The Career Mentor Program, long popular with our alumni and students, now has a single person dedicated to coordinating this program, Megan Mieling, who started over the summer in a position funded by a grant from the Kemper Foundation. The athletic department added an assistant athletic director to the staff to focus on alumni outreach, among other tasks. All of these positions work closely with the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, and will work closely with the board to help realize our vision. 

I no longer felt as if I were paddling about in a very small boat doing important but minor jobs that felt disconnected from the big ship voyage of the College. The idea that I am here to serve the College through the Alumni Association is a paradigm shift for me. I now feel a genuine connection to Lake Forest College. I have a place here, and it feels very good.

Kay Smith Severns ’59 is an Alumni Association board member.