MCAC December 2020 Update
Friends,
Greetings from your newly elected alumni council!
The Marlboro College Alumni Council is charged with the task of building the foundation for our association in this new reality without the college. There is much organizing that needs to be done. Organizations need process and structure and we are just beginning that work, in the spirit of our college. We envision an engaged alumni community working through democratic means to preserve Marlboro College’s legacy and embody the College’s academic and cultural ideals (in both reality and in spirit) well into the future.
Our initial meeting was with the interim council to begin the practicalities and administrivia of the leadership transition. We want to express our gratitude to the interim council members, Heather Bryce ’04, John Coakley ’02, Daniel Doolittle ’95, Randy George ’93, Cate Marvin Dupont ’93, and Jessica Taylor Taraski ’91, for their passionate commitment to the laborious work of re-animating the MCAA over the past year. Without their care and foresight, our Association would not exist.
Since that initial meeting, we have had two additional organizing meetings. In this phase, we have decided to meet twice monthly and have an ambitious and exciting list of initial tasks and projects.
The council voted unanimously to take on the Threadless store, which will now belong to the Association. This step ensures that alumni will be able to get swag from our college, and that the Association will have a (very small) income to help us to pay for some important things like a website and the digital tools to stay in touch with you. Threadless income does not cover our annual costs, but it helps, so if you have broken your beloved coffee mug or your daughter has stolen your sweatshirt, you can find replacements here.
The council voted unanimously to gratefully accept the continued support of Erik Olson ‘94 as the webmaster for the MCAA website.
The council has been briefed and we are excited about more ambitious long-term projects about the history and legacy of Marlboro. One such project is already underway. In recognition of the unique contributions of Marlboro College, the existing Archives Committee is launching a pilot oral history project. Three Marlboro Faculty will be interviewed via Zoom over the next three to four months. Questions will focus on three to six themes to include: Town Meeting, the Plan of Concentration, and tutorials, to provide structure and to ensure the unique value of Marlboro College is not lost to history. This oral history project is in early development, and will be refined over time. More details coming soon. As more of these projects emerge and begin to take shape, the council will encourage broad participation across the alumni community, and will create the organization and infrastructure to support that engagement.
One of the council’s most vital priorities is the development and adoption of bylaws and the clarification of mission and vision for the Association. This will necessitate community input. We look forward to those conversations in the coming year.
Associations are at their heart groups that serve their members. To that end, the council will invite broader community participation on a variety of topics and projects in the future. Under consideration for the near future is a membership survey to help inform our priorities. And the council will charge elected and volunteer committees and project groups to help us to do the foundational work required to make the MCAA grow and thrive. You can expect to hear from us soon regarding a volunteer opportunity to participate in the first of these discussions, on the topic of the Facebook group and social media spaces.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@marlborocollegealumniassociation.com. Thank you for entrusting us with our Association. We look forward to what’s next for our alumni community.
Sincerely,
CJ Churchill, 1991
Dagmawi Iyasu Eminetu, 1998
Mark Genszler, 1995
Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, 1972
Melanie Knight Gottlieb, 2002
Kate Hollander, 2002
Pamela Witte Nye, 1993
Bess Poehlmann, 1992
Ellie Roark, 2012