Dartmouth Club of China
The Dartmouth Club of China (DCC) has personified the ideal of connecting Dartmouth alumni ’round the girdled earth.
This year, the club focused on two goals: “helping alumni remain connected and interested in what’s happening at Dartmouth,” and “building a sense of camaraderie.” A dynamic and growing club, the DCC has indeed fostered a strong sense of Dartmouth community amongst alumni in China. It focuses on communications and programming that meets alumni where they are and brings Dartmouth to them.
In addition to its website, regular emails, and newsletter, the club established a successful WeChat group. Open to all alumni in the area, the peer messaging tool helps the DCC connect with the community outside of more traditional channels. Club leaders also used a similar tool to communicate as a team, which helped them to increase their effectiveness and expand the number of organized events.
Not only did the DCC leverage visits from Dartmouth faculty and administrators; it also organized smaller gatherings to connect alumni socially and through service. Highlights included events with Dartmouth visitors and accepted students, which became the largest of their kind in Beijing and Shanghai to date. Further, the club planned a successful Chinese New Year brunch and organized a Day of Service trash pickup on the Great Wall of China. Drawing lessons from each event, they fine-tuned their organizational efforts and communications strategies—work that continues to inform planning for upcoming 250th-anniversary initiatives in China.
In recognition of the club’s efforts to reach and engage the alumni community in China, the Communities Executive Council (CEC) is honored to recognize the Dartmouth Club of China as the 2019 Small Club of the Year.