May 15–17, 2014
Committee Chair Caroline Kerr ’05 welcomed everybody and opened the meeting. The committee first received updates from Derrick Smith ’07, Assistant Director for Young Alumni and Student Programs. Young Alumni at Dartmouth (YADA) has hosted 35 young alumni events this year to date with five additional events planned. The first ever multi-city Big Green Affair took place in the spring and the Young Alumni Chair Council was launched. Derrick is seeking to increase young alumni engagement and grow the number and scope of programming and the Young Alumni Committee engaged in brainstorming of topics and format. Next the committee heard from Dan Parish ’89, Director of Dartmouth For Life. Recent initiatives have included Dartmouth Career Network Outreach with a focus on the Class of 2009 – 2013 and Young Alumni Career Friday sessions and Alumni Career Webinars. Dan is working closely with Roger Woolsey and the Center for Professional Development to plan next steps and expand offerings.
Undergraduate members of the Young Alumni Committee shared a campus update and facilitated a discussion on how young alumni could collaborate with juniors and seniors on campus. There is interest in hosting a reception with students and young Alumni Councilors during Council sessions as well as developing a set of young alumni speakers. It was also suggested that connecting 10-year classes would be valuable and a sub-group of the Young Alumni Committee is already moving forward with a pilot program to connect members of the Class of 2005 and Class of 2015 for mentoring and meet-ups in high density cities for summer 2014.
Vice Chair Rodrigo Ramirez ’06 facilitated a discussion about the year ahead, including how to engage many young alumni of color and ways in which the Young Alumni Committee can support the diversity population of graduating students and young alumni. The Young Alumni Committee elected Kalina Newmark ’11 as Vice Chair for 2014 – 2015. The committee thanked retiring Councilors for their service and adjourned.