WMAA Board Notes and Award Nominations

The William & Mary Alumni Association (WMAA) Board of Directors held its winter meeting at the William & Mary Alumni House on Feb. 10-11, 2022.

Anna Dinwiddie Hatfield ’96, board president, opened the meeting and welcomed the members. Following approval of the consent agenda, Marilyn Midyette ’75, chief executive officer, addressed the board and discussed her report posted in the board book. She provided an overview of what we’ve already accomplished this year relative to the strategic priorities of the association and provided information on what we are looking forward to for the balance of the year. Key highlights were that Homecoming & Reunion Weekend saw more than 45 programs and 4,036 registrants, we hosted 11 in-person Yule Log events engaging more than 430 alumni nationwide and conducted multiple collaborations for career fairs and networking sessions. Spring semester events include hosting our annual Professionals Week from Feb. 28 to March 4, three 50th reunions (classes of 1970-1972) in April during Traditions Weekend and our first Black Alumni Reunion in May.

Chairs from the Communications, Board Development, Career & Regional Engagement and Finance & Investment committees updated members on action items and priorities in their respective areas. Also, board representatives of the Young Guarde, Students for University Advancement and the Olde Guarde constituent groups informed the board of alumni engagement activities and initiatives from their respective constituencies. Other updates included a presentation on the WMAA’s fundraising status and goals, a presentation on career engagement and professional development by the university’s chief career officer, and a presentation by Brian Mann, the new athletics director, discussing the direction and initiatives of W&M Athletics. 

The board participated in a meeting of the Joint University Boards, consisting of the Board of Visitors, the Annual Giving Board, the W&M Foundation Board and the WMAA, where President Katherine Rowe gave a presentation introducing the university’s Vision 2026 plan and led panel discussions about key areas of the plan.

The WMAA Board spent considerable time conducting an appreciative inquiry process focusing on identifying key aspects of alumni engagement that need to be examined, identified and/or adopted for further development and implementation to maintain a meaningful and relevant engagement program. This process will develop over the coming year and results will be shared with the association’s membership in December.

Significant discussion and decisions also took place on the following actions:

• Accorded Honorary Alumni membership to James Armstrong, Thomas Duffy, Jody Forsyth P ‘15 and Peter Meredith Jr. P ’01, with recognition at an induction ceremony in May.
• Approved according Associate Alumni membership status to 24 retiring faculty and staff members.
• Approved the following faculty members as recipients of the 2022 Faculty Fellowship Award, which recognizes young members of the faculty who are particularly outstanding as teachers and who ensure that the high academic standards of the university are retained:
  • Patton Burchett, associate professor of religious studies
  • Daniel Maliniak, assistant professor of government and public policy
  • Andrea Wright, associate professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and anthropology
  • Erin Webster, assistant professor of English
  • Thomas J. McSweeney, professor of law
• Gave final approval of the FY21 financial statements and the Forms 990 and 990-T tax filings.

The next regular meeting of the board of directors is scheduled for June 9-10, 2022, in Williamsburg.