Bates College Alumni Council — 2024 Impact Work
Below, you will find highlights from the Alumni Council’s work during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Through our annual awards, we recognized six alumni for their commitment to the college, service to their communities, and distinction in their careers. This year, we had the opportunity to celebrate their achievements at Reunion. Their names are listed below. Please consider nominating outstanding alumni in 2025 for awards.
One member of the Alumni Council completed their term in June 2024; we are grateful for the dedicated service of Donald McDade ’74. As we say goodbye to this devoted volunteer, we welcome four new members to the Alumni Council, whose names are listed below. If you are interested in serving on the Council in the future, please consider submitting a nomination.
It is truly a privilege to serve the Bates alumni community. Thank you for making our work representing Bates alumni so rewarding. Please do not hesitate to reach out to alumni@bates.edu if you are looking for ways to be more connected or have feedback — we are here for you.
It’s a great day to be a Bobcat.
Leah Elsmore ’12, Alumni Council President
John Howard ’86, Alumni Council Vice President
The Bates College Alumni Council is the governing body of the Alumni Association and serves as the primary liaison between the Association and the Bates administration, faculty, and student body. The purposes of the Alumni Council are to:
- Support the mission, vision, values, and strategic directions of the college and the office of advancement and alumni engagement
- Be a positive, energetic ambassadors for Bates
- Demonstrate the highest levels of commitment of personal capital to the college and alumni engagement
If you have questions or suggestions about alumni engagement, the Alumni Council can be one of your most effective means of communicating your ideas and concerns. Please send your feedback to us at alumni@bates.edu and check out our website site at www.bates.edu/alumni/alumni-council/.
Increase engagement and volunteer opportunities for Regional Events and Professional Development
Council Champion: J.J. Cummings ‘89 and Michelle Pham ’15
The committee has focused on two main initiatives this year: reviving the multi-city day of service program and a virtual alumni panel on activating and navigating the Bates network.
✔ The committee worked with the New York regional group on efforts to host an arts panel and Day of Service volunteer opportunity.
✔ The Harnessing the Power of the Bates Network panel was held on March 19th and included several AC members.
✔ Plans are in place to organize four alumni panels in the next academic year.
Explores opportunities and interests on how best to keep past Alumni Council Members Engaged
Council Champion: Karen Finocchio ’92
The committee developed a newsletter that was shared with all past Alumni Council members with the goal to keep this audience more informed and connected. This year the committee laid the framework for a pilot with testing content and structure.
✔ The first release of the newsletter was shared in April 2024.
✔ The committee is taking the learnings from the initial newsletter to build out new content areas for the next newsletter and updating the schedule of release dates.
Recognition of Alumni Excellence
Council Champion: John Howard ’86
We received 19 new nominations for the 2024 Alumni Awards. The 2024 Alumni Award Winners were:
✔ Alumni Community Service Award: Michael Schlechter ’99
✔ Alumni Professional Recognition Award: Robin Hodgskin ’76 and David Wilcox ’74, P’03, P’09
✔ Bruce Stangle Award for Distinguished Service: Ira Waldman ‘73
✔ Distinguished Young Alumni Award: Alexandria Onuoha ’20
✔ Helen A. Papaioanou Distinguished Service Award: Jennifer Bouchard ‘99
Governance
Council Champion: Leah Elsmore ’12
Process Improvements:
✔ Bylaw update was passed at last year’s Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association
✔ We continued to utilize a schedule of shorter, yet more frequent virtual Council meetings this year
Membership:
✔ Leah Elsmore ’12 will ascend to be the President of the Alumni Council in July, as Kevin Moore ’93 has completed his term
✔ John Howard ’86 will be the new Vice President for a two-year term starting in July
✔ We received 45 nominations for new members of the Alumni Council
✔ New members who will be joining the Alumni Council this fall: Tim Jones ’84, Wendy Harris Garber ’89, Porsha Winters ’12, Liza Pearce ’14
✔ The following members have completed their second term on the Alumni Council and will be rolling off: Donald McDade ’74 and Kevin Moore ’93 (remains as Past-President); John Howard ’86 also ended his term but he will remain as the next Vice President.
Contact Us
Alumni Engagement
2 Andrews Road
Lewiston, Maine 04240
Phone: 1-888-522-8371
alumni@bates.edu