College Key Newsletter — Spring 2018
Contents
- President’s Report
- Distinguished Alumnus in Residence
- Knitting Needles at the Ready
- Social Media Report
- Senior Gift Match
- 2018 Annual Meeting Reminder
- College Key Bylaw Revisions
- College Key Dues
- Alumni Member Nominations
- College Key Student Awards
- College Key Scholarships
- Executive Committee Officers
President’s Report
The Bates College Key entered 2018 on firm footing. There is no better way to document our progress than to introduce you to our Board of Directors and the duties they perform on your behalf.
We are getting our financial house in order thanks to the hard work and expertise of our treasurer, Carol Spencer ’74. She has spent a lot of time getting our nonprofit status renewed and all our federal and state paperwork submitted. Her extensive background in government and nonprofit organizations has been invaluable.
As many of you know, we now have two social media avenues through which we can connect: Facebook and LinkedIn. Vice President Karen Finocchio Lubeck ’92 has ably taken over this responsibility, and we hope to continue to grow in this area under her expert leadership.
We have a new secretary, Flora Chan ’11, who has brought fresh perspective to the Executive Committee and will be our link to the younger classes in our alumni body.
Lastly, Marianne Cowan ’92, has remained a senior advisor to the club. Her experience as a member of the College Key and a College Liaison offer important historical perspective when we are discussing day-to-day business and long-term strategy.
Without the support of our members, our work could not be done. We ask you to continue to pay your dues so that we can remain on a strong financial footing and provide the services to those students who otherwise would struggle to afford them. We also need your ideas, participation, and, when possible, your attendance at our annual meeting held each June at Reunion. Together we can keep making a difference at Bates.
My best from Maine,
Jeff Sturgis ’69, President
Distinguished Alumnus in Residence: Ed Meloni ’91
Somewhere tonight, someone — make that millions of someones — will wake up in desperate terror, reliving the horror of a traumatic event. The someones will range from combat veterans and abuse survivors to witnesses to mass-shootings and victims of natural disasters.
Right now, there’s nothing they can do except let the panic dissipate, like waiting out a summer thunderstorm. But in the near future, a remedy might be close by, thanks to landmark memory research by Ed Meloni ’91.
Ed Meloni ’91, Professor of Psychology, McLean Hospital, returned to Bates on March 14 and 15, 2018, as our latest Distinguished Alumnus in Residence. Read about his work in this interview with Editor of Bates Magazine, Jay Burns and check out the video from his lecture.
Knitting Needles at the Ready
A big thank you to Sarah Daniels ’77 and Qinglan Wang ’10 for donations of their beautiful handiwork to students from warm climates in need of winter hats, mittens, and scarves. This new project of the College Key was Sarah’s brainchild after hearing about the Coats program in June 2017. The snow keeps falling, so if you’re handy with the needles and have time and Bobcat warmth to share with students, please do add to our collection!
If interested in contributing, send along completed items to: Marianne Cowan, associate director of program design, Purposeful Work, Bates College, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240.
Social Media Report
We want to hear from you!
It has been fabulous to see the activity from our College Key members in both our Facebook and LinkedIn groups. True to our Batesie nature, we are active in many ways with the college and our communities. Make sure to connect with us digitally so that you can receive announcements and updates on how to engage with the College Key.
Our College Key website is updated with current committees, faces, and event information, including 2018 Distinguished Alumnus in Residence (DAIR), Ed Meloni ’91, and the 2018 Annual Meeting. I encourage you to take a look and send along comments or recommendations for information that you would like to see. This is our Key and we want to make sure that information is helpful, relevant and engaging. Even Annual Dues payments are a simple click away, so test out the website and pay using the online form if you haven’t already.
Know of a fellow Bobcat you would like to nominate for the Key? Grab the link from the College Key webpage, Facebook, or LinkedIn post. Want to become involved in a Key committee? Let us know either through direct message or email link from these groups.
LinkedIn is great for professional networking. This platform allows Key members to stay connected as careers grow, shift and change. Only College Key members will have eligibility to join the Facebook and LinkedIn groups. We encourage all members to request to join by clicking the following links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/batescollegekey/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8601015
If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact Karen Finocchio Lubeck ’92.
Senior Gift Match
The College Key provides $2,500 to the senior class as an incentive for its Senior Gift. We match all gifts that are $25 or more. The $2,500 provided by the College Key matched 53 gifts, 14 of which were at the Mount David Society ($100 or more) level. The incentive was so motivational that it ran out during the fall semester. Currently, 275 (56 percent) of seniors have donated $5,183 toward their goal of $6,000 and 76 percent participation. In addition, $2,500 has been provided by Trustee Lisa Barry ’71 for matching gifts. We will report the final tally at the June annual meeting.
Annual Meeting Reminder
If you are in the Bates College campus vicinity on Friday, June 8, during Reunion, we warmly encourage you to attend the annual meeting of the College Key at 5 p.m. in Muskie Archives.
At the meeting, we’ll welcome student and alumni members to the Key, present the Distinguished Service Award — the Key’s highest honor, learn about programs of the Key, and conduct the organization’s annual business.
The meeting is followed by the annual Reunion lobster bake — another great reason to come back to campus! If you are not in a Reunion class but would like to attend all or parts of the Reunion, you can register online or contact the Bates Reunion Team at 207-755-5976 or reunion@bates.edu. We hope you can join us!
College Key Bylaw Revisions
The College Key Bylaws require a review of the Bylaws by the Executive Committee every three years. As a result of this review, the Executive Committee will present revisions to the Bylaws to be voted on at the next annual meeting to be held during Reunion on June 8, 2018. The revised Bylaws will be posted on the College Key website so that members may see the revisions in preparation for the vote in June. This article highlights the changes and includes the rationale for those changes. Members are encouraged to contact College Key President, Jeff Sturgis ‘69 with questions or comments.
Article III, Section 2a — We are changing the number of alumni who can be nominated each year from 20 to 40. With graduating classes of nearly 500 each year, our alumni body is rapidly growing. This enables us to recognize a proportionately larger number.
Article IV, Sections 1c, 1d — This name change will eliminate the confusion of having the word “secretary” in the titles of two different officers and is more descriptive of their respective roles.
Article IV, Section 1g and Section 4 — After serving three years as vice President and 3 years as president, most past presidents, while they always remain available for consultation, don’t want the responsibility for attending monthly meetings for another year.
Article IV, Section 8 — Two years ago, the president resigned mid-term and there was no procedure in the Bylaws that delineated the process for the ascension of the vice president to president and for the replacement of the vice president. This section codifies the procedure we came up with and makes clear the procedure for all the officers should there be another mid-term resignation.
Article IV, Section 9 — This section clarifies the duties of the officers.
Article V — The changes in this article clarify the duties of the various committees and incorporate some changes in wording made earlier in the Bylaws.
Article VI, Section 1 — This removes the penalty for failure to pay dues making it an expectation. This penalty has not been enforced and, in an organization of this size, is next to impossible to enforce.
Article VII, Section 6 — In this electronic age, methods of communicating with and polling large groups are rapidly changing. This change gives the Executive Committee the responsibility to select the means that are most appropriate at any given time.
Article IX, Section 1 — This article adds the process for dissolution to comply with the laws governing nonprofits.
College Key Dues
Your annual dues are the source of income for College Key projects. Do you know where your dues go?
- Each year College Key dues bring a distinguished alumnus or alumna to campus to meet with students and faculty, and present a lecture about his or her work through the Distinguished Alumni in Residence program.
- Dues provide funds to purchase winter coats and gear for students from warm climates in need.
- Dues provide thousands of dollars in funds for travel to internships and job shadows, ensuring students benefit from career exploration around the country.
- Dues add to the Mabel Eaton Scholarship — an endowed fund that has supported financial aid for many deserving Bates students.
- Dues that you pay to the College Key are used as an incentive for seniors to donate to their Senior Class Gift.
Instead of sending costly paper mailings, we are now including dues reminders in our online newsletters. Unfortunately, this has caused a significant drop in our annual collection.
We are proud to support students at Bates, but we can’t do it without you!
Please take a moment now to pay your 2018 dues online at College Key Dues. If you wish to mail a check, fill out this same form, print it, and mail with your check to:
Carol P. Spencer
The College Key
126 Brazos Drive
Cedar Creek, TX 78612.
The Executive Committee thanks you for your continued support of the College Key.
Alumni Member Nominations
Article III, Section 2a of the Bates College Key Bylaws states: “Up to twenty (20) alumni members may be proposed each year by the Committee on Alumni Members for election at the Annual Meeting. Alumni who did not graduate may be considered for membership on the basis of outstanding lifetime service to the College. There is no limit on the number of alumni members in a class.”
Flora Chan, the College Key Secretary, heads up the Committee on Alumni Membership. She and her committee are looking for names of outstanding alumni to nominate for membership in the College Key at our next annual meeting. So, if you know of an alum who is deserving of this recognition, please fill out the nomination form by Monday, April 30.
College Key Student Awards
Each year the College Key sponsors several awards that are given to Bates students. The Evelyn K. Dillon Award is given annually to one woman in field hockey and one woman in basketball to recognize “superior athleticism, leadership, dedication and overall contributions to the sport.” The 2016-17 honorees as chosen by the athletic department were: Caroline O’Reilly ’18 from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, in field hockey and Alexandra Coppola ’17 from Tarrytown, New York, in basketball.
The College Key provides “one or more music annual awards to the man or woman in the senior class whose services to musical organizations at the college has been the most outstanding.” The 2016-17 winners were: Madeline Nancy McLean ’17, from Hood River, Oregon, a Music and Biological Chemistry major; and Divyamaan Sahoo ’17, from Kolkata, India, a triple major in Music, Philosophy and Mathematics.
On behalf of the College Key, we offer our congratulations to these outstanding students.
College Key Scholarships
The College Key sponsors two scholarships:
The Mabel Eaton Bates Key Scholarship was named for Mabel Eaton ’10, Bates librarian from 1921-1957 who was the founder of the Bates College Key in 1936. The scholarship is given to a Bates student who works in the George and Helen Ladd Library during his or her time at Bates.
The College Key Scholarship began under the sponsorship of the College Club and is awarded to a student who demonstrates “loyalty, campus leadership, and potential for future service to Bates College, with preference for a student member of the College Key, or the child of a College Key member.”
With the merger of the Bates Key and the Bates College Club in 1992, the newly formed Bates College Key assumed responsibility for both scholarships and the college still awards them annually.
The Mabel Eaton Scholarship has a book value of $78,224.23 and the Bates College Key Scholarship Fund has a book value of $142,000.00. When you pay your dues, you are invited to give an additional donation to either or both scholarship funds. They can be found on the donation form.
Executive Committee 2017-2018 Officers
President, Jeff Sturgis ’69
Vice President, Karen Finocchio Lubeck ’92
Recording Secretary, Flora Chan ’11
Treasurer, Carol Prochazka Spencer ’74
Immediate Past President, Kristin Barber ’07
Staff Liaison Support, Meredith LaChapelle, Assistant Director of Alumni and Family Engagement
Advisor, Marianne Nolan Cowan ’92