A Stronger Foundation

It’s been about a year since I became your AVP for Alumni Relations. What a year it’s been! I won’t bore you with all the internal and operational changes we’ve made over the past 12 months, but I will say that I believe we are in a better position to connect you to each other and back to Lehigh. This stronger foundation will be especially important as we look forward to supporting the transformational plan that President John Simon and Provost Patrick Farrell outlined in the last issue of the Bulletin.

We’ve been refining many of our current programs, and also creating new activities and events to see what motivates you to be informed, involved and invested in Lehigh. You’ll notice as you look down this list of new activities that we don’t do this alone: We work with multiple partners across campus!

Here are some of the new activities we’ve introduced:

• Lehigh launched Lehigh@NasdaqCenter in San Francisco, and our team has been working with Lisa Getzler, executive director of The Baker Institute, to plan Lehigh-specific activities and invite alumni to their programs
• The Senior Alumni Council added a second Back to the Classroom event, welcoming dozens more alumni to hear faculty lectures on hot topics
• Together with the Athletics Partnership, we produced the C.J. McCollum Sweet 16 Tour, gathering hundreds of alumni and their families across the country to cheer on our favorite NBA player
• Our four college deans are all hosting town-hall style discussions with alumni, online via webinars and in person during reunion weekend; many faculty and alumni are on deck to present as well
• Working with Dr. Henry Odi, vice provost for academic diversity, we’ve created the Dr. Costel Denson ’56 award to recognize an alumnus/a who has demonstrated leadership by proactively seeking to identify and implement pathways to increased diversity in the American workplace and in our educational institutions
• Stephanie Fisher, Danielle Kroo, and Adrienne Nenow recently joined the alumni relations team: Stephanie will forge new ways of celebrating class affinity; Danielle will develop more robust professional networking programs; and Adrienne will strengthen regional networks in several major regions inside and outside the United States
• Alumni Relations, along with the Center for Career & Professional Development and The Baker Institute, helped the CREATE Club produce Lehigh’s first startup meetup, in which alumni entrepreneurs and students connected to explore possible internships
• We’ve been sending post-event surveys after nearly all our events, so we can systematically address alumni feedback and learn more about our constituents
• During Reunion/Commencement weekend, you’ll see a few new events, including Hawktoberfest, a Legacy Celebration lunch, a President’s Address and Meetings with the Deans.

I, my team, and your Lehigh University Alumni Association (LUAA) hope that we’ll see you soon, whether it’s on social media, in person, or on a webinar!

Sincerely,
Jennifer Cunningham
Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations

Email me at Jennifer.Cunningham@Lehigh.edu