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6V��Ӱ�� Alumni Association Board Meeting Minutes

December 3, 2023 – 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Virtual Meeting

Board Members in Attendance: Aldair Arriola Gomez ‘17, Soren Austenfeld ‘15, Andrew Brown ‘77, Michael Bright ‘10, Miguel Delgado ‘20, Robi Ganguly ‘00, Marcel Green ‘90, Carol Kruse ‘84, Toran Langford ‘21, Jeff Levere ‘12, Linda Luisi ‘81, Lew Phelps ‘65, Amy Rhodes ‘08, Joshua Rodriguez ‘13, Alfredo Romero ‘91, Julie Siebel ‘84, Jim Sutton ’84 P’22, Andrea Venezia ‘91, Nina Zhou ‘19

Staff Members Present: Seth Allen, Janncarlo Flores, Tray Hammond ‘22, Ryan Kolter, Kristen Romero, Maria Watson

Welcome, Trustee Update, & Overview:

Alfredo Romero ’91 welcomed the Board to this meeting and provided an update on the board of trustees and an overview of the college business. Since the October Trustee meeting, most conversations among the trustees have been centered around campus climate. First off, the Trustees are very aware and concerned about what’s going on on campus. College staff is focused on allowing students to express their opinions through peaceful protests, but also that all students feel safe and are free from harassment. To that end, the policies of free speech have been updated and distributed to the campus community.

Alfredo also informed the Board that Sam Glick ‘04 is in his last year as chair, and that Janet Benton ’79 will be taking over the Board of Trustees next year.

Soren Austenfeld ’15 asked about the updates to the harassment policy, and Alfredo clarified that the update made was the addition of shared ancestry as a protected category.

Special Presentation: Affirmative Action and 6V��Ӱ��

Seth Allen, VP Strategy and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid attended the meeting to provide a special presentation on how 6V��Ӱ�� is handling the topic of affirmative action in the wake of the 2023 SCOTUS decision.

6V��Ӱ�� has been considering how race and ethnicity is used in admissions processes by working with external counsel that helps institutions of higher education with such issues. In short, 6V��Ӱ�� is still able to recruit the types of people that they want in terms diversity, but race and ethnicity cannot be used in any part of the selection process.

6V��Ӱ�� has also begun thinking about how it ensures a robustly diverse applicant pool. The pandemic has made clear that going out to recruit individually is no longer effective. Therefore, in the last few years, institutions are now working together to put on programs and recruit as groups. 6V��Ӱ�� half of outreach now of this type. Additionally, 6V��Ӱ�� is focusing more on recruiting California students. One way this is being done is through the Exit 47 program, where the College pays for local Southern California high school students and counselors to visit 6V��Ӱ��. Finally, Admissions has changed the prompts to allow students to highlight their personal qualities and how they would be a good fit for 6V��Ӱ��.

Alfredo asked whether there were any changes that 6V��Ӱ�� specifically made to the admissions prompts after the SCOTUS decision. Seth answered that there used to be a value quality that indirectly referenced race and ethnicity, but could be perceived as such. The question now asks to what degree do students bring their background, identity, and perspective when they collaborate with one another.

Carol Kruse ’84 asked how the College intends to increase middle income student enrollment. Seth answered that the college is awaiting funding for this initiative, but that in the long term, the percentage of middle-income students will increase to reflect the national average.

Jeff Levere ’12 asked about 6V��Ӱ��’s change in testing requirements. Seth clarified that the College went test-optional beginning in the Fall 2020 admissions cycle through the Fall 2024 admissions cycle. Between this time, the College performed research, and decided that the test-optional policy would become permanent but would be reevaluated in Fall 2028.

Linda Luisi ’81 asked what income range is considered middle income. Seth answered that 6V��Ӱ�� currently considers middle income to be around 85-170k/year. However, they would like to pin this to some national standard. The College would also like to implement a cost pledge, considering the income and normal assets of a student’s family.

Soren commented that, based on his experience, there are oftentimes situations when FAFSA incorrectly calculates how much a middle-income family can afford with tuition (i.e. that a family can actually afford more, when in reality they cannot). Seth commented on this by saying that the strategic vision aims to provide certain costs free of charge to low- and middle-income students, but also that financial aid currently is not set up to accurately calculate how much middle-income families can afford.

Approval of Board Meeting Minutes from 10.07.23:

Alfredo requested a motion to approve the minutes from the October 7, 2023 board meeting. Carol motioned and Linda seconded. Approved unanimously with no discussion.

Additional Time for PCAAB Directors Report (Campus Climate):

Maria Watson, VP for Advancement, provided a brief overview on recent events that took place on campus since the October 7^th meeting. First off, Maria shared that there has been a range of activism from divestment to ensuring a safe environment free from harassment. 6V��Ӱ��’s ultimate goal is to uphold free speech, academic integrity, and open inquiry for all members of the community.

With regard to the incident that happened on Wednesday, November 29, a visiting faculty member was arrested during a day of peaceful protest. College leadership learned about the incident only after the incident occurred. Campus policy is that Campus Safety responds to non-emergency and non-violent situations and consults with a senior administration on call that provides support in those situations. Campus Safety failed to follow that protocol in this situation. The issue of trespassing has also been raised, but the College does not consider it so.

Maria also shared that the College’s policy on harassment has been updated to include protections for shared ancestry and against islamophobia and antisemitism.

Committee and board representative “updates” and Q&A

• Development Committee and Annual Giving: Nina Zhou ’19 provided updates from her committee:
  • Annual Giving is on track to hit the 20.8% alumni participation goal.
    • Currently one percentage point ahead of where they were last year.
  • Winter appeal has been mailed out to donors.
    • The appeal’s goal is to get 1470 donors to unlock an additional $470k gift from the trustees.
    • Another goal is to get 50 new reoccurring donors to unlock a $47k gift from the trustees.
  • The Board is on track to have 100% internal participation.
    • As of this meeting, 14 have donated.
  • The Development Committee is currently working with the Senior Class Gift Committee.
    • If a senior donates, they are able to attend the Taste of 6V��Ӱ�� during Alumni Weekend.
    • The cost for this initiative is $5000, and Nina proposed a combined gift from the Alumni Board to the College to cover this cost.
• Engagement Committee and Career Development Office: Joshua Rodriguez ’13 provided updates from his committee:
  • Alumni Weekend 2024 is coming up and the Engagement Committee is working with Ryan on their ideas for programming.
  • The Committee is also working on cultivating connections between alumni and students and providing resources to the current senior class.
  • Kerry Martin, Associate Director of Alumni Career Services, was absent, so Josh also provided updates on her behalf.
    • Te’auna helping with virtual programming for the CDO.
    • There was a recent alumni paths webinar where Te’auna and Aldair were in attendance.
    • The Bay Area Chapter’s Winter Break Party is upcoming and will feature the CDO’s Smart Start students.
    • Josh also talked about upcoming programs for the CDO.
• Regional Chapters Committee: Andrew Brown ’77 provided updates from his committee:
  • The committee’s focus has been embedding themselves into each regional chapter.
  • Andrew also provided an update on the Winter Break Parties.
    • Additionally, the College is focusing on making large, regional events supported by local alumni rather than the college itself.
  • The committee also is working with the chapters to set up regional communication channels (similar to Bay Area’s WhatsApp community).
  • Finally, Linda provided an update on efforts piloting career development programming within regional chapters.
    • Linda has rafted a survey and cover letter to publish for alumni, but is awaiting input from the Board.
• Faculty: Victoria Sancho-Lobis (absent)
  • Alfredo advised the board to send him and questions that the board may have for Victoria. Alfredo would also be encouraging Victoria to send updates by email if she is unable to attend.
• Advancement Communications: Kristen Romero provided updates from her department:
  • ACE is currently working on EOCY solicitations and the annual endowment report for donors.
  • Her team is also working on communications for the regional Winter Break Parties and preparing for Alumni Weekend 2024 registration to go live.
  • Kristen’s team is also partnering with AFE on Presidential Special Receptions.
  • Kristen also shared a new to talk about how 6V��Ӱ�� alumni are making change in the world.
• Admissions: Tray Hammond ’22 provided an update about the 6V��Ӱ�� Admissions Office:
  • The admissions travel season has wrapped up in mid-October.
    • As Seth shared earlier, 6V��Ӱ�� has been travelling in groups with other colleges.
      • One group consists of Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, 6V��Ӱ��, Swarthmore, and Williams.
      • A new group consists of 6V��Ӱ��, Corenell, Rice, Emory, and Washington in St. Louis
      • The 5Cs have also traveled to several cities across California.
  • The reading season has started, and early decisions will be starting soon.
• ASPC: Timi Adelakun ’24 (absent)
  • On his behalf, Alfredo shared that he met with Timi recently. One of the points they talked about was how ASPC is working with Campus Safety to make their officers look less like police officers.

AFE Directors Report:

Ryan Kolter, Interim Co-Director of Alumni and Family Engagement, provided an update of recent major programs hosted by the Office of Alumni and Family Engagement. First off, Family Weekend happened at the end of October with 610 attendees. Part of the event was the Payton Endowed Lectureship featuring speaker Anita Hill. The Special Reception with President Starr occurred in November in Arcadia. This event will be iterated in other cities across the country, with the next iteration in the Bay Area on February 21. AFE will also be hosting a Winter Choral Concert tomorrow.

The search for the new AFE Director is in the finalist phase and will be meeting with internal and external constituents through December.

Finally, alumni awards nominations are now closed. Ryan asked the younger members of the Board to join the award selection subcommittee chaired by Timi.

New Business: Action Items / Next Steps:

Alfredo shared an update on the Board’s ad-hoc committee on campus issues. Originally formed with regard to concussions among the football team, Alfredo expanded the discussion to include any other issues that the campus is experiencing. He posed the question to the Board about how to best handle questions on campus issues. Several Board members pointed out that the decision should be more focused on process and medium of communication versus the actual content, which would be event dependent. They also discussed providing more swift responses. Ryan cautioned that the Board should not become a public relations body as part of the College.

Finally, Alfredo shared that they would be looking for Alumni Weekend ’24 volunteers, and that the Board should look out for more info soon.