While many District residents celebrated this week, some alumni felt like they were left in the dark about pending changes to the GW Alumni Association.
Here’s the best and worst news from around campus this week:
Thumbs up:
The District’s hockey team, the Washington Capitals, celebrated winning the Stanley Cup with a championship parade Tuesday.
This season marks the Capitals’ first championship in a franchise that has been around since 1974. The Capitals won the National Hockey League’s Presidents’ Trophy for securing the best regular season record three times before, but had failed to win the Stanley Cup until now. The championship win also breaks a D.C. losing streak, as the team is the first to bring home a championship win for any of the four major sports teams since the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992.
The parade, a tradition for championship winning teams, brought thousands of fans to the streets.
Among the crowd were GW students, faculty and fans from the District. GW’s mascot was also in attendance, brandishing a sign that read “all caps.”
The celebration served as a welcome break from heavier news that typically swirls around the District. It is also encouraging to see students getting off campus to be a part of the larger D.C. community.
Thumbs down:
At least seven members of the GW Alumni Association resigned amid an upcoming change to integrate the association with the University’s Office of Alumni Relations.
Current and former members of the Alumni Association expressed concern over the upcoming merger and said this change would threaten the group’s independence. It is vital for the Alumni Association to be independent from the University because the two organizations will have differing viewpoints at times.
Even more troubling is that board members were seemingly not consulted on this change. Venessa Marie Perry, chair of the Alumni Association, claimed that the merge was discussed with members of the board. However, several members of the board contradicted that. In an email obtained by The Hatchet, Perry even said that if members didn’t like the new direction the board was moving in, the group may no longer be a good fit for them.
Making changes without consulting board members is worrisome, especially as the University continues trying to increase alumni engagement.
Alumni need to know that their voice matters when they dedicate time to their alma mater, but instead of feeling heard, many were alienated. By not respecting the input of board members, future alumni relations are threatened.
Kiran Hoeffner-Shah, a sophomore majoring in political science, is the Hatchet’s contributing opinions editor.
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