A Word from the President of the St. John's College Alumni Association

Fellow Alumni,

I'm writing to encourage you to vote in this year's election for Alumni Association leadership (see https://community.stjohnscollege.edu/notice_of_elections for information on how to vote). Alumni leaders play a critical role in representing you through their interactions with staff at the College and members of the Board of Visitors and Governors, and by helping to shape the goals and activities of the SJC Alumni Association. Your participation in the process is always an important manifestation of alumni engagement, and this year, especially, your vote is important since we have two candidates for one of the open positions—one nominated by the Board and one nominated by petition.

You may be puzzled by the lack of activity among SJCAA Board members during this contested election. Article VIII, Section 6 of the SJCAA By-laws states "The Board may not take any action concerning the ballots or the election process which places on any or all members in good standing an undue burden in obtaining, completing, or returning a ballot or which affects the election in any way by failing to treat all alumni and candidates equally." (emphasis added) For this reason, members of the Board are not campaigning for the candidates we have nominated.

The Association's Nominating Committee—including the President-elect, tutors, and alumni at large—works hard to develop a roster of excellent candidates by considering nominees' past level of active participation in the Association and the life of the College, as well as keeping an eye towards maintaining an appropriate balance of representation that spans gender, campus affiliation, undergraduate and Graduate Institute affiliation, age, and current geographic location. The Nominating Committee identifies potential candidates through an open call to alumni for suggestions, and by talking with College staff and SJCAA Working Group Chairs to identify alumni with strong records of participation who the Committee feels are ready to move to the next level of engagement. The candidates nominated by the Board met these criteria before being placed on the ballot.

I encourage you to investigate the backgrounds and qualifications of all candidates thoroughly—whether through the moderated discussion forum, social media, personal conversation or any other means you choose, make a decision, and vote before June 2 in the annual election.

St. John's Forever!

Adrian Trevisan 84
President, SJC Alumni Association

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