Triangle (N.C.) Connection: With the help of Connection Chair George Telford III ’84, Nancy Shoemaker ’71 hosted several alumni at her home for a wine-and-cheese party and discussion of the College with Director of Alumni Relations Lisa Lee ’81 and Alumni Council Representative Julia Knerr ’81.

Upcoming events

From April 27–29, 2003, alumni are invited to attend a retreat at Coolfont Recreation Resort, less than two hours from Washington, D.C., near Berkeley Springs, WVa. Stephen Bayer, the College’s assistant director of planned giving, will discuss how you can benefit financially by supporting the College. Alumni may attend at a substantially discounted rate, and members of the Class of ’37 will attend free of charge as the guests of Coolfont founder Sam Ashelman ’37. For more information, call (800) 888-8768, and ask for the “Swarthmore Retreat.”

Philadelphia: The Connection will host a Young Alumni get-together in February at Buffalo Billiards. Also planned is a tour of Carpenter Hall on March 8, with a talk by Henry Magaziner, a renowned architect and historical preservationist.

Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh Connection hosts informal luncheons on the third Thursday of every month at the HYP Pittsburgh Club. Contact Barbara Sieck Taylor ’75 at (412) 243-8307 or btaylo@verizon.com.

Council makes appointments to College committees

The Alumni Council has appointed two alumni to current College committees. Michael Davidson ’91 has joined the Land-Use Planning Committee, which is charged with looking at the long-term land use needs and policies of the College. Davidson is an attorney with Duane, Morris & Heck-scher in Philadelphia.

In addition, Scheryl Williams Glanton ’74 is a member of the Parrish Hall Renovation Committee, which is helping to plan the upcoming renovation of Parrish Hall. Glanton, an entrepreneur, is proprietor of Country Elegance in Philadelphia.

Update your e-mail address

Does the College have your current e-mail address? E-mail saves time, money, and trees! In return, you can communicate with your classmates, which is especially important for reunion; receive notices regarding Connection events and faculty lectures in your area; receive a quarterly e-newsletter; and help the College save money on paper and postage. Please keep your Swarthmore Connection strong. Send your name and e-mail address to alumnirecords@swarthmore.edu if it is new or has been changed in the last few years.

Spring 2003 alumni events

Lax Conference on Entrepreneurship
April 6

Family Weekend
April 11-13

Alumni Council Meeting
March 28-30

Alumni College Abroad in Sicily
May 10-20

Alumni Weekend
June 6-8

Working group seeks stronger relationships among College and alumni

The Alumni Council’s Alumni Support Working Group (ASWG) focuses on strengthening the relationship between alumni and the College. Led by co-chairs George Telford III ’84 and Anna Orgera ’83, the ASWG has developed several initiatives to increase opportunities for communication with and among alumni. Their recent projects include the following:

Advising the Alumni Relations Office on improving the alumni Web site was a key step to increase communication. ASWG discussions have been helpful in the redesign of office’s Web pages. The new site includes an Alumni Council section with highlights of each council meeting, a suggestion made by this working group.

In addition, the site provides lists and descriptions of recent winners of the Arabella Carter Award. The Carter Award is an opportunity for the College to celebrate an alumnus or alumna who has devoted his or her life to the service of others. Please see the request for nominations following.

A subgroup of ASWG went even farther in exploring communication via the Web. Nick Jesdanun ’91, Vida Praitis ’88, and David Wright ’69 analyzed the Web sites of Swarthmore and of 15 other schools to generate new ideas and improvements. “I came away from this survey impressed with the enormous variety and complexity of information that people might want to know about a college—and [new respect for] the intellectual effort involved in organizing it all on a Web site” Wright says.

Ongoing interests of the ASWG also include support for regional Connections and exploring opportunities for alumni career networking activities.

Arabella Carter Award nominations invited

Each year, the Alumni Council gives this award to an alumnus/a who has made a significant contribution to his or her community but has not received public acclaim for these efforts. If you know of an alum who fits this description, please contact Tricia Maloney in the Alumni Relations Office at (610) 328-8404 or pmalone1@swarthmore.edu. Nominations must be received by Jan. 31, 2003.

Approximately 200 students have applied to participate in the January 2003 Extern Program, which is co-sponsored by the Alumni and Career Services offices. Students work with or shadow alumni and parent sponsors during winter break. Many live during their externships with alumni or parent host families. The College salutes the efforts of the volunteer coordinators of the program listed here and many other alumni on the coordinating committees.

Alumni and parents wishing to become new hosts or sponsors for the 2004 Extern Program, which is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 12-16, should contact the Career Services Office at (610) 328-8352 or e-mail extern@swarthmore.edu.

National coordinators
Cynthia Graae ’62
Nanine Meiklejohn ’68

Boston
Susan Turner ’60
George Caplan ’69

New York
Kimberly Nelson ’98

Philadelphia
Elizabeth Killackey ’86

Metro DC-Baltimore
Daniel Mont ’83
Vicki Bajefsky Fishman ’93

San Francisco
James DiFalco ’82
Nadja McNeil Jackson ’92

Swarthmore around the world

More than 40 percent of the Class of 2003 chose to pursue foreign study while at Swarthmore. Among this year’s students studying abroad are (left to right) Sarah Frohardt-Lane ’03 (Nepal), Rasika Teredesai ’04 (Tibet or Nepal), Yasmin Khawja ’03 (Cuba), Keisha Josephs ’04 (Australia), Ben Juhn ’03 (Spain), Phuong Bui ’04 (United Kingdom). Seated in the front row are Rosa Bernard, administrative coordinator in the Foreign Study Office, and Steven Piker, professor of anthropology and director of foreign study.

Study abroad can be daunting until students get to know their way around in unfamiliar surroundings. One initiative of the Alumni Council Student Support Working group is facilitating their access to a knowledgeable resource: Swarthmore alumni.

Martha Rice Sanders ’77 and Susan Rico Connolly ’78 worked with Piker and Bernard to launch an ongoing project that matches students studying abroad with alumni living in that country who have volunteered to serve as resources. If you are interested in volunteering for this program, please contact Bernard at rbernar1@swarthmore.edu.