One of my favorite “professional” songs is Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” After a year of practically no travel because of Covid-19, I am looking forward to attending the High Point University Circle installation ceremony being held this coming Sunday. A bonus is that I will have a chance to visit Louise and Bill Latture beforehand, and Bill will go to the chartering with me. Next week, I’m also going to have an opportunity to visit with Andy MacQueen in Memphis.
My colleagues are also working their way around the country visit with circles and members. It feels almost normal again. Here’s the photo for our new display unit (note the portrait of Rupert Nelson Latture in the background):
Here are the top updates for the month:
- The members of our Student Advisory Board are interested in holding professional networking discussions with the members of the Board of Trustees. If you would be willing to connect with one of the SAB members, please send me an email (tara@odk.org). National Student Vice Chair Melissa Cancio and I will then work to make introductions between our trustee volunteers and the SAB members pursuing careers in similar fields.
- The campaign total is at $4,637,026 as of today and counting. Our thanks to Tripp Perrin, Matt Nobles, and Peter Christiaans and his wife Sandra Parras for their recent campaign gifts.
- Profiles of our scholarship recipients have been added to the Merit site. If you want to take a peek and read about these amazing members, check out the page located here. These profiles will also be shared on Facebook and in the annual report issue of The Circle.
- Our in-person advisor training session is a go. It will be held January 7-8 in Alexandria, Va. The program will feature remarks from The Rev. Dr. Jamie E. Washington. As some of you will remember, Jamie was the closing speaker at the awards banquet at our 2018 convention in Nashville.
- A scholarship fund has been established in memory of Mike James at Harding University. If you want more information, the details are included in his obituary, which is located here.
Please read below for some additional updates for this month.
Annual Giving, Fundraising Progress, and Comprehensive Campaign
- The FY 2022 goal for the annual fund is $185,000. As of October 15, $40,981 has been secured. We’ve received gifts from 330 donors. Another $52,300 has been pledged. We have received several responses from our donor acquisition letter this year. As has been observed before, securing new donors is always a challenge.
- In November, we will be sending two emails: one is asking new professionals to make their first-ever contribution, and the second is going to other individuals who have not yet made a gift in FY 2022.
- Earlier this month, we sent out our first email from the Crescendo platform. If you haven’t visited our planned giving site lately, you may want to see the refreshed version. It’s been updated to reflect the design of our main website. We’ve also developed an O∆K estate planning guide in conjunction with Crescendo. If you’d like a copy, please complete the online form located here.
Awards
- Please remember to hold Friday, December 3, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. for the 2021 National Virtual Awards Ceremony. Peter Christiaans has agreed to be my co-host, and we are looking forward to honoring our friends and members with these honors.
Board of Trustees
- In the next couple of weeks, a series of Doodle polls will be going out to help schedule the January meetings of the governing committees and subcommittees. Please be on the lookout for these invitations to provide information about your availability to meet.
- The next Board of Trustees meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.
- All meeting times are Eastern.
Circles, Membership, and Extension
- As of October 15, 376 new paid memberships have been processed for FY 2022. The membership goal for this year is 7,500 paid members.
Interesting Reading
- There was a recent article about the truths of strategic planning. Given that our Society went through this process last fiscal year, I thought members of the board might enjoy reading it.
Collegiate Member News
- Lydia B. Lewis (Huntingdon College, 2021) was recently crowned homecoming queen at her school.
Lifetime Member News
- James M. Beeby (West Virginia Wesleyan College, 2003) has been named provost at Keene State College.
- Linda Perez Clark (Louisiana Tech University, 1986) has been selected as the alumna of the year for the College of Education at Louisiana Tech. Linda is the managing partner of Kean Miller in Baton Rouge.
- Glenn A. Cummings (Ohio Wesleyan University, 1983) is retiring as president of the University of Southern Maine at the end of the academic year.
- Sara Fletcher Harding (Florida Southern College, 2013) has been named the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Florida Southern.
- Ralph E. Johnson (Florida State University, 1982) is the president-elect of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. Ralph is our current advisor at Washington Adventist University. Raymond V. Plaza (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2009) has also been elected to the board as a member at large for standards.
- Lillian Hussong (Stockton University, 2011) has been appointed interim president and managing director of The Arctic Institute (Center for Circumpolar Security Studies). Lillian is the volunteer who is doing a great job updating Wikipedia with adding membership in O∆K to the profiles of numerous individuals.
- Steven D. Kniffley (University of Louisville, 2007) was given the 2021 Diversity Leadership Award by the Louisville Alumni Association earlier this month.
- Michael C. Maxey (Roanoke College, 2004), the longtime president at Roanoke, is planning to retire next year.
- G. C. Murray, Jr. (Florida State University, 2011) was recently named Lynn Futch Most Productive Young Lawyer by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division. G. C. is a member of the DEI and Mission committees.
- Amir Qudaih (University of Massachusetts – Lowell, 2021) has been selected as one of the 30 Under 30 Awardees by the Arab American Foundation. Amir is an associate project consultant working on building technologies with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. in Boston.
- Harry D. Shapiro (University of Louisville, 1963) was named the Alumni Fellow for the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at Louisville earlier this month.
- Megan K. Shina (Brevard College, 2018) has been named the alumni director at Brevard.
- Travis R. Smith (Delta State University, 1975) was recently inducted into the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame.
- Paul S. Trible, Jr. (Hampden-Sydney College, 1997), this year’s Laurel Crowned Circle Award winner, is retiring next year from being president at Christopher Newport University.
- Matthew P. vandenBerg (Alma College, 2001) is the new president at Presbyterian College. Yes, his last name has an unusual format.
- Jeffery M. Wilson (University of South Carolina, Columbia, 1990) has been promoted to vice president of workplace culture at Padilla. Jeff, our 1990 National Leader of the Year, recently served on the Society’s Strategic Planning Task Force.
Obituaries
- Congressman Sherwood L. Boehlert (SUNY Oneonta, 1995) passed away in late September.
- Russell A. Cargo (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2006) died on October 17. Russ was one of the primary architects behind the Society’s Campus Leaders Today, Community Leaders Tomorrow (CLT2) program.
- Our longtime advisor at Marietta College, Dr. Gama Perruci, died this summer. A scholarship at Marietta has been set up in his memory.
Member Benefits
The Society has entered a new partnership with Student Playbook, the lead sponsor of the 2021 National Leadership Conference. Through this partnership, our collegiate members will have access to the company’s free Basecamp program. Basecamp offers the following:
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- Personal assessments to identify and improve areas of career planning need.
- Unlimited access to 50+ video tutorials to focus on specific areas of improvement.
- Quizzes, workbooks, and articles to improve job search skills.
- Additional resources for member parents so they know what to expect during this process.
- Additional career coaching services are also available, for a fee, to individual members through this partnership.
Whimsy
This week is “home week” at our headquarters. Brent Anderson and Jamie Bouldin have been here this week working with our colleagues in Lexington. It’s great to see all of the cars in our parking lot!
If some of you are wondering, “Where is ODK 5 (2.0),” I finally sold it and got something which doesn’t seem to be so much of a challenge. It’s the maroon car at the far right, aka ODK 5 (3.0).
If you have any questions or concerns about this month’s update, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a good weekend!