Calendar
of Alumnae Business
Sept. 19, 2008 - Alumnae Association Board of Directors
meets in Lynchburg at RC.
Sept. 19-21, 2008 - Alumnae Leadership Council meets in
Lynchburg at RC.
Sat., Sept. 20, 2008 - Annual Meeting of the Alumnae
Association of R-MWC in Smith Hall, RC, Lynchburg. All
alumnae are welcome and urged to attend; if you are not
present, you cannot vote on the business presented. Anyone
who completed a single semester at R-MWC before fall 2007 is
entitled to vote, including current students. This is also
the one time of year in which a sizeable group of alumnae are on
campus while students are in residence. Schedule for Saturday:
8:30 a.m. – Information/Registration desk in Main Hall Lobby
open until 5:15 p.m.
8:30-10:30 a.m. – An open session with the Alumnae
Association Board
10:30-noon – Workshops for Alumnae Leadership Council
delegates
1:00-3:00 – Annual Meeting of the R-MWC Alumnae Association,
Smith Hall
3:00-5:00 – Workshops for Alumnae Leadership Council
delegates
6:30 – Recognition of this year’s Alumnae Achievement Award
winners, followed by a casual dinner for alumnae, students,
faculty, and faculty emeriti
At the 1
p.m. meeting, there WILL be a vote on the future of the Alumnae
Association; see events at
the end of
the Timeline.
Watch this page for further information, and plan to be there!
How
Did We Get to This Point? A Bit of Background
In the academic year 1952-53 the Alumnae Association of
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Inc., was incorporated as a
non-profit organization completely separate from the college. That
status is still in effect, but with significant modifications:
First, in October 1958 the R-MWC Alumnae Association and the
R-MWC Board of Trustees reached an agreement that:
A. Alumnae
donations would go into the 'Randolph-Macon Fund,' which would
combine the Development Fund and the Alumnae Fund.
B. In
return, the college would pay an agreed amount to the Alumnae
Association for operating expenses, without restriction as to
use.
Second,
in April 1980 the R-MWC Board of Trustees reaffirmed its 1958
agreement with the R-MWC Alumnae Association with additional
conditions by which:
A. The
Alumnae Association gave its fund-raising proceeds to the
college, while the college in return provided office space,
accounting, and benefits to employees of the Alumnae
Association.
B. In all
other respects (including hiring, firing, and compensation of
its employees), control remained with the Executive Committee of
the Board of Directors of the R-MWC Alumnae Association as a
separately incorporated not-for-profit organization.
Third, in January 1990 the Board of Trustees approved
Articles of Amendment Restating the Articles of Incorporation of R-MWC
(i.e., of the college). This amended the Board's 1980 agreement with
the Alumnae Association to state that:
A. The
Alumnae Director and all individuals working in the Alumnae
Office are employees of the college, and
B. The
Alumnae Director shall report directly to the President of the
college.
Fourth, in spring 2003, the President of the Alumnae
Association was granted full voting privileges as a member of the
Board of Trustees of the College. She is the only member of the
Board of Trustees elected by alumnae.
-------------------
The looming question
is what should be the relation between the Alumnae Association of R-MWC
and the current Randolph College.
The Alumnae Association is still a separately incorporated
non-profit organization, but its staff and director are now chosen
and hired by Randolph College, and all fund-raising by the Alumnae
Association of R-MWC now goes to support Randolph College in return
for services provided (as listed above). The status, function, and
name of the Association can only be changed by amending the Articles
of Incorporation and the Bylaws of the Association, which requires a
majority vote of alumnae who attend the Annual Meeting of the
Alumnae Association in September.
You can see the current state of the Articles of Incorporation, the
Bylaws, and the agreements made between the Alumnae Association and
the R-MWC Board of Trustees by downloading a single document here,
labeled
Alumnae Association Bylaws.
The Board of Directors of the Alumnae Association, through its
Bylaws Committee, is responsible for proposing any amendments to the
Bylaws of the Association. Thus, who is elected to the Board of
Directors makes a difference, because it is that group which will
propose what options can be voted upon for the future of the Alumnae
Association. The range of opinions among alumnae runs the complete
spectrum from, on the one hand, absorbing the current Alumnae
Association into Randolph College and combining it with a future
alumni association of Randolph College, and, on the other hand, to a
complete organizational separation of the Association from Randolph
College and preservation of its name as the Alumnae Association of
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Inc.
A resolution to change the Articles of Incorporation and the Bylaws
was brought by the Bylaws Committee of the Alumnae Association to be
considered in a conference call of the Alumnae Association Board of
Directors on July 17, 2008. The resolution proposed that the name of
the Association be changed to “Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and
Randolph College Alumnae/Alumni Association, Incorporated,” and that
its first mission be to support Randolph College. The Executive
Committee of the AA Board approved this resolution and forwarded it
to the full AA Board of Directors. But the full Board refused--by a
one-vote margin--to recommend the resolution to the full membership
of the Alumnae Association for its approval. Any changes to the
Bylaws must be submitted to the full AA membership by Aug. 20, a
month before the Sept. 20 Annual Meeting. The "looming question" of
the Alumnae Association's future remains with us.
Click here to read the
resolution that did not pass. See
further
ideas and concerns about the Alumnae Association by First Vice
President Geri Long Cecil '68, a former trustee of R-MWC.
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Make your views known
and vote! It does matter!
Nominations and elections for the Board of Directors of the Alumnae
Association used to be pro forma and aroused little attention, but
that is no longer so. In the Sept. 2007 Annual Meeting of the
Alumnae Association, proposed changes to the Bylaws never came up
for a vote. But the meeting did affirm that any persons who
completed one semester at Randolph-Macon Woman's College (including
current students who entered before fall 2007) are alumnae entitled
to vote.
The Nominating Committee's slate of candidates to fill vacancies on
the Board of Directors no longer goes unchallenged Other alumnae
now routinely propose alternative candidates for each office, with
the intent of better representing the diversity of opinion among
alumnae on the Board. Even the election procedures themselves have
been contested as not being in careful accord with the Bylaws.
The Nominating
Committee of the Alumnae Association is seeking nominees for
offices to be filled in 2009 for three-year terms. Nominations
for the following positions may be made to the Alumnae Office any
time prior to Sept. 1, 2008:
-
President
-
Secretary
-
Member-at-Large
for Career Development
-
District 4
Director (VA)
-
District 7
Director (FL, GA)
-
District 8
Director (AL, AR, LA, MS)
-
District 9
Director (TX, KS, OK)
Other Information Concerning Alumnae
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