A few weekends ago the campus was buzzing with activity. Perhaps you saw the lines of cars on Peachtree Road packed to the brim with enough furniture, clothes and school supplies to fill all the dorm rooms on campus multiple times over. Buried under it all, were our newest Petrels, ready to start the next chapter of their life.

A few more Petrels—not quite as new—were in the midst of this traffic as well, gathering for the Oglethorpe Alumni Board’s annual retreat held on campus that same day. Despite having to weave through the crowd of parents and freshmen, all members agreed that this year’s meeting was perfectly timed for such an exciting day on campus.

Should you hear the words, “annual retreat” and assume that our meeting was just a social gathering, I am here to report that new Alumni Board President Cleve Hill ’01 not only gave us homework before we arrived but sent us off with additional assignments once we adjourned! Nonetheless, there were no complaints to be heard as all members, ranging from the Class of 1958 to 2008 were excited to be back on campus and continue the exciting and rewarding work ahead of us.

Our meeting kicked off with reports from the Vice Presidents on the Board who each gave an update about their committee’s recent work and upcoming plans. We discussed Oglethorpe’s record breaking year for alumni giving, plans for alumni gatherings across the country, recent and upcoming contributions to the Carillon magazine, efforts surrounding admissions and how alums are continuing to attract the best and brightest students, and plans for various career networking events coming to campus. It was so exciting to hear all the new ideas, recent success stories, and plans for the future coming out of each committee.

During lunch, we were joined by another group of hard working alums—our class agents responsible for generating continued growth in alumni giving—and OU President Dr. Larry Schall, who discussed some new and exciting efforts and priorities for the future of the campus.

In addition to the full Board meetings, we were able to participate in various roundtable discussions. As a member of the Communications Committee, I joined in on a discussion related to how we could make the Carillon an even greater publication for all Oglethorpe alums. We came up with some GREAT ideas so be on the lookout for several new features!

Finally, the Alumni Weekend 2012 theme was revealed by the Events Committee.  Mark your calendars for April 26-29, 2012—you won’t want to miss this!!!

Being back on campus always makes me nostalgic and it is such a pleasure serving on the Alumni Board with so many committed and excited people who are all “making a life, making a living, making a difference.” I always come away from our gathering energized and so proud of my alma mater.

Photo above: Jodie Sexton Goff ’02 with Alumni Board President Cleve Hill ’01.