Executive Council to lead re-energized Westfield State Alumni Association

October 14, 2009

Executive Council to lead re-energized Westfield State Alumni Association

Nanci Salvidio, executive assistant to the president and associate vice president of Advancement and College Relations, today announced the newly elected Executive Council of the Westfield Alumni Association.

Joining Alumni Trustee Sylvia Abar (Class of 1971 and Master’s Class of 1975), Suzanne Boniface of Springfield, (’92) will act as president of the revitalized organization, while Ryan O’Connell of Westfield (’07) will serve as president-elect to assume leadership during the next academic year.

Other members of the council include: Paul Nesbit (’84), Tracey Inella Pinto (’85), Beverley Zipper (’86), Janice Tracey Humason (’89), Eileen Swan Rockwal (’91), Steve Dailey (’95), Paul Lunn (’99), and Aaron Morris (‘02), Kelli A. Nielsen (’04).

Joseph DiPierro, Kerry Lyons and Cheryl Vieira, members of the Class of 2008 and Kate Quigley and Kerri Ann Bennett of the Class of 2009 round out the group.

“Under the leadership of President Evan Dobelle, the college is reinventing itself in many ways,” Salvidio, a member of the Class of ‘73, explained. “A re-energized Alumni Association is an essential component of the college’s plan to establish new links with the 32,000 graduates throughout the world.”

Salvidio noted that an alumni strategic planning retreat, which was held this past July, helped to refocus and reshape the goals of the association.

Plans for the council include increasing alumni involvement with the college, the development of programs for alumni, networking events and mentorship opportunities for our current students, as well as the establishment of regional chapters and affinity groups throughout the country.

“I look forward to working with the Executive Council,” Dobelle said. “And I extend an invitation to all alumni to attend the first meeting of the association during Homecoming activities at the college,”