Last year was a busy one for the CDAA, as we celebrated our 20th anniversary in style. I’d like to extend a special thanks to everyone who was able to attend the anniversary party last October at the home of Lisa Guernsey in Alexandria, Va. While we lost the game to Florida State, it was delightful to have so many CD alumni from so many generations together for a great party. For those of you who were not able to join us, be sure to check out the pictures on our website, www.cdalumni.org.
As we look to the next 20 years, the CDAA wants to continue to serve Cavalier Daily staff members and our alumni in the most productive (and fun!) ways possible. To this end, we plan to make a few changes.
At the Spring 2004 Board meeting, our members noted that over the last 20 years, the needs of The Cavalier Daily have changed substantially— the paper is financially self-sufficient, there is no competition from other dailies on Grounds, and new technology has eliminated the antiquated machines most of us used.
Nowadays, the CD does not need the CDAA to purchase large pieces of equipment on its behalf, and its established status on Grounds demonstrates the willingness of the University to work with the paper, rather than against it, with little need for alumni intervention.
While we always want to be available to the CD should any of the former challenges suddenly arise, the fact is that the CDAA has altered its structure only slightly over those years (adding or subtracting committees, for example) to reflect the paper’s changed situation. As members of the CDAA Board have become more time-constrained, and as recruiting new members has become more challenging, the Board has decided to consider whether the current structure and initiatives are effective toward meeting the goals of the CDAA.
It has been suggested that, as we look to the future of the CDAA, we attempt to create a more flexible, sustainable organization that can work efficiently without unduly burdening the members of the Board. For example, during our discussion, it became clear that we no longer needed a bulky 21-member Board of Directors to operate the organization. In addition, while we wish to maintain the CDAA mission, we seek to streamline our activities to the most basic level of support for these goals and eliminate any extraneous activities that consume time but do not provide the value they used to.
Some of our feedback from CD alumni has shown that many would like to be more involved with the CDAA, but don’t have the time or energy to commit to a full Board seat. With the new structure we hope to implement soon, it should become clear that alumni can participate however they prefer—whether organizing a block of football game seats for fellow CD alums (as Steve Wells, ‘73, has done for the upcoming Nov. 6 game against Maryland), or hosting the annual CD Open House during Reunions weekend (as Jennifer Gibert Barnes, ‘94, and Melissa Tomlinson, ‘94, did for us on June 5).
Finally, I would like to stress that the goal of this “reorganization” is not all that radical—it should not in any way lessen what we do, or try to make us somehow exclusive.
Rather, we hope to become only more productive, and have even more alumni participate in organizing and running our activities. Whatever your interest in helping out, we’re interested in having you!
We should have the Board’s reorganization decisions completed by early Fall, and we will report them to you in the next College Topics.
In the meantime, we’re looking forward to continuing to meet The Cavalier Daily’s needs as they arise in the years to come, and we invite you to join us.
Interested volunteers can email me at dianedkrehmeyer@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.