Aloha!
It is with deep gratitude and warm regards that I greet you in my last communication as the 2016-17 National President of the Santa Clara University Alumni Association and its Board of Directors that represents all 97,000+ living alumni around the world. The Alumni Board members advise and guide the Alumni Office staff in fulfilling the mission of the Association and the University. I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to represent and serve you.
It has been a particularly productive and historic year for the Board of Directors and the Alumni Association:
- The Board approved one of the largest single-year expansions in the history of the Alumni Association with the establishment of new regional chapters in Hong Kong, Manila, and Guam.
- The Board has made an important step in recognizing and supporting the LGBTQ+ members of our Alumni Family with the creation of the LGBTQ+ Alumni Identity Group.
- For the first time in the Alumni Association’s one hundred thirty-six year history, the Board of Directors made a historic vote to adopt a formal Resolution Advancing Diversity and Inclusion.
- And finally, the Board has approved a new strategic direction for the Alumni Association that will guide the association and inform its activities into the next decade. We look forward to sharing more about this exciting new direction in the coming year.
This year, we had the most diverse board membership in the history of the Alumni Association with representation across racial, age, gender, and geographical metrics, and we look forward to having even more diversity next year.
Despite our achievements, there is still more work to be done. And I leave you with a challenge to be engaged with our Alumni Family – at our mission campus and in your own communities – and inspire our future alumni to make the world a better place. I bid you a fond “aloha a hui hou,” until we meet again.
It’s always a great day to be a Bronco!
Brent
Brent K. Izutsu ‘05
2016-17 National President
Santa Clara University Alumni Association
