First, though, I am delighted to welcome the newest member of our alumni team, LeAnne St. Gelais ‘07. LeAnne returns to her alma mater from her most recent position at Syracuse University. With LeAnne’s arrival, we are now fully staffed in the Alumni Office to re-ramp up our regional events network as well as our other alumni initiatives. We invite your involvement as a volunteer — in helping us relaunch our regional programming, in our GOLD (recent grad) initiatives, in our flagship Reunion Weekend program, in our many career programs for current students, such as ASK and Alumni-In-Residence or in internship and co-op opportunities for our students.

The support of our global network of more than 77,000 Oswego alumni truly enhances the experience of our current students from the day they arrive on campus until they are newly minted graduates launching their careers.

The Oswego Alumni Association sponsors many programs that help prepare students for success following graduation. These include student programs through our Future Alumni Network (FANs) that promote spirit and pride, career awareness programs such as Backpack to Briefcase and New York City Career Connections, Senior Class programming and more.

Following graduation, our GOLD (Graduates Of the Last Decade) programs, regional events network and the Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) Program all continue to help recent graduates stay connected to their alma mater and to find success in their careers and local communities.

Volunteering with the Oswego Alumni Association and assisting current students is one of the most valuable ways you can support your alma mater. You can help to foster a mutually beneficial and satisfying alumni/student connection and demonstrate your pride and commitment to SUNY Oswego at the same time! If you are interested in the many volunteer opportunities available through the alumni association, please visit oswego.edu/alumni/volunteer.

We welcome your involvement and look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you soon! And just maybe you’ll see me out walking Bo one morning!

— Betsy Oberst

For me professionally, I started what sounded like an interesting part-time job, along with my colleague, Lisa Potter, back in October 1984 in the Alumni Office at SUNY Oswego. Little did I have any idea then that it would become my life’s work, my passion, my joy. Over those 27-plus years, you and I have had many great adventures together, built wonderful alumni programs, maybe become Facebook friends or met in person. It is safe to say I have met thousands of alumni in person — and become friends with many of you — over these last three decades.

So now comes another transition in my life. And, no, I am not leaving SUNY Oswego! Rather as associate vice president of alumni relations and stewardship, I will have an opportunity to develop programs and communications, working with our scholarship donors and other major supporters of programs and initiatives at SUNY Oswego.

And while our alumni program — still my love and passion — will still come under my oversight, a new alumni director will direct all of our “on-the-ground” alumni programs, such as reunions, student/alumni career networking programs, regional programs, social networking outreach and much, much more.

Michael Sgro joins us with a wealth of experience in alumni relations as well as a breadth of experience in social networking and all things web and “online” — and for those of you who know me, you know that is not one of my strengths! (My three kids have just fallen out of their chairs laughing now!) I invite you to learn more about Michael on page 11.

And I know you will all join me in giving him a special warm Oswego welcome when you meet him at Reunion Weekend or at one of our newly rejuvenated regional programs! And I’ll still see all of you at alumni events and work together with you to continue all the things that make Oswego great.

I also hope to see many of you back on campus for our biggest — and most fun — alumni event of the year at Reunion Weekend 2012: June 7 to 10!

The Oswego Alumni Association has begun offering more of our programs via social networks and through webcasts to reach more of our alumni who cannot attend an event on campus in person.

Oswego Alumni Association Executive Director Betsy Oberst

We have tweeted about Reunion Weekend — and other topics of interest to our alumni — on Twitter; we have networked with graduates on our Oswego Alumni LinkedIn group and we have connected with you on our Oswego Alumni Facebook page.

But, as is the case with so many things, there is the expression, “Everything old is new again”! This past summer, my husband, Jerry ’77, and I had the opportunity, while on a visit to Washington DC, to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History with The Fund for Oswego National Chair Jack James ’62.

As we toured the exhibit, I was struck by the descriptions in the Human Origins exhibit: “… Building social networks helped our ancestors meet the daily challenges of their environments … Expanding social networks led, eventually, to the complex social lives of modern humans.”

“By 130,000 years ago, groups who lived [186 miles] apart were exchanging resources. Social networks continued to expand and become more complex.”

So … everything old is new again — even 130,000 years ago humans were establishing social networks. And now our networks extend to Oswego alumni and friends across the globe, not just 186 miles away!

Beginning in 2011, look for information about our upcoming Sesquicentennial in 2011 as we begin the celebration of our college’s rich 150-year history. There will be special communications and events on and off campus as well as on the Web. And, I’m guessing as we celebrate the legacy of our founder, Edward Austin Sheldon, we will find once again that everything old is new again!

Even though you can stay connected to Oswego through all of our social networks and on the Web, please come back and see us soon in person. You can check out all of the amazing new improvements on campus.

— Betsy Oberst, Oswego Alumni Association Executive Director