Partners in Change

OBERLIN'S ALUMNI ASSOCIATION is making a fundamental change in the way we communicate with you. We increasingly are using e-mail in place of postal mail to promote regional alumni activities, hold Alumni Trustee elections, announce various on-campus programs and alumni tours, and conduct Association business.

Oberlin's Alumni Association is at the forefront in its use of electronic communications as compared to other alumni groups. There is a cogent case for our initiative: e-mail is cheaper, faster, and saves trees. In addition, the rise of electronic communications allows us to strengthen connections with our growing body of international alumni.

Today the Association has e-mail addresses for approximately 35 percent of all alumni. In some regional communities, such as Washington, D.C., the percentage rises to 50 percent. You can help us boost those percentages to realize even greater cost savings and efficiencies inherent in electronic communications. Please send your e-mail address and subsequent updates to the Alumni Office at alumni.office@oberlin.edu. There will be no unauthorized use of your e-mail address.

Rest assured that our growing use of e-mail will not affect the printed distribution of publications like OAM. We know that some communications remain more satisfying to you when presented in a "hard-copy" format. In addition, those of you who do not have e-mail will continue to receive regional announcements and Trustee ballots in your mailboxes.

We also remind you to use the Internet to find out about upcoming Oberlin events. The College's home page is updated daily. The Alumni Association's web site offers information on regional alumni events via the Oberlin Clubs link or the Off-Campus Calendar. From the Alumni Association site, you can log on to the online community and gain free access to the alumni directory and career information, among other features. We are now working to improve the online community; stay tuned for further developments.

It is a great pleasure for me to report that your Alumni Association is dynamic and daring, because we create--we don't imitate.

Clyde Owan '79
President, Alumni Association