The BUAA Board was excited to be back on campus for our Winter Meeting January 26 and 27.
As usual, the weekend began with an Executive Committee meeting followed by some events downtown. The first event was our Distinguished Ambassadors Ceremony, held again in the beautiful Campus Theatre, to recognize those senior leaders on campus. Following the ceremony and reception held in the back of the theatre, the board was invited across Market Street to the Samek Art Museum’s Downtown Gallery, located in the historic Dewitt Building.
Board member Brook Molinaroli ’90, acting as guest curator, had prepared an exhibition of the artist Hué Thi Hoffmaster’s works in the interpretation of the timeless floral still-life motif. Both Brooke and Hué spoke about the creative process and sharing artists’ work with a larger audience. Near the end of the event, Brooke announced that she had procured one of the works to be housed in the Samek Art Museum’s permanent collection.
Following that event, the board dispersed for the evening. If you haven’t been to Lewisburg for a while, there are several new eateries and tasting establishments on Market Street and a brew pub out on 45 towards Mifflinburg.
On Saturday, we held our usual full day of meetings with segments for the whole board as well as our committee meetings. Of particular note were our University updates and tours & introductions of new programs.
Our first update of the day was a presentation on entrepreneurship and innovation at Bucknell. It was a spirited presentation from five faculty and staff who have come together to build a Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Bucknell. The goal was to provide a resource across the three colleges to enable and empower students who wish to pursue their individual and small group pursuits. The center is now up and running as the Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Our next update was on data science at Bucknell. Through a generous gift from Bucknell Trustee Michael J. Dominguez ’91, the Dominguez Center for Data Science has been formed. It is a broad, campus-wide center that encompasses leaders from all three colleges and is envisioned to be a resource for all students at Bucknell who need to work with data in a similar way that the Writing Center assists students with their writing.
Following those two fascinating University updates, we had our traditional “Sophomore Brunch” program which is an opportunity for board members to meet with sophomore students and share career experiences and help them to learn to network. Each board member (or sometimes two) is seated at a table with students interested in their career path or at least in a similar major. The table discussions were lively, and this year we also held a speed-networking event with the Bucknell Parents’ Board, designed to enable students to begin to hone their “elevator pitch” introduction. Imagine musical chairs in Larison Dining Hall with a networking theme.
After brunch and our breakouts to committees, we all gathered at Taylor Hall for an introduction and tour of the Center for Access & Success. This is a space and staff dedicated to supporting and ensuring the success of students from Bucknell’s five national and signature pathway scholarship programs.
Our meeting concluded with a strategy session and a formal board meeting. And last but not least, we closed with singing the alma mater.
We look forward to sharing with you an update from our next meeting during Reunion Weekend.
‘ray Bucknell!
Grant Tormey ’89
BUAA Board of Directors
Member at Large, Executive Board