FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2011
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

Unified MUW Alumni Association holds inaugural retreat

COLUMBUS, Miss. – A pivotal moment in the history of Mississippi University for Women began with the first meeting of the unified alumni organization.

Board members of the MUW Alumni Association convened for their first meeting following a board retreat Friday and Saturday morning at MUW’s Plymouth Bluff Conference Center.

“Wow! What an amazing weekend for Mississippi University for Women and the MUW Alumni Association,” said Allegra Brigham, MUW’s interim president. “It was an incredible experience to witness, and participate, in the early transformational steps of two entities becoming one, and to hear expressions of shared alumni vision as board members thoughtfully worked to align their plans in support of the university.”

During the two-day retreat, alumni worked with Dr. Lee Patouillet of Patouillet Consulting in Atlanta, Ga. “to collectively write a new chapter in the history of the MUW Alumni Association and to help the board leadership build the kind of alumni association The W needs and deserves.”

Through strategic planning processes, Dr. Patouillet assisted the MUWAA board in reviewing the association’s mission and setting values and vision as well as in some goal-setting exercises.

Among key goal topics receiving focus by alumni included developing positive opinion for the institution and higher education; recruiting the best and brightest students, cultivating and inspiring financial generosity; supporting the institution through promoting the annual fund, membership dues and a capital campaign.

“I want to congratulate the group on the unification. It’s clear that a lot of great work occurred this weekend in an effort to develop common language which leads to a common vision resulting in common ground about the work of the Alumni Association,” he said “It’s clear to me there is total consensus of the commitment of the alumni leadership to help generate a new level of engagement and support for MUW.”

MUWAA Co-Presidents Emily Myers Garner and Andrea Godwin Overby echoed that sentiment.

“It is with great pride that I serve my beloved alma mater as co-president of our newly reunified Mississippi University for Women Alumni Association. We are making history once again just as a group of strong, young women did in 1884 when they championed the first public college for women in America.

“Together with open minds and open hearts, we will emerge a stronger, more unified association committed to serve and support MUW.”

Overby said, “It was exciting to be part of this special weekend at MUW. I am confident that our unified Alumni Association Board will have a positive role in The W’s future.”