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Continuing Carolina's Tradition

With great pride and appreciation for the rich history of Carolina’s contributions to affirming the importance of alumni relations beyond our campus, I returned to Washington, D.C., in July to officially become chair of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Few Carolina alumni are aware that our association has provided leadership nationally and now internationally in the area of institutional advancement. (Institutional advancement is a term often used to describe what we think of as alumni relations, communications/public relations, and philanthropy/fund raising.)

From the founding of the GAA by Gov. John Motley Morehead (class of 1817) and 31 men in 1843 until 1922, the work of our association was done completely by alumni volunteers. Local clubs were formed in the late 19th century, and in 1912 the Alumni Review was first published. When the 23 delegates from 19 colleges and universities formed the Association of Alumni Secretaries and first met in Columbus, Ohio, in 1913, UNC was not represented. However, by 1927 Daniel L. Grant ’21 had served as alumni secretary for Carolina for five years and was the president of the Association of Alumni Secretaries.

Chapel Hill and The University of North Carolina hosted the first meeting of the American Alumni Council in April 1927. The American Alumni Council was formed by the coming together of the Association of Alumni Secretaries, the Alumni Magazines Associated, and the Association of Alumni Funds. Longtime UNC General Alumni Association Alumni Secretary J. Maryon “Spike” Saunders ’25 served as president of the American Alumni Council in 1944-46. At that time the AAC had 500 members representing 300 colleges and universities.

In 1974 the AAC merged with the American College Public Relations Association to form CASE. Today members of CASE represent their institutions in the field of institutional advancement, which encompasses educational fund raising; alumni relations; communications; government relations; student recruitment; and the management of these areas.

More than 2,900 colleges, universities, independent elementary and secondary schools, educationally related nonprofit organizations, and commercial firms in the United States, Canada, Mexico and 34 countries belong to CASE, making it the largest nonprofit education association in terms of institutional membership.

The purposes of CASE are to develop and foster sound relationships between member educational institutions and their constituencies: to provide training programs, products and services in the areas of alumni relations, communications and philanthropy; to promote diversity within these professions; and to provide a strong force for the advancement and support of education worldwide.

Today more than ever it is vital that advancement professionals have a seat at the table where critical decisions shaping the future of our institutions are made. We can and should marshal resources to ensure that our alma maters prosper, for the value of our diplomas is based upon the quality and standing of our institution today.

Serving as chair of CASE will allow me to continue to learn from my advancement colleagues in ways that I know will enhance my contributions to Carolina and the GAA. I am particularly pleased to be following in the footsteps of Dan Grant ’22 and Spike Saunders ’25, who set the model for sharing our special Carolina experiences with others.

Yours at Carolina,

Doug signature

 

 

 

Douglas S. Dibbert ’70

doug_dibbert@unc.edu

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