Gath­er­ings Keep Alumni & Friends Involved
BY AMANDA DOWNES ’06

Dr. and Mrs. John­ston chat with Dr. R. Jervis Cooke and Mac Dukes ’31.

WITH LESS THAN 18 MONTHS into Dr. William Johnston’s pres­i­dency at Wes­ley Col­lege, a new vision is quickly tak­ing shape. With a com­pre­hen­sive campus-wide strate­gic and mas­ter plan­ning process well under­way, along with record-setting num­bers of stu­dents on cam­pus, the Col­lege administra­tion is embrac­ing the involve­ment, sup­port and feed­back of all its con­stituents at this crit­i­cal time in Wesley’s devel­op­ment. Coin­cid­ing with this are a num­ber of out­reach efforts being made by the Office of Insti­tu­tional Advance­ment, includ­ing plans for some regional gath­er­ings to keep alumni and friends informed about the Col­lege and its progress.

Since many alumni have not yet had the oppor­tu­nity to meet Pres­i­dent John­ston, he will be hit­ting the road to greet and inter­act with grad­u­ates at upcom­ing events designed to com­bine an infor­mal meet­ing for­mat with a social com­po­nent. Start­ing with some of the clos­est neigh­bors to the Dover cam­pus, alumni in classes of 1964 and ear­lier along with other friends of the Col­lege resid­ing in Delaware’s Sus­sex County were invited to a “Town Hall Meet­ing and Social with the Pres­i­dent” on Octo­ber 27 at the Methodist Manor House in Seaford, Delaware.

Atten­dees enjoyed some light hors d’oeuvres and casual con­ver­sa­tion with the pres­i­dent and his wife, Susan John­ston, along with a cou­ple Wes­ley staff mem­bers. The group shared sto­ries of their days on cam­pus and fondly recalled their Wes­ley expe­ri­ences and friend­ships. They also dis­cussed his­torical moments at the Col­lege as well as some of the more recent cam­pus developments.

One dis­tin­guished guest at the event was Dr. R. Jervis Cooke, for­mer Wes­ley pres­i­dent who led the insti­tu­tion from 1977–1983 after long-standing con­nec­tions with Wes­ley as a trustee and for­mer direc­tor of the Penin­sula Annual Con­fer­ence of the United Methodist Church. Cooke remarked, “I was pleased that Dr. and Mrs. John­ston, the alumni direc­tor and the vice presi­dent for insti­tu­tional advance­ment took the time to visit with us and that the Methodist Manor House in Seaford was cho­sen as the loca­tion in which to gather.”

There are plans to bring events of this kind to other areas in order to reach greater num­bers of Col­lege alumni and friends. Visit
www.weare.wesley.edu to find out about upcom­ing events. Or if you are inter­ested in host­ing a spe­cial Wes­ley gath­er­ing in your town, please con­tact Direc­tor of Alumni Affairs Amanda Downes at 302–736-2318 or downesam@wesley.edu