ALICE BEEMAN

CASE’s First President, 1974-1978 

In her first column in the first issue of Currents, CASE’s new president Alice Beeman wrestled with a big question: who speaks for education—and if advancement professionals are key spokespeople, what can and should we be saying about it?

Beeman knew firsthand the weight of those questions. She’d served in communications roles at multiple universities and led the American Association of University Women. She’d go on to lead CASE for its first four formative years.

One of the conclusions she drew then rings just as true now, 50 years later. Especially amid societal shifts or periods of declining faith in higher education, she wrote, institutions must consider and deliver on the promises they make to students, communities, and society. Here, explore Beeman’s reflections excerpted from her Currents columns on purpose and relevance.

To remain relevant, higher education institutions must clarify their purpose and goals.
“I suggest that every educational institution—each college and university and community college and independent school—needs to reconsider and redefine its purposes, programs, and goals, and to state those purposes, programs, and goals plainly and honestly. If our program is narrow, let’s admit it and try not to fuzz the matter over with talk of ‘multiple options.’”

Advancement staff should communicate clearly.
“It’s essential to do an effective job of communicating [the institution’s] definitions and goals to students, alumni, and friends. Most important of all, it is essential that we consider with care what promises we are making to our constituents and make sure that we can, indeed, fulfill them.”

Engage alumni as ambassadors.
“We must rely on alumni to represent our institutions among these voluntary groups [such as local community organizations], and to fill the role of mediators and communicators. The university president may come to town once a year to explain what the institution is up to, but alumni are there throughout the year.” 

But also listen to alumni feedback.
“Stop, look, listen. And, I would add, ‘heed.’ It does no good to set up an elaborate mechanism—in this case, an alumni association of statewide or national scope—if the advice is ignored.”

Keep campuses “human.”
“As campus administrations grow bigger and more complex … we need to invest more of our energies in maintaining the human touch. Georgetown University President Timothy Healy has said about salvaging the best [lesson] from the ’60s: ‘Our real continuity is the generations of young people who come to us, and older generations who meet with them.’ … This continues to be what education is about. It’s incumbent upon fundraisers and alumni directors to convey that human element as they work with potential donors and grant makers. In education, we deal with people, not buildings, not equipment, not endowment portfolios.”  

From “A New Role for Alumni: Keeping Colleges in Touch” (1975), “Promises to Keep” (1975), and “A Hymn for Education” (1978).