Photo by Bryan Oller

Michael McNamee has joined the Office of Alumni Relations as assistant director of career volunteer initiatives. Linking the Alumni Office to the Career Center, McNamee will be responsible for charting a new course for alumni and parent engagement as it relates to career success for current students. He’ll be working on mentoring, a job shadow program, internship leads, and other related endeavors. McNamee was out of the gate running with a small pilot program in Denver called “Take a Student to Work Day.” This job shadow program matched students from a class on decision making co-taught by Professor Mark Smith and Assistant Professor Christina Rader of the Economics and Business Department with Denver alumni based on students’ broad interests such as entrepreneurism, public policy, and the like. McNamee is also working closely with The Butler Center and others on how best to approach mentoring and determining best models for implementation.

McNamee comes to CC from the University of Wyoming, where he served as career services coordinator, an instructor, and a chapter advisor for Sigma Chi Fraternity. He started his career as an admissions rep at UW and prior to that he was employed as a marketing and communications coordinator at Greater Wyoming Big Brothers Big Sisters. His broad university and nonprofit experience sets him up well to work with students, families, and volunteers. He has a degree in journalism and public relations and a master’s in public administration. If you would like to serve as a career volunteer, please send an email to him at michael.mcnamee@coloradocollege.edu

Two other staff changes have taken place in the Office of Alumni Relations. Jayne Blewitt left to pursue her own business. Blewitt had taken on a number of roles supporting the work of the Alumni Association Board, chapters, and Homecoming and reunion. Brett Gray assumed the position of alumni relations coordinator for on-campus programs, coming to us from The Butler Center. Sara Luther LaBrie ’02 left the office to be a full-time mother, and Judy Kanagy assumed her role as alumni relations coordinator, moving from another role in the Advancement Division. Kanagy has a long history in customer service, database reporting, and international conference planning.

In an effort to introduce alumni and parents to the broader leadership of Colorado College, the Office of Alumni Relations is bringing several campus leaders on a four-city tour to Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), and San Francisco late in April. If you are in the area, we hope to see you there. More events are planned for the fall in New York, Chicago, Denver, and San Francisco. Springtime Block Breaks Away to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu, Tanzania, National Parks of Eastern Utah, and Vietnam have sold out. Alumni trips to Sicily and India are on tap for fall with spots still available.

The Office of Alumni Relations is excited to offer historical and academic perspectives as part of its summer program for alumni to be held at the Baca campus in August. Assistant Professor of German, Russian, and East Asian Studies Ane Steckenbiller and Assistant Professor of Southwest Studies Santiago Guerra are leading “Crossing Borders: Fortress Europe and Walled America.” With talk of a refugee crisis and immigration top of mind in our national consciousness, participants will investigate the complex causes as well as some of the long-term social and cultural impacts and implications of recent developments. From a comparative historical, cultural, and political perspective, participants will examine recent work on migration, citizenship, identity, and cultural belonging, including literary texts and film, to reevaluate some of the key questions that have driven this field of research. Through an analysis of contemporary images of the United States, Germany, and Europe, in general, the program will include an exploration of how ideas about national belonging, identity, and migration are shaped and reconfigured.

For an up-to-date listing of all alumni events, be sure to check: www.coloradocollege.edu/alumni