It has come to my attention that many students do not know exactly what will become of them when they leave Washington College. Though I do not have a specific answer for each of you, I do have a general answer for all of you. You will be Washington College alumni.
There are 10,000+ WC alumni out there now, across the country and around the world. I am confident that there is an alumni representative in every career field to which you aspire. Some alumni have won Pulitzer Prizes and Academy Awards, starred on television and sung at Carnegie Hall. Some of them you've heard of. David Ritz, an economics major, Class of 1969, is president of the nationwide chain, Ritz Camera. Linda Hamilton, a drama major, Class of 1978, starred in the blockbuster Terminator movies. Christine Lincoln 2000, recipient of last year's Sophie Kerr Prize, who walked across the Commencement stage onto Oprah, just received a $135,000 advance for her first book.
And there are some you may not have heard of. Yet.
Tarin Towers 1995, an English major, is winning prizes for her poetry and starring way-off-Broadway in a show called Sister Spit. Brandon White 1994 wanted to fish instead of work, so he created the Web site angler.com, which became a multimillion dollar enterprise. Ralph Snyderman 1961, a psychology major, was a pioneer in the bioengineering company Genentech and is now the Chancellor for Duke University Medical Center and CEO of Duke University Health System. Dr. Snyderman is also one of the many alumni who serve as College trustees on the Board of Visitors and Governors.
Some alumni you know for the gifts they've given to you and WC. Betty Brown Casey 1948, a biology major who worked in the dining hall, and her late husband Eugene gave you the Casey Swim Center, the Casey Academic Center, and the O'Neill Literary House. Mrs. Casey has also endowed scholarships and treated generations of undergraduates to performances at the Washington Opera. William Johnson 1940, an economics major who became CEO and chairman of the board of a Fortune 500 company, gave the leadership gift to build the Johnson Lifetime Fitness Center. David Litrenta 1958, a chemistry major who became a doctor, made the gift of the renovated Litrenta Lecture Hall.
Dorothy Williams Daly 1938, a history major who became a wife and mother, gave you Daly Hall.Buildings, scholarships and annual contributions are only some of the many ways in which past students support current students. Alumni who are architects, bankers, civil servants and counselors, computer programmers, stock traders, stand-up comics and state senators, Navy Seals, newspaper reporters, research scientists, cattle ranchers, veterinarians, watermen and zoo keepers have made themselves available to students and fellow alumni seeking career advice and professional connections. These alumni volunteers can be contacted through the College's Center For Career Development.
Alumni are out there to offer you social and professional networks after you leave college. Alumni in many major cities like Boston, New York, Orlando, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. have organizations called alumni chapters which bring alumni together on a regular basis for things like cocktail parties, career networking, and community service. If you want to live in Philadelphia and find work as a photographer, the Alumni Office will help you make connections with those in the neighborhood and field where you hope to find a place. The Alumni Office is the white Victorian house on the corner of Washington and Campus Avenues. Any student who has read this article is welcome to drop in to get a WC cap or calendar.
Most of you will be students for four years. Some for one or two years, some for five or six years. You will all be WC alumni for the rest of your lives. We hope that when you make the transition from students to alumni, you will be an active participant in the WC Alumni Association and in WC's 219 year-old legacy of former students supporting current students and each other. Students need greater knowledge of alumni
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