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Dear Alumni/Alumnae and Friends:
I hope this holiday season is treating you well. As you may have already heard, this will be my last year as President of the Harvard Black Alumni Society (HBAS).
The last seven years have been an incredible ride. I remember, as though it were yesterday, sitting in Adam’s House Atrium drafting our bylaws, when Mark Price (AB ‘98 MBA '04) and Derrick Ashong (AB ’97) turned to me and told me that they thought I should be President of our recently founded organization. I accepted their offer, not knowing at the time that I was signing up for a seven year term; not knowing we, as a community, would come together the way we have over the past seven years. The words escape me, but it has been, to say the least, a truly amazing experience.
 When we founded HBAS, back in 2002, we were just a small gathering of recent alumni based in Cambridge, MA. Today, HBAS is a national organization with over ten local chapters in cities like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, and Ft. Lauderdale/Miami. Since its founding, HBAS has been committed to building and strengthening relationships among black alumni, students, faculty and administrators at the University. We still retain this focus, and persist in our efforts to leverage our collective influence in addressing issues of fundamental importance to the black alumni community.
As an organization, we continue to establish points of connection between our membership and foster black alumni participation in University policy and student initiatives. Through the Early College Awareness Program, we offer alumni the opportunity to serve as ambassadors and provide information about the college application and financial aid process to the families of eighth graders who will likely become the first in their family to attend college. HBAS also continues to award fellowships to students who have proven their dedication to sharing their talents and abilities with underserved communities and who plan to pursue careers in the public sector. Thanks to the generosity and support of the HBAS family this year, we were able to award our 2nd Public Service Summer Fellowships. Finally, with the revitalization of the Harvard Black Alumni Weekend, HBAS continues to attract record numbers of black alumni, students and faculty to campus to reflect on the ways in which we, as black Harvard degree holders, can contribute to the realization of success and advancement within our communities.
Going forward, I will be serving as HBAS Development/Fundraising Chair. In this capacity, I’ll be leading the charge to make sure our major initiatives like Black Alumni Weekend and the HBAS Summer Public Service Fellowship get funded, increasing our operating reserves to protect against downturns in the economy, and building partnerships with various luxury good companies, including the Four Seasons, Tiffany & Co., Tori Burch and Mercedes Benz. I’m also seeking two co-chairs; so if you are interested, please feel free to send me an email at cdonalds@post.harvard.edu.
We are also accepting position papers for the next President of the Harvard Black Alumni Society. To be eligible for the office of President, you must have served on the national steering committee of the Harvard Black Alumni Society for one year. Interested candidates should forward their resume and cover letter to Mark Price at hbasboston@yahoo.com by Monday, December 21, 2009.
On a final note, I want to thank the National Steering Committee for their years of service, and our dedicated and committed local representatives for ensuring that we have a strong foundation throughout the country. I would also like to extend a special thank you to Mr. David Evans and Walter Morris for providing us with direction and advice on an ongoing basis. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Harvard Alumni Association for supporting our cause since its inception. Finally, thank you to all of you for believing in our cause and having faith that our alumni community would become what it is today.
I wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday.
Warmest regards,
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