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Special Note

Letter from Commandant of Midshipmen                  

Letter from Superintendent

Letter from Chairman of the Board

 7 May 2008 

Dear Shipmates, 

            The U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Greater Washington DC Chapter (GWC) will conclude our 2007-2008 operating year on Wednesday, May 21^st at a joint luncheon with the Navy-Marine Corps Council.  The speaker will be The Honorable Donald Winter, Secretary of the Navy.  The address by Secretary Winter will cap another busy and successful year for this largest chapter of the Alumni Association.  Serving as the chapter president for the last two years has been a distinct honor and privilege. 

            Thanks to the hard work of the chapter’s Board of Directors, especially Treasurer Bill Erickson ’65, we have achieved significant improvements to the chapter website including online membership sign up and renewal, and online contributions and luncheon registration.  Rich Perry ’81 has pulled together another set of highly successful Academy Awareness Program events aimed at informing and attracting the best area candidates for admission to our alma mater.  These programs are the most important activity of the GWC as we seek to do our part to make sure every link in the chain is the best and strongest it can be. 

            The GWC Board of Directors is especially pleased to have invigorated itself over the last two years by making our board more representative of all USNA alumni.  By recruiting and electing as directors more recent graduates like Kevin Jackson ’99, Chris Castleman ’96, Cathy Masar ’89, Jenn Rossi ’01, Joel Spangenberg ’00, and Ryan Sturgill ’99, we have secured a strong, vibrant future for the chapter.  A well-deserved Bravo Zulu to Pierce Johnson ’66 for his efforts as chairman of our nominating committee charged with recruiting candidates to the Board. 

            The chapter has also given our support to the Capital Alumni Network (CAN) and its active and exciting athletic competition.  The GWC sponsored “Yard Dawg’s” softball team is a great way to attract alumni of all year groups into closer association with the chapter.  Another Bravo Zulu to DJ Johnson ’91 for organizing and coaching this team and to John Camp ’55 for his representation of the chapter to the CAN. 

            The last twelve months have been especially interesting and in many ways distressing as we have closely followed the challenges faced by the national USNA Alumni Association.  At the May 2^nd Board of Trustees meeting, the Alumni Association’s Governance Committee introduced a series of motions for changes to the Association’s bylaws.  The most significant of the motions entered had to do with the process and procedure by which the Alumni Association’s Board Chair and Vice Chair are selected. 
         This subject has generated more than its share of attention over the last two years, culminating in a lawsuit filed against the Association Board by two alumni.  The litigation alleged that the Board of Trustees had acted illegally in its governance of the Association.  The main point of contention centered on the issue of a single slate of nominees for the Chair and Vice Chair versus a contested election.  Following the dismissal of the lawsuit, the proposals brought forth by the Governance Committee on 2 May did away with the Chair’s/Vice Chair’s election by the general membership and substituted selection by the Board itself – a procedure consistent with that used by most public corporations and non-profit organizations. ...... click here for the rest of the story!

May 2008 Board of Trustees Meeting

Jerry Farrell, '66, (L) President, USNAAA Greater Washington Chapter, presented a memento to Admiral Patrick Walsh '77 at the USNAAA-GWC Chapter lunch on February 20, 2008.

GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!