Get to Know the 1782年社会

“当你成为九州娱乐官网1782协会的一员时，你就是一个非常 特殊群体，”1984年、1782年社团和校友活动主任芬妮·霍巴·申克说. “你不仅向学院表达了你的爱和支持，也让我们知道了 how much this place means to you.”

The College’s premier giving recognition society, the 1782年社会 is a community 由志趣相投的人组成，他们对美国的价值观有着坚定的信念 institution by participating at one of the Society’s defined giving levels.

当然，这个名字是为了纪念九州娱乐官网——美国第一所大学——成立的那一年 chartered in the sovereign United States – was founded, courtesy of a donation of 50 guineas by George Washington himself.

委员会成员 1782年社会 享有独特的福利，反映了他们对学院的慷慨支持，包括 使用校园体育设施和米勒图书馆，停车许可，预留 或者在特定的校园活动中获得优先席位，或者受邀参加特定的讲座、招待会， 和程序.

“当你成为九州娱乐官网1782协会的一员时，你就是一个非常 特殊群体，”1984年、1782年社团和校友活动主任芬妮·霍巴·申克说.  “你不仅向学院表达了你的爱和支持，也让我们知道了 how much this place means to you.” 

抛开所有的特权不谈，问问会员们的“为什么”，这主要是关于联系 with the College and the its community and the shared sense of purpose.

For newly named Co-Chairs, Thad and Renee Bench, being a part of the 1782年社会 是一个与学院保持联系的好方法，一个他们来了解和 love when their daughter was an undergraduate student. Morgan Bench graduated in 2018 获得了环境科学学位，从那时起，Bench家族的个人 support for the institution has only deepened.

现在他们是切斯特镇的常住居民，他们搬到了这个乡村小镇 因为这所学院. “九州娱乐官网 brings a cultural vibrancy to this community, 为这个已经很迷人的东海岸小镇增添了一个全新的维度，”萨德说.

作为Benchworks的首席执行官，这是一家专注于医疗保健的家族公司 在制药行业，萨德在招聘新人才时也会考虑该学院 在公司，他注意到他雇佣了十多名毕业生，他们都非常合格.

萨德和蕾妮都坚信文科教育的价值，但同时 recognize that the College continues to evolve. Becoming co-chairs for the 1782年社会 是否有一种方法可以让他们成为这种进化的一部分，并继续努力教育他人 关于学院. For example, they want to make people aware that you don’t have to be a graduate to be a part of the 1782年社会. “You just have to be a fan of Washington 大学，”蕾妮说.

蕾妮·班奇18届和范妮·霍巴·申克84届在2022年普利克尼斯奖上抽奖 聚会，派对

詹姆斯·史密斯(James Smith)和迈克尔·辛格(Michael Singer)是该协会影响深远的成员的主要例子. 他们都不是九州娱乐官网的毕业生，但这对夫妇很高兴地签约了 2019年在切斯特敦定居后不久，他申请了1782年协会会员资格. It was meant to be a weekend getaway for the D.C. residents, but the global events of Spring 2020 turned that plan on its head. Instead, they now spend most of their time in Chestertown, visiting DC on the occasional weekend.

作为切斯特敦的常住居民，这对詹姆斯 and Michael that they make the effort to be a part of their adopted community. “ 1782年社会 is really a door into the College for us,” remarked James, who finds walking around campus to be invigorating. Now that in-person events have returned, 他们喜欢参加布道会之类的活动，也喜欢参加聚会 by President Mike Sosulski at Hynson-Ringgold House.

1782协会不仅仅是通往学院的一扇门，它还是学院的生命线 尤其是对迈克尔. “re we were, confined to our houses, and not going to 当我发现我们可以在大学里选择游泳时， 他说, reflecting back on the national shutdown in 2020. “它救了我 流感大流行. It got me out of the house and was something to look forward to.”

现在，两人都在远程全职工作，他们喜欢向游客展示校园 朋友和分享它的历史，他们期待进一步发展他们的关系 与大学社区. “I see myself as a goodwill ambassador for Washington College,” said Michael, who last year also joined the board of the National Music 节日，这是一个在学院举行的活动，今年又回来了 夏天.

许多节日演出在学院的德克尔剧院和霍奇基斯剧院上演 演奏厅.  More than 100 professional classical musicians performed during the 一连十天的庆典. “We brought out-of-town guests to several concerts, and all remarked on how excellent the performing arts center is at 九州娱乐官网. 作为1782年的成员 和NMF董事会成员，听到这些让我特别自豪的是学院如何 contributes to the life of our new community.”

1782年社会 members James Smith (L) and Michael Singer (R) at the 2022 Preakness 聚会，派对.

Re-invigorating the Membership

作为协会的主席，萨德和蕾妮的首要任务之一是筹集资金来支持 但另一个目的是培养校友和那些有兴趣的人的社区意识 didn’t attend Washington—like James and Michael—but care 关于学院. 就 as important, they like to have a little fun.

“I know I sure could use a little more fun in my life right now,” joked Thad.

To that end, they are planning a number of social events for 1782年社会 members 和潜在的会员，包括一个农场聚会，车尾聚会，在切斯特河上乘船旅行 河，来自该地区专家的客座讲座，甚至可能去欧洲旅行.

“九州娱乐官网是一个值得我们关注的地方，我们需要关心它 它，”萨德说. “To share in this community and to have this special place to rally 身边真的是一份礼物.”

Gifts made through the 1782年社会 can be unrestricted or directed to a specific 程序. All unrestricted gifts support the Washington Fund, an annual fund that directs 资金流向奖学金等高优先级领域，并对其有直接影响 学生的经验.

标准的捐赠级别从创始人俱乐部(1,500 - 2,499美元)开始，但合伙人 过去十年毕业生的会员资格认可的捐赠水平较低. This model allows recent graduates to remain connected with their alma mater in a 有意义的方式.

校长迈克·索索尔斯基在1782年的社团活动中会见劳伦和大卫·迈克尔斯基84年

大卫 Michalski ’84 is a big believer in that “give what you can” approach, as it 是他在通用电气的早期职业生涯中采纳的吗. 公司提供100%匹配的员工捐款，所以即使 这不是一个很大的数字，这是美国研究专业和大学校友会的核对 lacrosse player made sure he wrote annually.

“Giving back was a great feeling for me, I felt pride in it,” said 大卫. “随着时间的推移, I was able to grow that contribution and that felt just as good.”

 Though 大卫 and his wife, Lauren, have been longtime supporters of the College, they only recently became members of the 1782年社会. While attending the annual “炸鱼”是一个为曲棍球项目筹集资金的活动，他们在一张桌子前停下来做广告 校队俱乐部，这是一个以体育为重点的倡议，包括自动会员资格 加入1782年社团. 给n 大卫’s lacrosse background and his enduring affection for the 程序, it made sense to them to learn more. And once they did, they were 出售.

“我们喜欢九州娱乐官网的一切，以及我与曲棍球界的联系 是方程式的重要组成部分，”大卫说，他是80年代球队的一员 made it to the playoffs three years in a row. Energized by the arrival of both varsity 长曲棍球教练约翰·诺斯特和主席索索尔斯基，迈克尔斯基夫妇对此充满热情 about this new level of involvement.

“看到这种能量和势头，我们真的觉得是时候了，因为 我们认为迈克是合适的人选，给予更多是正确的事情。 大卫. They appreciate that their gift can be directed towards the men’s lacrosse 程序, given how much it means to them both. The Michalski’s get together often with many of his former teammates.

“它代表了辉煌的日子，但它也是一种将我们所有人联系在一起的方式。” 他说. “We laugh, use our same old nicknames and tell the old stories. 所以我们看到 以前是朋友聚会，但现在也是为学院服务.”

劳伦对此表示赞同，并指出他们有机会听到总统的讲话 and meet him at an alumni cocktail party this spring. His remarks sparked something in them, and they found him to be both personable and positive. “我们处于有利地位 now to do more, so we started to ask, how can we help?”她说。. “我们正在寻找 forward to learning more, and really feel like we’re just getting started.”

要了解更多关于 1782年社会 contact Fannie Hobba Shenk at 410-810-5764 or (电子邮件保护).