Update from Devin Anderson '18!

In the Spring of 2016 my friend Bellande Bertrand ‘17 approached Marcus Hampton ‘18 and myself about doing a special project with President Scott Bierman focused on fundraising in the fall.  It did not take a long time for me to accept this invitation. We began meeting once a week in fall.  However for a variety of reasons scheduling in the fall began to be challenging.  We were not able to make the amount of progress we would have hoped to in the fall.

In the spring we were to meet more consistently, and a project really started to a shape.  I was taking a sociology taught by Dr. Kendra Schiffman which required us to go to several different meetings the School District of Beloit hosted.  During one meeting Dr. Williams mentioned trying to work with local colleges on figuring out a way for Beloit Memorial High School students to take classes in education to prepare them for a profession in teaching.  

After that meeting I first pitched this to Bellande and Marcus that we try to fundraise for this project.  They agreed that this topic fit their interest and we pitched the idea to President Bierman who thought this program had promise.

Throughout the second half of the spring semester we presented this concept to the major gift officers and the alumni affairs staff from the office of Development and Alumni Relations and met with Provost Ann Davis.  Unfortunately we ran out of time. The school year ended before we could actually start to talking to potential donors.  However, I am hopeful that as I return to Beloit we can continue this project.  I believe this project has the potential to benefit both the Beloit community and the campus.  Working with President Bierman, Bellande, and Marcus was one of the highlights of my junior year.