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Refer to: Central Region Letter 21-02
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PLEASE DO NOT HIT REPLY TO E-MAIL ME. I WILL NOT GET IT. E-MAIL ME DIRECTLY
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Chapter Officers - Please give this e-mail the widest possible distribution
among your members and other alumni in your area.
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Subj: December 4-6 BOT Meeting (December
5-6th Summary)
This is the second newsletter reporting on the recent BOT meeting. Sorry
for the delay in getting this to you, but I had some doctoring to do.
Back in commission now. This report covers the day of Standing Committee
meetings and the day of the actual BOT. I want to acknowledge and thank
Randy Moon '77 who I work with for his invaluable assistance in putting
these messages out on the Internet for me. I only write them-he does all
the fancy work.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5
On Thursday, Dec 5, Annapolis got hit hard during the night
with 7 inches of snow followed by sleet. The entire East Coast was hit
as well. This created some problems with Standing Committee meetings.
I personally met with Captain Bruce Latta '78, USNA Director of Admissions,
for a few hours to offer my services in helping him get recruits from
the inner city schools of Chicago. I serve on some community Boards and
inner city school councils that might be of help to him and his staff.
George Watt learned of this later, and volunteered his staff to join in
with support for this effort. The other cities where recruiting is a problem
are New York, St. Louis, and Los Angeles. Anyone with ideas of direct
help in those cities should offer their services to Bruce. His phone number
is 410-293-4336.
Because of the snow storm quite a few Trustees met with George
Watt at Ogle Hall (Alumni House) to cover a number of topics of interest
and concern. I missed this session because of the Latta meeting, but was
briefed by other Trustees. Here are some points that came from Thursday
discussions:
- A new Register of Alumni will be developed by a competent company
(to avoid the 1999 problems with the old vendor); make sure that you
return contact the company when they call you even if you don't buy
a Register-this will ensure that your information is accurate and current.
- Selection of Standing Committees and their Chairmen was a very contentious
issue this Fall; Four of the Regional Trustees took strong exception
to the procedures used, believing they were not in the spirit of the
Bylaws and Operating Manual; Unfortunately we were outvoted 21-5 by
electronic ballot with 3 abstentions; many Trustees who voted for the
slate advised me and other Regional Trustees that they would have voted
differently had the issues been made clearer and more timely to them;
I believe that this problem will not reoccur in the future
- The Chairman of the Governance Committee is reviewing the Standing
Committee structure and will report back at the May ' 03 meeting with
recommendations; the thought is that some Committees should be eliminated;
much of the Trustees work takes place in Committee meetings, so I will
be watching this process very closely; I don't see any Committees that
should be replaced; I'll report back to you as events unfold
- Thursday evening we had a Mule Stew in Dahlgren Hall just prior to
the Midshipmen's pep rally; it was a good opportunity to meet many officials
in the yard, including the Supe and Commandant, in an informal setting;
the weather continued to sleet and snow lightly throughout the night
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6
ADM Snuffy Smith ' 62, the BOT Chair was absent from the meeting
because of snow and ice damage to his NC home the day before. The Vice
Chair, Corbin McNeill ' 62 presided. The following points were made during
the meeting.
Prior Meeting Minutes
- I pointed out that the May meeting minutes were silent on the extensive
discussion regarding the Alumni Association engaging in lobbying, and
the decision to refer the issue for legal review until this meeting;
these points were added
- Mr. McNeill then updated us on this issue; The Executive Committee
(ExComm) had discussed this issue the day before; the specific lobbying
issue was on reserve commissions for USNA grads; he reported that the
Navy and the Marine Corps had not yet developed a unified position on
this issue; when a unified position is reached, the ExComm recommended
the Association support that position; active lobbying did not appear
to be part of the plan
Superintendent's Remarks
- ADM Naughton addressed the BOT; it was my first opportunity to see
him formally address a group; he is a bright, articulate, strong-willed,
and impressive speaker; his sincerity and dedication to USNA were obvious;
he was also able to speak in great detail about the activities of USNA
which I found to be impressive given the short time that he has been
at the helm; finally, it was clear that his goal was to make excellent
future naval leaders, and combat warriors out of our midshipmen
- The Brigade is strong academically, has outstanding leadership by
the 2/C and 1/C, and has exemplary physical fitness programs and results
- Scholar athletes perform to the same standards as any other Mid'n;
women varsity athletes have an average GPA of 3.0 which is very impressive;
one of the starting football team lineman is a Rhodes Scholar finalist,
and USNA was prepared to have him miss the Army/Navy game if he was
accepted to the final interview (the Mid did not make the cut, but it
really demonstrated that the USNA Administration has their priorities
right); this same Mids team member on the line with him has a 3.83 GPA
in Mech Engineering
- A spirited Q&A was also held; ADM Naughton expressed the need
for all Mid'n to graduate with a BS degree, even if they have a Humanities
major, because of the technology-driven Navy.
President/CEO Semiannual Remarks
- George Watt issued a written report which I've not had time to study
in detail; his full report can be viewed on the Alumni Association web
site: http://www.usna.com/; some highlights follow:
- The Capital Campaign has pledges for $132 million of the $175 million
goal; this includes a recent gift of $2 million from Corbin McNeill,
the Vice Chair!!
- George emphasized that small and large gifts are both appreciated
and needed; the Detroit Chapter contributed $25,000
- $17 million in direct support was given to USNA this fiscal year--$7MM
in direct gifts to restricted and unrestricted programs, $2MM for Navy/Marine
Corps Stadium renovation, $5.3MM gifts-in-kind (including $3MM for navigation
equipment), $1.5MM in support of USNA athletics
- Our current total Association membership is 47,800; we hope to reach
49,000 by year end; our 2005 goal is 60,000 and 2010 goal is 70,000;
George correctly expresses the duty of each of us as providing "informed
advocacy" of our Naval Academy
Joint Audit & Finance Committee/Joint Investment Committee
- Corbin McNeill provided us with a comprehensive financial report,
written and oral, from the JA&F Committee
- The written report contained the outside auditor's appraisal which
was excellent and gave a clean bill of health to our procedures and
processes
- Total assets of the Foundation and Association are $129 million, up
from $117 million last year; net assets are $108 million
- Hank Sanford, Joint Treasurer, then presented the JI Committee report:
- Investment performance has suffered this past year, but our performance
was much better than the customary financial benchmarks-a good performance
in a bad investment climate
- Fund allocation is 70% T-bill/30% intermediate bonds for S/T investments
and 60% equity/40% fixed income for L/T investments; we expect year-end
results to show a 3% loss
- We have qualified and hard-working people on each of these two committees;
their members are half from the Alumni Association BOT and half from
the Foundation Board of Directors
- Our funds are accounted for in three separate accounts; Alumni Association,
USNA Foundation, and USNA Foundation (Athletics & Scholarships);
we take advantage of leverage by pooling these monies in our investment
strategies
- I urge each of you to make a contribution; as far as I can see these
monies are being used wisely; further private monies used by USNA are
often leveraged by public monies it gets from DOD (the Robert Crown
Sailing Center and Warner Soccer Facility are two examples-many other
examples exist); without private contributions we would be guaranteed
of mediocrity at USNA-our goal is excellence in all respects
Nominating Committee
- The BOT approved the slate recommended by the Nominating Committee
for the new Chair, and Western and Mid-Atlantic Regional Trustees. I
gave you all these names in my 19-02 Newsletter-it can be found on my
web site: http://www.wcginc.com/usnaaa Central Region will only vote
on the Chair, ADM Carl Trost ' 53 but write-in votes are permissible.
The ballots will appear with the March 2003 Shipmate.
Governance Committee
- The BOT unanimously approved the recommendations of the Governance
Committee re the new Bylaws and Operating Manual; the Committee cleaned
up the Bylaws and from now on we'll focus on changes to the Operating
Manual; a 2/3 vote is required for bylaw changes but a simple majority
can change the Operating Manual; this will make changes much more manageable
- Prior to the approval vote I introduced a resolution that mandated
strict adherence to the Bylaws and Operating Manual by the Association,
with any exceptions reported promptly to the BOT along with justification;
after considerable discussion it was felt that management should comply
with the BOT's policies and rules, and that such a resolution should
be unnecessary; the resolution failed by mixed voice vote but during
the break afterwards, a number of Trustees indicated to me that the
point of my resolution was made loudly and clearly; hopefully this discussion
will help to prevent future situations like the Standing Committee problem
which I discussed earlier in this newsletter
- The new Bylaws provide for a Regional Trustee on the Executive Committee
in addition the current Chapter and Class representatives; the acting
Chair indicated that the Chair would consult the incoming (new) Chair
before a Regional Trustee was appointed to the Committee; Joe Koch,
the LA Chapter Trustee, suggested that Regional Trustees be allowed
to select their own ExComm member as is the policy for the Chapter and
Class membership groups-no action was taken on this suggestion
Membership Committee
- The BOT approved two new classes of non-voting members:
- The first is a joint membership for spouses of Regular Life Members;
a one-time fee of $25 will be charged and a membership card will give
these members access to the Mid'n Store and the yard; when ready, Shipmate
will carry the gouge on this
- The second was a two-year trial for Corporate membership aimed mainly
at small businesses in the Annapolis area; the BOT will reevaluate this
membership after two years before continuing it
House Committee
- This committee has been working with an architectural firm to audit
the material condition of the Alumni House (Ogle Hall) which is 263
years old; the audit is nearly done, at which time the committee will
develop long range renovation plans for maintaining this valuable building
Other Chapter Trustee Selection Committee
- The nine largest chapters are authorized one Trustee each; three
other chapters may designate Trustees, and these chapters are selected
by the Other Chapter Trustee Selection Committee
- Starting next May, these three new Trustees will come from the Knoxville-Oak
Ridge, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay chapters (replacing Oregon/SW Washington,
Chicago, and Atlanta); hence, the Central Region will have no net gain
or loss on the BOT.
New Business
- A new Eastern North Carolina Chapter application for affiliation was
approved; similarly, a request by Turkish naval officers who are USNA
alumni to waive the minimum 25 member size requirement for new chapters
was granted (there are currently eight of these alumni and it is growing)
- The Acting Chair mentioned that the ExComm was considering a proposal
for a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community). Dennis Spurgeon was
appointed to look into the proposals being presented by developers;
about two years ago a similar initiative was placed before the BOT and
failed by overwhelming vote; I will watch this closely and report to
you if anything more comes of it; based on a first-hand (bad) experience
I had while serving on the Board of a charitable group these retirement
home initiatives do not fit with the mission of a group like the Alumni
Association.
As is our custom we closed the meeting with the singing of
two verses of Navy Blue and Gold. The next day, Navy kicked the Army mule
all over the field for a decisive 58-12 victory. Bravo Zulu, Navy!!
It is my pleasure and privilege to be your Central Region
Trustee. At this very special holy season, I'd like to express my warmest
wishes to my fellow Christian and Jewish alumni and friends for a great
Holiday Season, and a very healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. May
God bring Peace On Earth-I hope He will not have to use the US Navy and
our other military men and women to that end. God Bless all of you.
GO NAVY!! BEAT ARMY!!!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Very Respectfully,
Leonard R. Wass '64
Captain, USNR (Ret.)
Central Region Trustee, USNAAA
len.wass@1964.usna.com
(W) 630-637-1405 x223
Fax: 630-637-1404
***
PLEASE DO NOT HIT REPLY TO E-MAIL ME. I WILL NOT GET IT. E-MAIL ME DIRECTLY
AT MY USNA ALUMNI CLASSMAIL ADDRESS, len.wass@1964.usna.com
***
Chapter Officers - Please give this e-mail the widest possible distribution
among your members and other alumni in your area.
***
All Central Region Letter's are archived at http://www.wcginc.com/usnaaa/index.htm
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and the CARIBBEAN, SOUTH AMERICA, & CANADA
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