AWESOME ALUMNI
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Coffee chats offer opportunities for alumni to connect shared Guilford’s ethical leadership
B Y E M I LY H E D R I C K ' 7 0
model and its implications in 2020’s IF NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER of
tumultuous society.
invention, could the pandemic be at
Carol A. Moore
least the godmother of Zoom?
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, Guilford’s new
President and August’s guest, gave an
With COVID-19 requiring social
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distancing from mid-March on, every
overview of her style, and explained why she accepted the position and
sector of the country started scrambling
coronavirus
her understanding of the Trustees’
to keep their constituents connected.
and
expectations for her one-year
Guilford College was no exception.
explained the
appointment.
With the campus closed, how best
From feedback and participation so
to facilitate not only academic course
far (about 50 participants a month), the
work for students, but to continue to
series has been well-received. Gertrude 2
engage with members of the larger Guilford community, as well?
Beal, a lifelong member of New Garden Friends Meeting who retired from
Vice President for Advancement
Guilford in 2017 after 38 years of service
Ara Serjoie and his team launched a
in various administrative posts around
monthly series of Coffee Chats, taking
campus, says she likes the sessions
a chance that even older Guilfordians
because the topics are timely, they keep
would embrace the relatively new
her connected to the college and they
Zoom video conferencing capability to
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participate in the hour-long sessions.
serve as good continuing education. Karen Reehling Blum ’72 has joined
The inaugural session in April
in from Grantham, N.H., where she
featured Hege Professor of History Tim
interdisciplinary nature of the field,
and her husband, former Guilford
Kircher
since a comprehensive response to a
advancement team member Alfred
of past pandemics, including the Black
massive problem like COVID involves
Blum, have retired.
Death (bubonic plague) of 1348 and
the natural and social sciences, biology,
the worldwide Spanish Flu following
statistics, business and the whole
herself a lifelong development
World War I. In that deadly outbreak,
health care industry.
professional. “[Coffee Chats] are a good
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, who presented an overview
incidentally, Guilford College remained
The June presentation of Barbara
“I agree it’s a good idea,” says Karen,
way for the college to keep up with
in operation and didn’t lose a single
Lawrence, J.D.
student to the disease. To put current
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion,
circumstances in perspective, Tim said
and Associate Professor of Justice
it’s rare when there isn’t a pandemic
and Policy Studies, came on the heels
writer) produced their assignments in
somewhere in the world, such as
of the death of George Floyd and the
college on manual typewriters, defy the
cholera, malaria, smallpox or HIV/AIDS.
subsequent Black Lives Matter social
odds and figure out not only how to get
protests around the country.
sound and onscreen video, but also to
In May Michele Malotky, Associate Professor of Biology, spoke of the
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, Vice President for
July brought “Ethical Leadership for a
constituents,” especially when the pandemic keeps people apart. Attendees, many of whom (like this
submit questions during the sessions. Visit Guilford’s Advancement and
implications of the discipline of public
Crisis-Ridden World” by Dean of Students
health in the COVID era. Michele
Steve Mencarini and Vance Ricks ’92,
Alumni YouTube site to view previous
described the mechanism of the
Associate Professor of Philosophy, who
Coffee Chat sessions. W W W. G U I L F O R D . E D U | 2 3
