WOSA-NA reunion

We have just had another wonderful WOSA/NA reunion at the YMCA Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina. There were about 250 people there, many of them alumni who have attended many of our previous WOSA/NA reunions. But there were also a lot of new faces: particularly those from the late '70s and early '80s who, while not staying in the main lodge, participated in many of the events.

There were several very interesting workshops presented by Woodstock alumni on a variety of projects world wide that they have been engaged in - from Gabriel Campbell's ICIMOD (Integrated Centre for Mountain Development) project http://www.icimod.org/home/ to Marty Alter Chen's work with widows in India http://www.woodstock.ac.in/WoodstockOnline/Quadrangle/DistAlum/chen.htm to Jim Rugh with CARE http://www.care.ca/ , and to those who have worked in tsunami projects and suchlike. Once again I was reminded of the far reaching contributions of our Woodstock alumni around the world. Chris Starr was a great hit with introducing the new Woodstock website, youralumni.com: everyone realized how much this is going to improve the way alumni communicate with each other and the school.

During the WOSA-NA Annual Meeting, Virgil Miedema, President of the Woodstock Board of Directors, gave a presentation on recent developments in Woodstock, including the many changes to the campus made possible by the generous support of alumni to the Woodstock 150 Campaign. During the Annual meeting, the following were elected to the WOSA/NA Council: David Scott '52, Verda Hostetler Bialac '55; Lela Folkers, Staff; Ajay Raj '82; Amal Chaudhuri '78; Gaurav Aurora '93; Anne Lind, Staff; Ted Chitambar '63; and Brad Taylor '76. The new committee structure for WOSA/NA was implemented and on the last evening there was a good discussion between the Council and all the reunion participants on possible future WOSA-NA programs and events. Sharon Seto, former Director of Development at Woodstock was also honored for her work at Woodstock over the past 10 years and presented with a gift from WOSA/NA.

Another major event was the presentation by Bob and Ellen Alter on the change of Woodstock from a missionary school to a Christian International School, a change which began during their stewardship in the '70s. In true Alter style, it was a most interesting and effective presentation. Bob and Ellen were surprised at the loving tribute to them from WOSA/NA after their presentation. This consisted of a moving poem written to Ellen Alter by her nephew, John Alter and read by her niece Marty Alter Chen; the presentation of an engraved Saharanpur box from WOSA/NA; tributes from staff and students who were there in the 1970's with Bob and Ellen and a PowerPoint presentation on Bob's life which had been prepared in 2003 when he was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award by the Woodstock Board of Directors.

Brian Dunn, chaplain at Woodstock, was a featured speaker and guest. His presentations were greatly appreciated by all in attendance. Alumni over the years have expressed concern about the interpretation of Woodstock's role as a Christian but also a multicultural school. In his articulate, sensitive and inspiring presentations over several sessions, Brian was able to convey both the complexity of the issues as well as the careful and thoughtul process that the Woodstock administration and staff have gone through to deal with those complexities and to arrive at a position that is clear, comprehensive and well expressed. You can download a copy of the Religious Life Statement here.

Jane Cummings, DIrector of Development