Tim Powell is our class’s new representative to the Association of Yale Alumni, succeeding the estimable Alan Yuspeh, whose 3-year term has ended. Tim writes:
Frankly, I barely knew what AYA was—it didn’t exist when we were at Yale.
I’ve since attended my first AYA planning session. I’m pleased to offer my opinion that it’s a quality organization with excellent staff and leadership. Contrary to what I had assumed, it’s not a fund-raising office (as Yale’s Development Office is). Check AYA’s website www.aya.yale.edu to see what they’re up to.
It seems AYA is trying to ‘reposition’ Yale from a place where we went to school nearly a half-century ago, to a resource that we can continue to access and use now and for the rest of our lives. At the same time, they’re challenging us to add value—not just financial value, but also ‘human’ value—to our classmates, to current Yale students, to the University, and to the world beyond.
And they’re doing it all in a very bottom-up way, by encouraging and supporting grassroots efforts within Yale classes. As a predictable result, classes—each of which is a discrete 501(c)(3) corporation—vary widely in how they operate and in what they choose to take on as a group.
I came to Yale from a public school and on scholarship, and at the time felt like something of an outsider there. I didn’t realize at the time that I wasn’t the only one. I confess I didn’t attend a full Class reunion until our 20th. There I saw a few old friends—and started making some new ones.
In 2006 Harry Levitt asked me to help run the Class website. In so doing, I’ve gotten to work closely with several people from our Class, most of whom I didn’t know while we were at Yale. For me it’s been a uniformly positive and rewarding experience.
Like so many things in life you take from these pro bono things as you put into them. I’m looking forward to serving in this capacity, and I thank the Class for yet another new experience.