Pericleans, partners and friends,

I trust that you are all renewed by our recent break and are now ready to re-double your efforts to work together in partnership toward the goal of a better world for all.

Our program is growing, and we will induct our twelfth Class of Pericleans this April under the Mentorship of Dr. Carol Smith.  I am excited for this new Class because they will re-engage with the nation of Namibia, the country of focus for the inaugural Class of Pericleans, the Class of 2006.

As most of you know I will be leading the Elon semester in Costa Rica this spring.  Our family departs for San Jose on February 3rd and we are deep into negotiating the many details that come with preparing for such a long and intense travel experience.  Dr. Steve Braye, Mentor for the Class of 2009 and also the incoming Mentor for the Class of 2018, will serve as interim Director.  He will chair the Steering Committee this spring semester and work with the current Mentors to insure a great semester.

Just before the holidays Catherine Parsons –program assistant for Project Pericles- and I met with three key Elon staff persons concerning accounts associated with the Periclean Scholars program with a central focus on accounts related to alumni Classes.  At this meeting were Sara Peterson, Director of Donor Relations, Beverly McQueen, Coordinator of Gift Records, and Lorraine Allen, Director of Accounting.

Important accounting changes that came from the meeting include the following:

Effective at the end of this fiscal year (May 31, 2014) all funds that remain from any Periclean alumni Class will be transferred to the Periclean Foundation, the 501(c)(3) that was established as a legacy of the Class of 2012.  Board members of the Periclean Foundation will decide on the distribution of those funds. Have our assurance that each Class will retain absolute control over funds directed toward their specific projects.

There will be a phasing in of this policy beginning immediately with new donations. Therefore, if an alumni chooses to donate to their Class project, it must directly be sent to the Periclean Foundation. If it goes through Elon University, it will be used for current Periclean Classes. Those alumni who are currently making automatic monthly contributions will have until the end of the current fiscal year to make the transition. One key reason for this policy is that we have been made aware that according to IRS guidelines, gifts to Elon accounts need to be used for current Class activities and that Elon accounts should not be used as “in-out” accounts for gifts going to alumni partners.

I will be working with University Advancement and key alumni in the next several weeks to develop multiple ways to communicate this change (e.g., web, a video and email blast).  A major part of this communication will be elaborating on the nature and structure of the Periclean Foundation and the assurance that each Class will retain absolute control over funds directed toward their specific projects.

Beginning immediately we request that all communication from alumni Classes concerning accounting or gifts should be channeled through the Director and copied to Catherine Parsons cparsons@elon.edu.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns as we move forward.

On a closing note, I want to again thank all of the current Mentors for their dedication to the program and also Catherine Parsons for being an absolute rock as an administrative assistant.

Best,

Tom Arcaro
Director

 

 

 

 

 

Your role in the Periclean Scholars program

All Pericleans,

As you prepare for Thanksgiving celebrations and the end of semester crush I want you take a moment to reflect on your role in the Periclean Scholars program.

You- collectively and individually- are doing important work. Our world is filled with marginalized populations, social and environmental injustices, and stark deprivation.  There is a profound need for people and organizations with passion, vision, and, most importantly, with the knowledge and wisdom that can only come from experiencing true partnerships.

I will repeat what many of us have heard President Lambert say in a variety of contexts, namely that the world needs Elon graduates.  Our program underlines a specific part of the Elon University mission statement, namely that “We integrate learning across the disciplines and put knowledge into practice, thus preparing students to be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good.” 

Indeed.  I would only add to Dr. Lambert’s statement that the world especially needs Periclean Scholars.  But not just Periclean Scholars after they graduate, but also –critically- while they are undergraduates.  To repeat:  You- collectively and individually- are doing important work.

Restaveks.  Raped mountaintops.  Gangs.  These are no small issues, and none of them are simple or one-dimensional; all are extraordinarily complicated and demand being approached from every possible perspective. That you are responding to the challenges posed by these problems is clearly evident in the blog posts I see appearing on a regular basis, in your Facebook exchanges and conversations, and in the many one-on-one interactions I have had with you and your Mentors.

As I talked with my colleagues recently at the national Project Pericles meeting I found myself again and again describing our program and your accomplishments and, yes, feeling a deep sense of pride as I mentioned your Classes by year and focus and talked about your various initiatives and partnerships.  Everyone had many questions, and all were impressed.

Thank you for your devotion to this program, to your partners, and for being exemplary global citizens.

All the best for safe travels.

~da

Annual Project Pericles meeting:  a report

Annually directors from the entire family of colleges and universities that are part of Project Pericles are hosted by one of the member institutions.  At these gatherings there are updates from each campus and a wide array of civic engagement and social responsibility related topics are discussed.  The meeting this year was hosted by Goucher College located just outside of Baltimore, and we were treated to wonderful food, fellowship and intellectual stimulation. A highlight of this annual event is dinner at the college President’s house, and this year Sanford J. Ungar was an incredible host.

I always leave these meetings energized by what I learn about the programming at our sister institutions and come back to campus with a multitude of ideas that I share with colleagues here at Elon.

One major topic of conversation at this year’s meeting was the ‘mapping’ project that all our campuses are working on (due December 16th!!).  Our charge is to describe and document all of the various civic engagement and social responsibility initiatives on our campus.  Data from all 29 Periclean institutions will be summarized in a ‘white paper’ that will become a significant point of conversation for a meeting of key administrators from each campus that will take place this coming July.