By James Irwin
Jeremy Gosbee, B.A. '98, M.B.A. '02, was selected president-elect of the GW Alumni Association Board of Directors at the association’s annual meeting Thursday night, and will succeed Steve Frenkil, B.A. ’74, as president in June 2015.
Mr. Gosbee, a member of the GWAA board since 2003, has served as chair of the communications committee, secretary and parliamentarian, and most recently as chair of the nominations and governance committee. His four-year appointment involves one year as president-elect, two years as president and one year as past president.
George Washington Today sat down with Mr. Gosbee to discuss his experience on the board and his goals for the future of the GW alumni community.
Q: What does this appointment mean to you?
A: It’s very meaningful to me. I’m very happy to serve an organization where the primary mission is to support the place that has given so much to me both personally and professionally. It’s with tremendous gratitude that I accept this nomination of my peers to take this organization into its next phase.
Q: GWAA President Steve Frenkil has placed an emphasis on the idea of “Colonials helping Colonials.” What does that phrase mean to you?
A: I applaud Steve for raising that idea as a core value of our association. It’s something we’ve always believed but never said explicitly until his presidency. We should never lose an opportunity to reinforce the responsibility that we, as alumni, have to each other. There are a lot of us, and we’re in a huge world with a lot of people facing challenges in their lives. And knowing they have peers they can count on is tremendously valuable for people.
Jeremy Gosbee has served the GW Alumni Association since 2003, as chair of the communications committee, secretary and parliamentarian, and most recently as chair of the nominations and governance committee.
Q: What's your favorite GW memory?
A: That’s a really tough choice. I have quite a few, but I think the moment at my undergraduate Commencement when President [Stephen] Trachtenberg stood up and said “I hereby confer your degree” was one of the most memorable. Sitting on the Ellipse with thousands of other graduates and realizing that I’d accomplished so much because of GW was a very powerful feeling, and one I hope to share with other alumni for the rest of my life.
Q: What are some specific alumni goals you are most passionate about?
A: I really want to strengthen our role as ambassadors for the GW alumni community. That means ensuring we’re the voice of alumni and helping GW see us as a resource. One thing we hear often from people who are engaged is they got engaged because somebody asked them. I want to make sure we’re never stepping away from that person-to-person interaction. I’m intending to engage the board in a program that involves everyone reaching out to alumni directly, asking them to attend an event, get involved in an activity and volunteer.
Q: What are some long-term projects you’d like to begin or enhance during your tenure as president-elect and president?
A: One would definitely be that ambassador program. I think we’ll also see a lot of emphasis on how we continue to engage with alumni who haven’t been involved in activities in the past. I think the question of how to engage with “non-traditional” students who may not have stayed all four years on the Foggy Bottom Campus is a challenge we’ll want to address. We want them to feel like part of the GW family as much as everyone else.
Q: What role will the GWAA board play in overall alumni engagement?
A: I think we, as alumni volunteers who are actively engaged in GW, have a role to play by telling our story. Like so many other things it begins with someone sharing their experience and then deciding to get involved. We have brought in phenomenal alumni volunteers over the years. I’ve seen several of them go on to become vice presidents in the association, and I fully expect one of them to succeed me as president. We’ve been blessed with a large number of alumni who step forward and want to serve on the board. The hard part of the job isn’t finding board members; it’s finding things to do for people we don’t have seats for. That’s a huge positive sign for our association.