Message from the Alumni Association President

October 2024

Dear Fellow Purple Knights,

As I write this note to you all, I’m happy to share some very good, optimistic tidings about the excitement that I’m seeing on the campus that we all have come to love.

While the first snow hasn’t fallen just yet, it’s on its way. Since my first year at St. Mike’s (an especially snowy one!), I’ve always been able to tell when the air has officially changed and the cold weather is coming.

This year, everyone in the Champlain Valley has enjoyed an amazing fall season. The beauty of September and October in Vermont always feels to me like such a special time and prepares me for the beautiful family holidays to come at the end of the year.

But this fall, St. Mike’s seems to have an even more special glow to it. At the end of this month, we welcome Dr. Richard Plumb as our 18th President and he has brought an irresistible enthusiasm for his new post and for the school that is so special to all 22,000 of us in the Alumni community.

In my role leading our very committed and collaborative Alumni Board – featuring graduates from the 1970s through 2024 — I get to visit our campus many times a year, and each time it reminds me that when I hear “Welcome Home,” everyone means it.

The past few years have been fraught with challenges to the whole world of college education. But, working together with President Plumb’s new team, our Alumni Board feels our best days are coming.

For my part, my career, my faith, and my perspective about life have been due to the great gift of a liberal education and we would like you all to join us and be part of extending these gifts to the next generation of women and men to study at St. Michael’s College.

If you have been looking for a way to re-engage with St. Mike’s … let us know. Whether through joining our annual Career Symposium, connecting with classmates during your reunion year, or attending one of our great regional alumni events, there are plenty of things to do to engage with our community. To talk to us about it more, just drop an e-mail to: alumni@smcvt.edu to find out more.

So, until we speak again, I wish you all well and encourage you to join us as we help St. Mike’s make the next 120 years as special as the past ones have been!

All the very best,

Patrick Fitzgibbons ’89

President, SMC Alumni Association