Dear Fellow Parents:

The coming year marks Olin’s first complete graduation cycle. When our daughter Anna was admitted in 2005 as member of the class of 2009 – the fourth class in the school’s young history – everything was still very new and we felt like we were a part of a truly exciting experiment. Beginning with the unique “Candidates’ Weekends” and continuing on with the no less unique and ever-changing ICB curriculum, it was clear right away that the outstanding Olin staff and faculty meant business with respect to selecting the best qualified students and giving them an education as thorough and challenging as possible. The students know it and we, the parents, do – but what about the rest of the world? I have stopped counting how many times I have had to explain to people I meet what Olin is all about, while referring to the website and the publications that have come out over time. Name recognition will not come overnight. It will take years for this “experiment” to populate the science, technology and business centers of the world with successful Olin alumni, before there is automatic recognition. It is in this still early phase where I hope that we parents can make a real difference. Rather than sit back and let Olin educate our children we can be active scouts, making connections and serving as resources for the students in our own work and social environments. The Parent/Alumni Connection database, started last year, will be further developed and integrated into the on-line Olin portal to be rolled out by the end of 2008. This will make it easy for us to update the information anytime with newly found connections.

Of course, being at the receiving end of the benefits from the Olin Foundation, it should not be a far stretch that all of us include Olin College in our consideration of giving to a good cause. We can start instilling a tradition of giving back to Olin into our children by participating in the 100% Parent Giving campaign every year. The powerful example of the full support by the Olin family community will not be lost on potential benefactors when approached by the Olin Development officers.

Last but not least, consider volunteering some of your time to help out with specific Olin initiatives (i.e. events, recruitment, feedback) or by offering to be appointed as a member of the Parent Advisory Board.

All the best and great success for the coming school year,

Karl von Reden
PAB Chair and father of Anna (’09)