Minutes for 2013 Annual Membership Meeting, November 17, 2013
The Club held its annual membership meeting at 3 pm, Nov. 17, 2013, at the Reno, NV home of executive committee president Jacqueline Leppla.
Seventeen Harvard alumni were in attendance, including the entire 2013 executive committee (Ms. Leppla, vice president Alan Hall, treasurer Charlene Ying and secretary Charlie Shepard). Attendees included graduates of Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Business School, the School of Public Health, and the Kennedy School.
Jacqueline opened the meeting by welcoming attendees and providing a brief history of the genesis and central purpose of the club. Topics reviewed included the club’s charitable mission, status of the club’s pending application for federal tax-exempt status, plans to bring Harvard speakers to future club events, this week’s launch of the club’s web site at hcnorthernnevada.clubs.harvard.edu (pronounced “Harvard Envy Dot Com”), and the search for businesses interested in donating $500 to support the club’s charitable mission in 2014.
Mary Burnham, chair of the club’s schools committee, provided an overview of the annual process of interviewing area applicants to Harvard College. Three of those applicants were admitted to Harvard last year – up from zero the year before – and the trio began their freshman year this fall. Charlene Ying, treasurer, reported on plans to send care packages to the Northern Nevada freshmen. She said that dues for club members have been set at $45 per year to help ensure that the club covers its operating costs.
Charles Shepard and Alan Hall led the elections of the 2014 executive committee. No new nominations were made from the floor, and the club members in attendance agreed, without dissent, to approve the group proposed by the club’s ad hoc nominating committee in September. The 2014 executive committee will include all four incumbent executive-committee members named above, plus Mary Burnham. They will serve for the year beginning Jan. 1, 2014. The executive committee will select its officers as provided in the club’s bylaws.
Charlie said that an electronic copy of the club’s bylaws, which were drafted earlier this year as part of the process of incorporating the club in the state of Nevada, are available for any interested club members.
With all business complete, the membership meeting adjourned at approximately 4:30 pm.
Minutes recorded by Charlie Shepard