August 31, 2021

Message from the co-chairs

Ryan Benjamin ’10

Dear Members of the McDonogh Network,

First and foremost, we hope that you and your family are safe and healthy. After a tiresome and emotionally challenging year, our Lafayette students will be finally arriving or returning to College Hill to begin the new school year.

To our current students, we’d like to take this time to wish you a healthy and successful semester. Remember that you are talented and more than capable to achieve your goals on campus. If you are struggling academically or mentally, we strongly encourage you to confide in someone and use all the campus resources available to you. It can be daunting, but there is always someone to help. We hope that in the near future, you can rely on this network as a strong support system as well.

Sadé Evans ’17

To our new and existing alumni, this is the time to recommit to the revised mission of the McDonogh Network. Focused on the goal of ensuring generations of Black Lafayette alumni and current students can connect with each other and our communities, we aim to address past concerns from our members and be more intentional in future programming. With the start of a new presidency on campus, we feel it is imperative that we bolster our network and create space for fluid and open conversations about the Black experience on campus. As such, our goals for this year include:

  • Be more transparent and frequent in our communication. We will strive to provide more general updates about any upcoming events and changes within the network on our pre-existing platforms and Instagram. You can stay connected and/or provide input on the following platforms:
  • Follow us on social: Instagram (McDonogh.Lafayette) and Facebook 
  • Visit the McDonogh Website
  • Fill out the McDonogh Vision Google Form to weigh in on this year’s goals or offer any additional comments or concerns. The link is also available on our Instagram page.
  • Join our emailing list!
  • Work to launch a mentoring program. This is a direct ask from our current students and young alumni. Its rollout is our biggest priority. Please join our steering committee to help bring this goal into fruition.
  • Bring back the tradition of the Homecoming Tailgate and Spring Celebration. We hope to see you there! Save the date for our Homecoming Tailgate on October 2nd!
  • Strengthening our governing system. We need a better voting system and the support of a steering committee to sustain this network. Please consider adding your input to the google form and joining our steering committee.
  • Create more opportunities for alumni to connect with students. We have a couple of events in mind to cater to our social and career growth and would love more weigh-in to help prioritize.

We encourage you to stay connected. Lafayette students will thrive from your friendship and mentorship!

Wishing you good health and success,
Ryan Benjamin ’10 and Sadé Evans ’17
Co-chairs of the McDonogh Network