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In a first for Norfolk State University, all NSU foundations came together with the NSU National Alumni Association and University Advancement to talk about strategy at the Affiliated Foundation Board of Directors Meeting Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Dr. Harry Watkins, Board of Visitors Member and Foundation Liaison, presided over the meeting.
“Today was very historical for Norfolk State University,” said Crystal Jenkins, Director of the NSU Foundation (https://www.nsu.edu/nsuf). “All of the affiliated foundations and the alumni association got together and discussed how we can grow and make Norfolk State even better. This was an opportunity for us to share our overview of each organization and then to see how we can come together to raise more money, do more events, and overall, just make things better for our students.”
The NSU Foundation was represented by Jenkins and Travis Ames. The NSU Athletic Foundation was represented by William Sivels and Fran Steward. Athletic Director Melody Webb was also in attendance. The NSU Research and Innovation Foundation was represented by Hud Croasdale. Vice President Clifford Porter represented University Advancement, Executive Director Michelle Hill represented Alumni Relations, and Tony Harrison represented the NSU National Alumni Association.
The attendees brainstormed new ideas and creative ways that each organization might help, support, and energize each other in their particular missions, while also coordinating as a whole and working toward a common purpose, that purpose being the betterment of the university and its students.
Toward the end of the meeting, NSU President Javaune Adams-Gaston offered her thanks to the foundations and remarked on the critical role they play in advancing the university.
“We are moving forward at a pace that people can’t imagine,” she observed. “And it could not have happened without the relationship that we have with the foundations, and the foundations really being an opportunity for the university to figure out how do we do what is most important. And what I tell you all the time is that nothing is more important than our student success. That is what we’re here for.”