January 6, 2025

Before I get into this month’s update, if you’re in New York City on Thursday, January 22, join us for an alumni gathering at Chelsea Walls gallery from 6:30–9:00 pm. This get-together will give alums a chance to connect with each other, as well as meet current students who are in NYC for FWT. I’ll provide updates on all things alumni-related, and I’m working on some special guests, too, to celebrate Bennington creativity.

As I noted in last month’s note to my fellow alumni, we made a lot of progress in reconnecting alumni to Bennington in 2025 (and to each other and current students), but we have a lot of work ahead of us this year.

We will: 

• Relaunch the Alumni Association (which was disbanded in 1997) and begin to host regular alumni events throughout the country.
• Welcome new alumni into the fold at Commencement.
• Launch a more effective alumni-student mentoring program.
• Bring more alumni into the classroom to share their post-Bennington experiences with current students.

Do you have other ideas? Or are you interested in hosting a small gathering in your community? Please email me.

 Despite growing enthusiasm, I’m aware that rebuilding the association will be a daunting task, largely due to the atrophied alumni connection to the College. We can point to the reasons (or people) as the source of the atrophy, but that’s not going to undo the damage or the challenge ahead. 

But, let’s be clear: The reasons to rebuild alumni connections to this magical place are obvious. The College needs us: our lived experiences post Bennington, our mentorships and job opportunities for students, our time and insight and, yes, our money. Liberal arts education in our country is under attack, and small colleges like Bennington, with its small alumni base, are vulnerable. As we approach Bennington’s centennial in 2032, it’s all that more important to reflect on how this remarkable experiment continues through all of us: current students and alumni.

The students who find Bennington–and for whom Bennington finds them–remain the throughline from the College’s founding and will carry it onward beyond our 100th anniversary. I often think about where else I would have fit in or felt seen by a college community, and I can’t think of one.

When I do that, I think about the person who encouraged me to apply: Ms. O’Neill, my high school English teacher at my rural northern Vermont high school. After class one day, she asked me to stay back for a few minutes. As I approached her desk, she pulled out a copy of Bret Easton Ellis’s book Less Than Zero and tapped her finger on the cover. “You need to read this book. And, this is where you need to go—Bennington College.” So, I did read it. And, she knew I wanted to be a writer, so why not go to a place with the best writing and literature faculty in the country…one right at the other end of the state?

After looking at Bennington’s enrollment brochures that I had mailed to my guidance counselor, I quickly realized there was no way my family could afford Bennington. I told this to Ms. O’Neill. “Oh, don’t worry about that. With your talent and grades, you’ll get a scholarship.” She was right. 

So, as we head into 2026, I ask my fellow alumni: Who introduced you to Bennington? What’s your Bennington origin story? Please email me. I’d love to hear them, and share them, if you’re willing.

And, if you’re ever in the neighborhood,  let me know and I’d be happy to welcome you back to campus and treat you to lunch in the Dining Hall.

A final reminder: Join fellow alumni in New York City on Thursday, January 22. RSVP here to join us.

Onward,

Shay Totten ’91
Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement