News Releases
Student Alumni Association appoints new executives
March 27, 2007
The 2007-08 SAA executive team. Clockwise from top left: Andrew Southwood, Phillip Blomeke, Kristen King, Claudia Rhye, Lindsey Livingston, Andra Staks. Photo by Patty Koski.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Six students have been appointed to executive positions in the Student Alumni Association, the largest student organization at Indiana University Bloomington. They will take office May 1.
The new executives are Kristen King, president; Phillip Blomeke, vice president of special events; Lindsey Livingston, vice president of university relations; Claudia Rhye, vice president of leadership development; Andrew Southwood, vice president of member relations; and Andra Staks, vice president of public relations.
King, a junior from Denver majoring in human development and family studies, is the current president of SAA and has been appointed to a second term. In addition to presiding over SAA, she is responsible for representing the student voice on several university and IU Alumni Association committees, including the Commencement committee and the IU Alumni Association Executive Council, the national governing board of the IUAA.
Blomeke is a junior from Huntington, Ind., majoring in psychology. As vice president of special events, he will have responsibility for coordinating a variety of SAA programs, including its two biggest annual events, Homecoming and Senior Salute.
Livingston, a sophomore business major from Silver Springs, Md., is the new vice president of university relations. She will oversee the Student Choice Awards for Outstanding Faculty, the Spring Recognition Banquet honoring faculty and student award recipients, and Networking Nights, an award-winning series of career panels co-sponsored by SAA and the Career Development Center.
Rhye, a junior from Crown Point, Ind., is majoring in communications and culture. As vice president of leadership development, her primary responsibility is to organize IU’s campus-based session of The LeaderShape Institute. LeaderShape is a nationally recognized, six-day leadership retreat offered each January to students from all eight IU campuses. Rhye will also coordinate a new initiative to offer orientation programs and leadership retreats for SAA members.
Southwood is a sophomore from Maryville, Tenn., majoring in business. As vice president of member relations, he will recruit new members to SAA and plan activities and incentives to encourage members to become actively involved in the organization. He will also work to encourage collaboration between SAA and local IU alumni.
Staks is a junior from Park Ridge, Ill., majoring in nursing. She served as SAA’s vice president of member relations in 2006-07 and has been appointed to a second term on the executive team as vice president of public relations. She will oversee campus and community outreach activities, SAA advertising, and the creation and sale of student planners.
The new executives were appointed by a selection committee of outgoing SAA executives and directors and IUAA staff.
The Student Alumni Association was formed on the Bloomington campus in 1976 in order to increase the ties between students and alumni and create student awareness of alumni activities. It is a dues-paying organization that provides programming not only for its members, but campuswide. Throughout the year, SAA sponsors more than 40 programs and events to promote student leadership and involvement, including Homecoming, Senior Salute, the award-winning Networking Nights series, and the Student Choice Awards for outstanding faculty. For more information, visit www.indiana.edu/~saa.
The Indiana University Alumni Association is dedicated to serving the university and its diverse alumni, students, and friends. As one of the nation’s largest alumni organizations, serving more than 490,000 graduates worldwide, the IUAA provides many programs and services to its members, non-member alumni, and the university. For information, visit www.alumni.indiana.edu or call (800) 824-3044.