The GW Alumni Association selected 11 new members to their executive committee last week, replacing the former president and 10 members who left the committee following the end of the academic year, according to a University release.

Angela An, Ryan Barnette, Bret Caldwell, David Earl, Maria Fera, Bethann Kagan, Steve LaForte, Felicia Rodriguez, Calvin Sanders, Traci Scott, Kalpana Vissa and new Alumni Association President Maxwell Gocala-Nguyen joined the executive committee, making a total of 20 members. The committee now represents alumni from eight of GW’s 12 schools and colleges, compared to seven last year.

During the Board of Trustees’ May meeting, Gocala-Nguyen said the association was working on replacing the nine members who had stepped down from the committee at the time. He said the association aimed to recruit members that would represent all 12 of GW’s schools and colleges through their search.

“We have distinct opportunities to create successful scholarship programs to do wonderful mural projects to make sure that our community is seen and heard,” Gocala-Nguyen said at the meeting. “It is my passion to make sure that those are fulfilled.”

The 11 new association executive committee members will take the place of former president Will Alexander III, Christine Brown-Quinn, Somender Chaudhary, Peak Sen Chua, Jennifer Franco Dias, Wyn Dobbs, Amanda Fugazy, Frances Hassun, Richard Jones, Darren Menaker and Mallory Staub. Board chair Grace Speights announced that Gocala-Nguyen would take over for Alexander III as alumni association president starting July 1 in a May meeting.

Officials established the current alumni association in May 2019 after attempting to merge the former association and the Office of Alumni Relations, which led to several resignations among board members and the group’s former president. The new alumni association started with 13 executive committee members and has grown to include 20.

“The mission of the GWAA is to advance the university by working collaboratively to strengthen and promote an invested alumni community that inspires lifelong loyalty through the engagement of current and future alumni,” the association’s website states.