For more than 30 years, Jean Thomson ’70 has been involved with the Alumni Annual Fund, serving on the AAF Board and as a class agent. Thomson was co-chair of the Gift Committee for her 25th Reunion in 1995, the year that Carleton started to emphasize the significance of Milestone Reunion gifts, helping her class increase its AAF gift by more than $164,000, or 295 percent. She was the leader that year in persuading her class that their Reunion gift should go to Carleton as an unrestricted gift rather than be designated for a specific purpose. Since then, Thomson has consistently been a member of Reunion committees and has stepped up as a class agent when needed. For her 50th Reunion, Thomson was co-chair of the Gift Committee once again, and her positive attitude, commitment, and willingness to take on tough, often thankless volunteer tasks made classmates, staff, and other volunteers eager to work with her to ensure Carleton’s future well-being. Because she has been a member of the Heywood Society for years, Thomson was especially involved in generating new members for her 50th Reunion and helped her class set a record, with more than 80 classmates making legacy gifts to Carleton.
Thomson has stayed in touch with many Carleton classmates over the years and has been active in reaching out to classmates for Reunions. She has attended non-Reunion events frequently as well, encouraging many others to attend and often providing transportation. Thomson is easy to work with, willing to do heavy lifting when it is needed, and always encouraging. She is also an excellent writer, which contributes greatly to her achievements in this area.
Carleton’s success in building the dedicated engagement of its alumni over the years is due to the effective leadership of people like Thomson—they do it because they believe in Carleton and what the College is able to do, year after year, for its students. Like many Carls, Thomson is modest and does not seek attention; she just gets the job done. She goes out of her way to make sure her classmates are connected with one another and with Carleton.