Letter from Outgoing President 23/24 Ross Thompson
Dear Rockwellian,
Today I will attend my last public event as President of the Rockwell College Union, the annual prize day at the College.
As I bid farewell to my role as President of the Rockwell College Union, I find myself reflecting on the incredible year we've had as a committee. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as the President of the Union. I am immensely grateful for the trust and support from each of the Governing Body that helped make this year a great one. Thank you to Mary, David, Shane, Sean, Elaine, Niall, Liam, Daryl, JG, Tom, Moya and Harry for all their hard work.
During my tenure, we have witnessed remarkable growth and development.. Together, we have rekindled old friendships, forged new connections, and strengthened the bonds that tie us to our alma mater. Through micro reunions (i.e. single year or locality), networking events, and improved communication tools we have celebrated our shared experiences and contributed to the legacy of Rockwell College.
We set out this year to build on 4 pillars; Events, Membership, Communication and Community.
Events: We brought back the New York Dinner after 29 years and the London Dinner for the first time since the pandemic. We moved the Annual Dinner to a Saturday. and from March to end of April, all with positive outcomes and well supported. In total 610 people attend across 12 events this year.
Membership: We improved the database of members by upgrading to a new system and have gone from 1600 names and emails to over 3,300.
Communication: We built a new website this year and it is constantly updated. We also have brought out a quarterly newsletter to communicate all the news and updates of the union and its members. As well as our Facebook and LinkedIn channels we added a bustling Instagram account, a reach out to all members not yet of my vintage.
Community: Perhaps the most important of all, we have focused on our ever-expanding community of graduates from Rockwell and reached out to encourage more of the recent years to attend our events. At the business event in November we had a table from the class of 2023 and two tables from 2019. At the Annual Dinner we had even more recent grads with massive numbers from five and six years out of Rockwell. We will continue to work on this, but it is great to see the continued enthusiasm, natural progression and continued appeal of the Union, we are in safe hands.
As I pass the torch to the next generation of leaders, I do so with a sense of optimism and confidence in the future of the Rockwell College Union. I have every faith that our new president Mary O Connell and Vice President, David Browne will continue to thrive and evolve Union activities inspiring future generations of Rockwell graduates stay connected with their friends and the College for many years ahead. With 2025 being the centenary year of the Union, I know there is many exciting events being planned.
After completing all the projects and events of the year, allow me make one final request; the Union needs your help.
Over the years there have been many very generous paid up member of the Union, most of whom signed direct debits from their bank a long time ago. But we have found that for various reasons these contributions are becoming less and less over time. We realise that there are many demands on people in today’s world. With so many subscription services calling out for our attention to “sign up or subscribe” like Netflix, Spotify and your local Gym.
Please subscribe to full membership as little as €32 a year It really helps. The Union is an entirely volunteer based organisation, with no salaries paid. But like any organisation we have costs to operate and appeal to you to support us in any way you can so we can continue to meet these obligations and provide all Rockwellians around the world with a resource, network, events and benefits.
If you enjoyed what we did this year through the events, please support us.
If you enjoyed receiving the Newsletter, please support us.
If you want to “Help Us Help Rockwell” through various projects at the college, please support us.
Please subscribe from €32 a year HERE or one time donation of support HERE.
The Union AGM will take place in the Library at Rockwell on Wednesday 22nd May 2024- 17.30 Registration for a 18.00 start, we invite you to attend, we would love to see you.
Thank you for your support and continued enthusiasm for the Rockwell College Union.
With warmest regards and best wishes for the future,
Ross Thompson
Class of 1988
President of Rockwell College Union 23/24