When Kim Sullivan Aldrich ’80 first set foot on the fair Arcadian hill in the fall of 1976, never in her wildest imagination did she think she’d be strolling down Academy Street for the next 48 years.
“It’s a crazy thought, isn’t it?” she laughed.
Aldrich retired as the College’s director of alumni engagement on June 30, 2024. Serving for 44 years in various roles through the terms of six College presidents, Aldrich was the longest tenured employee on campus at the time of her retirement. But her life as a Hornet actually started four years prior to hire, as a first-year student at K.
In high school, her math teacher in White Pigeon, Michigan, loved Kalamazoo College and encouraged her to apply to K.
“Because of that teacher, there were four of us in my graduating class of 83 students that ended up coming to K. He said, ‘This is where you guys need to go,’ and that was my first introduction to the College,” Aldrich said.
“When my mom and dad and I came for a visit, I was coming from a small high school, so K still felt big to me. I remember walking up the back steps from the quad, past Mandelle and up more steps and I remember thinking, oh, my gosh, this is a lot of walking, and it’s all uphill! Either way I go, it doesn’t matter. It’s all uphill!”
Joking aside, Aldrich felt at home on K’s campus, and as a student, she treasured the liberal arts experience. An economics major and psychology minor, she studied Spanish and studied abroad in Madrid, traveling across Europe while overseas. For her career-service quarter, she worked for Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. For her Senior Integrated Project, she taught high school algebra and business math, which helped her pivot from her original plan to become a teacher.
“I met so many great people, and I also had my first real romantic relationship at K,” Aldrich said, “which is what led to my first year of employment, as he was a year behind me. But then I was doing such interesting things in my job.”
Two days after graduation, Aldrich began work as a gift and data systems processor in the Division of Advancement.
“The College’s data was on this old Honeywell system, where you had to send these punch cards with the gift processing information. The College was converting to its first iteration of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, and so I was introduced to the people from the company building this system. I helped them develop and build all of the fund records, the gift accounts, the codes and descriptions, and coordinating with the business office as to what accounts those tied into. I did that for two years, getting things up and running. We were basically this company’s flagship operation, and they had other schools coming to Kalamazoo to meet with me and our vice president to talk about our process and how to get this system up and rolling. It was very interesting.”
After two years in that role, Aldrich became the assistant director of management information systems (information technology), serving as the liaison between MIS and advancement. Six years later, she was hired as the director of operations and records, a role that’s central to ensuring data quality and accuracy in gift administration.
Eventually, this data and systems professional would find her way to the people-centric role for which she is best known, the director of alumni engagement.
“I actually had two opportunities for the position,” Aldrich said. “The first time it came open, Bernard Palchick (then vice president for college advancement) invited me to apply. I really wanted to, but my son, Brian, was young and the timing just wasn’t right,” Aldrich said. “The position came open again a few years later, in 2006, and my life was such that my parents were retired and could help take care of Brian when I had to travel. I applied for it and that’s when I started.”
As the director of alumni engagement, Aldrich has been responsible for creating and implementing strategies to encourage alumni involvement with the College and foster lifelong connections to K. With her small but mighty alumni engagement team, she has overseen events like Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, alumni awards, and regional alumni events, as well as milestone student events like Convocation and Commencement. She also provided guidance, counsel and support to the Alumni Association Engagement Board (AAEB) and other volunteer alumni groups.
The significance of the College’s Commencement ceremonies holds a special place in Aldrich’s heart. “When ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ starts, and I see the seniors process, I still get goosebumps every time.”
Alumni who come to campus in October for Homecoming weekend have no doubt seen Aldrich and her team greeting guests, running point and guiding the army of advancement staff required to manage several cohorts of reunion dinners and events.
“Our homecoming experiences, I think, are fabulous,” Aldrich said. “For what we have as far as resources, they’re pretty memorable for people.”
Aldrich’s leadership and the camaraderie of the team helped alumni engagement navigate challenging waters during Aldrich’s tenure, such as when the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled in-person events around the country.
“I remember saying to my team, I think we’ll be back in the office in a couple of weeks,” Aldrich said, reflecting back to March 2020 when the College shut down on the heels of spring break. “We were coming into Commencement. We quickly had to pivot to virtual for all of our events. And so that was very new.
“We knew that the faculty-student relationships are so important, so we started reaching out to faculty members and asking them if they would have a lecture online for alumni. And there were some folks who just loved it and jumped at the opportunity. And as we went along, for the 18 months or so that we were home, that was a big shift for us. It wasn’t easy, and I feel like we were pretty successful.”
During the pandemic, the College made a commitment to eventually hold an in-person commencement for the Class of 2020, so in the spring of 2021, Alumni Engagement was charged with planning and executing two Commencements in one weekend, held in a different venue—Angell football field—to accommodate social distancing.
“In retrospect, it’s like, wow, how did we do that? The events were all still in the same compacted weekend, Friday night through Sunday noon. It was certainly a historical time,” said Aldrich.
Al DeSimone, who retired as vice president for advancement in 2020, recalls, “Kim was always front and center at major events such as reunions and Commencement, and on the road at regional alumni gatherings—and by that I mean she was fully present and there to help with the heavy lifting.
“For alumni, she was the face of K. If you spend time with Kim, you quickly learn how important family is to her. In many respects, K alumni are part of Kim’s extended family. Keeping alumni connected and engaged were personal for her, much more than just a job, and this was reflected in the energy and enthusiasm Kim exhibited day in and day out. She would go above and beyond to help strengthen the College and make the experience for alumni especially meaningful.”
Current Vice President for Advancement Karen Isble said, “It’s been my absolute privilege to work with Kim these past four years. Her knowledge, expertise, energy and deep commitment reflect both who she is as a person and a professional, as well as her abiding love for K. She’s an integral part of the fabric of this institution.”
Aldrich was named the College’s Lux Esto Award of Excellence recipient in 2020. The recipient—chosen by a committee with student, faculty and staff representatives—is an employee who exemplifies the spirit of Kalamazoo College through excellent leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill. She was presented with the Honorary Hornet Award by the Kalamazoo College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2024, and at Homecoming 2024 she will be presented with the Weimer K. Hicks Award, which honors a current or retired employee who has made significant contributions to the College in ways that have advanced the goals of the Alumni Association.
Aldrich said, “I’ve had the privilege to work with such great people—in all my different positions. I’ve had some wonderful mentors. Bernard Palchick, Al DeSimone, Karen Isble, (President Emerita) Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran and President (Jorge) Gonzalez. Gail Raiman ’73, a member of our Board of Trustees—I always appreciated her words of wisdom when she was a part of the Alumni Association Engagement Board. And of course, my team. I’ve just been blessed with great colleagues.
“And K alumni, they’re so brilliant in so many different ways,” Aldrich said. “I hear Jorge tell stories about what our students do here and what they do after they leave K—I’m always still so impressed. It’s just amazing. K alums are very passionate about what they do, what they believe in, and they follow through on those passions. They don’t hesitate to share. They appreciate what the College has done for them and have their own unique ways of expressing gratitude. I always wish that we could do even more to engage with alumni, but I feel like what we do with the resources we have has been pretty darn good. It’s been a joy to be a part of it.”
As she ventures into retirement, she is looking forward to spending time with family.
“I’ve had so many people say to me, just enjoy that first year, don’t make any major plans. I have some small trips planned. I love going to Columbus where my son lives, so I will probably be a bit more frequent traveler—and fortunately he welcomes that.”
Asked how she plans to stay connected to K in retirement, Aldrich says, “I’m part of the O’s and fives cohort, so I’ll be back for our 45th reunion. I really love the USTA (United States Tennis Association) tournament so maybe in a couple years I could see volunteering for that, but for now…”
She laughs.
“I’m ready for a break!”
