Greetings,
I am humbled by the honor to serve as the incoming Chair of the Alumni Committee on Racial & Ethnic Diversity (ACRED). I follow in the footsteps of giants – Virginia Cardenas, Lucrecia Moore, Reyna-Walters Morgan, Teresa Artis, Barb Lee, Allison Jordan Lathrop, and Michael Kennedy. I thank each of these past-ACRED Chairs for their amazing service and continued commitment to ACRED and Carolina as a whole, and I would like to take this unique opportunity to sincerely thank our most recent past Chair. Virginia’s unwavering commitment, dedication, and hard work on behalf of ACRED was unmatched. Virginia’s vision laid the foundation for the next chapter of ACRED’s evolution, and I am so excited about our future!
As many of you know, Hamilton is my personal favorite Broadway musical. My favorite line from the show is uttered by Hamilton himself when he says “Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” With Dwight Jacobs, who graciously agreed to serve as ACRED’s next Vice-Chair, our subcommittee chairs, Linda Brown Douglas, Kelley Traynham, and each of you (our incredible ACRED members), I look forward to partnering with you all to build our ACRED legacy. ACRED’s mission is to engage, develop, and empower diverse alumni, faculty, and staff in the Carolina community to forge and amplify relationships between the university and its diverse stakeholders through the philanthropy and service of its members.
I have no doubt that each of you will faithfully serve as ambassadors of Carolina in your communities, and together, we will continue to raise awareness about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion and the immense value that it brings to our campus. Thank you for your willingness to serve on ACRED, thank you for your leadership, and thank you in advance for your commitment to recruiting other diverse constituents to help us build an even greater ACRED and Carolina for the generations to come!
Sincerely,
Lou Patalano ’95