During its May meeting, the Alumni Association Board of Directors chose its officers for 2000-01 and appointed four new members. The board also made several re-appointments.
Bruce Brumels '59 of Lake City, Mich., has been appointed president, succeeding Claire Vander Meulen '75 Gibbs of Melbourne, Fla., president since 1998, who will serve an additional year on the board as past president. Brumels, who was also reappointed as representative for the Northern Michigan Region, was previously vice president.
James Van Eenenaam '88 of Dana Point, Calif., has been appointed vice president. Michelle Baker '89 Laverman of Phoenix, Ariz., will continue to serve as secretary.
The board's new members are: James Bursma '87 of Stow, Mass. (Northeast Region); Eva Gaumond '90 of Bridgewater, N.J. (New Jersey Region); Beth Snyder '94 of Columbus, Ohio (Ohio Region); and Mary Browning '69 Vanden Berg of Grand Rapids, Mich. (West Michigan Region).
Jennifer Trask '00 of Elm Hall, Mich., formerly Senior Class Representative, was appointed Most Recent Graduating Class Representative. Garett Childs '01 of Breckenridge, Mich., formerly Junior Class Representative, was appointed Senior Class Representative. The new Junior Class Representative will be named in the fall.
In addition to Brumels, those reappointed to the board were John Hensler '85 of Royal Oak, Mich. (Michigan Region) and Karen Gralow '75 Rion of Schenectady, N.Y. (New York Region). Nancy Dirkse '81 DeWitt of Waukesha, Wis., who had moved since becoming Ohio Region representative, was named Central Region representative.
A total of five board members have concluded their service to the board: Ruth Ann Hascup '80 Burgener of Flanders, N.J.; Vicky TenHaken '81 Hawken of Wyoming, Mich.; Doris Kellom '80 of Arlington, Mass.; Dan McCue '99 of Henderson, Nev.; and Martha Corbin '72 Whiteman of Indianapolis, Ind.
Bursma has worked with Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Co. for the past year, and was previously with Jostens Learning Corporation. Throughout his career in sales, he has received a variety of "Outstanding Sales Performance" recognition awards.
He majored in sociology at Hope. He was a Third Generation Hope student, a member of the Fraternal Society and the Chapel Choir, and played soccer.
Bursma coordinates and coaches in the Stow Soccer Club, a youth soccer program, and chairs the "Membership and Evangelism" committee at Sudbury United Methodist Church. While living in Orange County, Fla., he had served on the county's Educational Advisory Board.
He and his wife, Amy Lynn Dice '89 Bursma, have two children, Cassandra and Jessica.
Gaumond is a senior usability engineer at Telcordia Technologies, a telecommunications company. Her work as a designer of software graphical user interfaces blends the disciplines of cognitive and perceptual psychology with computer science. She has received several awards for outstanding customer advocacy and project leadership.
She started at Hope as a member of the Class of '82 but left after her junior year and worked in the mental health field, primarily with emotionally disturbed children. She returned in 1989 and graduated with the Class of '90. Gaumond majored in psychology, and was also involved in activities including theatre, college chorus, the Nykerk Cup competition and serving as a resident assistant.
She is a member of Readington Reformed Church, where she sings in the choir and occasionally preaches children's sermons.
Snyder is a full-time graduate student, pursuing a master's in labor and human resources at Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. She previously worked in commercial real estate with Sparks Realty for three years, and in corporate human resources and marketing with The Limited Inc. for two years.
She was a psychology/sociology major at Hope. Her activities included the Sibylline sorority and the Pull tug-of-war.
Her community activities have included Junior League of Columbus, which honored her for her contributions chairing curriculum development for the league's mentoring program, and the Leukemia Society of America. She attends First Community Church in Columbus.
Vanden Berg has worked part-time the past two years in the office and counseling office at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
She was a biology and English major at Hope. Her activities included the Sigma Sigma sorority.
She has served on the Seymour Christian School Board, the Grand Rapids Christian School Board, the Grand Rapids Christian School Foundation Board and the Grand Rapids Christian High Eagles Board. She is a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, and is an active member of Hope Reformed Church.