Neal Cole, ’07, Elected New President of the Alumni Association Board
Written by Stephanie Gordon
Neal Cole, ’07, was elected to the Alumni Association Board in January of 2015. For him, it was important to join the board for a pretty simple reason: he was asked to serve the College in this way. Shortly after Homecoming 2021, Cole was elected president by the board’s 30 members. With his two-year term underway, he has several goals to create a vibrant post-grad life for alumni.
According to the Alumni Association Board, the board functions as the executive branch of the Alumni Association. The board currently has representation from five fraternities and three sororities, and it represents nine states. The members meet formally three times a year and have several projects on which they work year-long. They are instrumental in planning Homecoming, assisting the Career Services Office in placing graduates, supporting the advancement efforts of the College, promoting alumni-student relationships, and assisting with admissions efforts in their home areas.
Cole is up to the task and is currently implementing major initiatives.
“We are working to better connect alumni to the College and create a more vibrant alumni life,” Cole said. “One of these initiatives is formalizing alumni regional chapters.”
He explained the chapters will serve as hubs of engagement, connecting alumni to each other, and will provide opportunities to alumni to help extend the reach of the College.
According to Cole, another major initiative is hosting the 2nd annual White and Blue Weekend with the Alumni Office, which will be held May 19-22 this year. The event will allow alumni to reconnect over the three-day weekend while enjoying myriad activities. They include meeting up with old professors, food trucks, a carnival, the alumni awards banquet, a reunion party complete with a band, a makers’ market, a beer, wine, and cigar tent, and a BBQ dinner. The weekend concludes with a worship service at Christ Chapel.
After graduating, Cole married Geneva Manuel, ’07, and they now live in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Together they have four children. Cole currently works for Booz Allen Hamilton, a large management consulting firm. He has been with the company for 13 years, and explained that he primarily supports strategy and data analytics projects, leading small but mighty teams in solving problems for various military clients.
Cole said his experience as president of Sigma Chi, and the challenges that naturally came with that role, prepared him most for business leadership.
“I had to get used to the idea of being in a fraternity, but thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a member of the Greek system at Hillsdale,” said Cole. “A fraternity chapter is much like a corporation. We had significant responsibility for financial management, risk management, talent recruitment, and building a brand. Dean of Men Aaron Peterson and (then-Alumni Director and Sigma Chi alum) Mike Harner both taught me specific lessons in leadership that benefited me later in life.”
When I asked Cole, “why Hillsdale,” when he was searching for a college, he simply said, “The classroom experience, student life, and the character of the student body all presented the environment I was seeking. I also appreciated that attending Hillsdale would be made possible by the generosity of donors who I would come to know by name, rather than by government grants and scholarships.”
For Cole, he ultimately wants to motivate every member of the Alumni Association to give back to their college on a recurring basis.
“The financial support of our alumni is important, and so is giving back in other ways such as helping alumni reach the next step in their careers or hosting an event to engage alumni and friends in the work of the College,” Cole concluded. “The Alumni Board is putting in place the resources to enable regular giving of time, talent, and treasure.”
For those interested in serving on the Alumni Association Board, an application can be completed here. The submission deadline is August 1.
Neal Cole, ’07
Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the Managing Editor of the Student Stories Blog. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.
Published in February 2022