Campus Currents

Moving Walla Walla College Forward

Just how loyal are alumni? If giving to their alma mater is a gauge, then Walla Walla College alumni can hold their heads high. With the exception of Whitman College alumni, more wwc alumni (an average of 27 percent) give to their college than the alumni of the 11 private colleges in Washington state.

“This measure of success is a tribute to a student's experience in college,” points out Karen Johnson, vice president for college advancement. “Alumni who give have a desire for those that follow them to share in that experience,” she says.

The success of alumni giving is also the result of Johnson’s leadership in strengthening the alumni, development and public relations programs that comprise college advancement.

In the 13 years Johnson has been at wwc, the college has raised more than $86 million from alumni, businesses, foundations and private donors. It raises an average of $7 million every year.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church recently lauded her leadership by presenting Johnson with the Trailblazer in Philanthropy Award, the highest recognition in Seventh-day Adventist fundraising.

Presented every three years by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, the award is given to a professional fundraiser who has lent creativity, initiative, and consistent professional leadership in support of Adventist philanthropy for health and/or education.

Johnson was honored by her peers at a conference held recently in Dallas, by the church’s Philanthropic Services for Institutions (psi).
LuAnn Davis, chair of the psi board, and Niels-Erik Andreasen, president of Andrews University and former wwc president, presented the award. Quoting letters of support from professional peers and wwc board members, they described Johnson as an excellent leader, strategic planner, and mentor.

Currently, Johnson is leading the way in completing the $18 million Faith in the Vision campaign, a campus renewal project that includes the construction of a new administration building and new facility for social work. W

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