Gordon in the News: last updated 08/11/2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2010
MEDIA CONTACT
Jo Kadlecek
Office of College Communications
978.867.4752
[email protected]
WENHAM, MA—Sandy Butters’ new position as vice president of development isn’t only a strategic appointment for Gordon College. It’s a homecoming.
Butters, a life-long resident of Medford, MA, first came to Gordon as a transfer student in 1991 having learned about the college from a Gordon faculty member who was serving as the interim pastor at her neighborhood church. She majored in political studies, graduated with honors in 1993, and went to work for Mass General Hospital in its Office of General Counsel. The encouragement and instruction she says she received from her professors and fellow students uniquely equipped her for her career.
“I’ve always told people that Gordon College was the best thing that happened to me,” she said. “My time here as a student was transformational and I really didn’t have a day I didn’t love.”
The experience she gained at Mass General and later with a New York-based publishing company impressed a former professor, Bill Harper, when he learned of a new position in development at Gordon and encouraged her to apply. Butters then came to work at Gordon in 1998 as the director of the annual fund before leaving in 2003 for Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, where she became the director of parent giving with a major gifts portfolio.
In July 2010, Gordon College President R. Judson Carlberg appointed Butters as vice president of development and she began August 1. Currently, she oversees a staff of 12 who represent alumni and parent relations, and annual, major and planned giving programs.
“Sandy brings to Gordon a genuine love for the College that she gained from her own time here as a student,” said Carlberg. “But she also has the professional leadership and vision we need to move Gordon to the next level. I’m so glad she’s returned to campus.”
Since her arrival, Butters has begun to initiate and enhance various development strategies and giving programs, including engaging more alumni and parents in broader volunteer roles to help advance financial support for the College. She's also begun participating in the planning events for A.J. Gordon’s 175th birthday celebration scheduled throughout the 2010-2011 academic year.
“It’s as though I never left,” she said. “But I think I am bringing back some experience that will have an impact on the future of Gordon, helping to provide students with the same opportunities I had here. It’s good to be home."
