Beyond Board means back to the classroom for alumni
Before the 2025 Beloiter Day festivities began, 30 alumni had an assignment to complete.
Across campus on Thursday and Friday, Beyond Board in Class (BBC) participants double-checked class times and room numbers, made their way through familiar hallways, settled into seats, consulted their notes on assigned readings, and waited to be called upon. The BBC program, an Alumni Board initiative in which faculty invite alumni to speak to a class, has been part of Beloiter Days since 2022. The number and diversity of courses and participants — faculty, alumni, and students — have grown as a result of coordinated Alumni Board efforts with Centers and Schools. This past year, engagement with hundreds of students in classes, panels, events, and mock interviews resulted in countless personal connections that will help students navigate the transition from school to career.
Lirio Hittle (formerly Anukriti Sud) ’86 initiated the BBC program and works with an ambassador team of fellow board members and friends — Phil Kraemer ’88, Bryant Conkling ’12, Zak Williams ’97, Karen Frederick ’86, and Tanya Yatzeck ’87. “You feel like you’re paying the aloha forward, especially when students take off with the material and run with it, using it for a senior project or to find career opportunities,” she says. An international transfer student in economics and international relations who lived and worked in Hawai’i, she has presented on climate change for economics and international relations classes, and for Spanish and geology classes. “This initiative sustains my deep connection to Beloit — after all, you’re a student for four years, but you’re an alum for your entire life.”
David Bender ’14, director of grants management with the Four Pines Fund, diligently prepared for class by reading “La muerte y la brújula” by Jorge Luis Borges. Sylvia López, professor of modern languages and literatures, rechecked attendance in her Hispanic Crime Fiction class, excited for all to hear from her former student. López, a three-year faculty participant in BBC, knows her students appreciate the experience of connecting with alumni, and her own connections with former students motivate her to participate year after year. López invited Bender to the course specifically because Spanish is a part of his life, if not part of his current job. She sees the program as an opportunity for former students like Bender, a double major in political science and Spanish, who spent a semester in Madrid, to share with current students how Beloit College helped form who they are. Learning a second language increased more than his ability to communicate. New words meant new ideas, new perspectives, and new ways to express them. Bender described how the highs and lows of his student experience in Madrid increased his flexibility and changed his ability to face unfamiliar situations.
Kaila Nork ’26 smiled while listening to Bender recount his experiences after his graduation from Beloit College. For her, alumni-student connection fosters a sense of belonging and solidarity with the college. “Being able to interact with alums while bonding over a shared language makes my heart sing,” Nork said. “It reminds me of why I chose Beloit: to hone my skills as a thoughtful yet unconventional entrepreneur while establishing meaningful connections.”
Pablo Toral, professor of environmental studies and international relations, one of over 20 participating faculty, advocated for the program from its inception. He describes it as a unique opportunity for students and emphasizes the need to continue these conversations. “We can’t bring them (alumni) here all the time. They’re out there fixing the world,” he says. “These alumni-student interactions are unique and powerful.”
Samir Goswami ’98, a political science major and women’s studies minor, visited Toral’s International Political Economy & the Environment course, participated on the School of Global and Public Health Careers in Public Service alumni panel, and shared his insights as part of The Future of U.S. Foreign Aid roundtable during Beloiter Days. Currently the director of the Forced Labor Program at Global Rights Compliance, his advocacy for workers’ rights and dedication to crafting inclusive systems has taken him across continents and oceans to work in nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. Elliot Ave-Lallemant ’27 found Goswami’s visit especially insightful because his career path wasn’t as linear as he’d expected. “It’s cool to meet alumni who work these amazing jobs and make a real-world impact and to know that they started where I am now, at Beloit,” he said.
Beloiter Days was the destination for many Beloiters last fall. For a select group, Beyond Board in Class offered a moment where their journeys merged with those of current students. They shared unique stories about where they’d been, describing experiences from communities large and small, near and far. The students who now sat where they once did heard the same message from them all: Beloit is good at making sure you’re prepared for whatever path you choose.
