Journey is the institutional magazine of Carson-Newman University. Journey tells stories of Carson-Newman students, faculty and alumni of the University.
Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/50035
The Chitwoods at Homecoming 1993. The event was JoAnn's last homecoming before retiring in September of 1994. Things changed again in 1966. They got busier. C-N hired 1942 alumnus Ed- ward Glover as its first fulltime Alumni Relations director. He was given the task of developing a new constitution and bylaws, and also to implement the precursor for what would become the President's Society, reserved for those who contribute $1000 per year. The alumni body grew, reaching 8,000 in the early 1970s. JoAnn's role grew as well. Beyond keep- ing up with marriages, children and moves, the Oliver Springs native and UT graduate was secretary to the direc- tor, recorded the Alumni Association's executive committee meetings, gener- ated meeting information to chapters, handled correspondence, compiled magazine notes, coordinated events, served as hostess, supervised student workers, oversaw general office matters and "other duties as assigned." Nelson Ross '61 began his C-N career as director in 1977. He says he was fortu- nate to have JoAnn to keep him orga- nized and to ensure things ran smoothly. "I depended on JoAnn to get things done. From the beginning, she was in- valuable because she had been in the alumni office from the time it was orga- nized," Ross said. "There were no copying machines … no equipment that had computer chips in them that could manipulate data. So, if you were sending a hun- dred letters to an alumni group in Chattanooga or somewhere, you had to look up every name, type every address, and duplicate a letter with a spirit duplicator." JoAnn Chitwood will tell you technology was the catalyst that finalized her decision to retire in 1994. She'll say, "Well, we were just getting our first computers, and I wasn't a computer person; I'm not a computer per- son today. I decided to retire." It is odd perhaps to those who own iPads and Droids that technology would be her signal to call it a career. What is perhaps odder is that she didn't need Facebook – she was Facebook. Her work with faculty, staff and a growing number of graduates put the young woman on the point of the information stream. Then as now, young people fresh out of college moved. Given the draſt, then war in Vietnam, and a robust economy, some moved a lot. Each change was tripled. It wasn't long before there was no need to pull cards when an administrator or a professor wanted to know about an alum. They just asked JoAnn. 10 JOURNEY fall 2011 Chitwood family photo