Shannon Dale ’11 has been elected the new president of the Elmhurst University Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Dale says she is excited to engage alumni from around the country and all over the world in reconnecting with their alma mater and “supporting the next generation of Bluejays.” Dale officially began her term on July 1.
“I am proud to take on this new role, and excited to help increase the Board’s impact,” she says. “Elmhurst U. made a huge impact on my life, and I want to ensure that more students can have that same stellar experience.”
As an Elmhurst student, Dale majored in English and French and played on the women’s tennis team. She was also a member of the Women’s Chorus, the Honors Program and several honor societies, and studied abroad in Oxford, England, and Montpellier, France.
The Alumni Board’s immediate past president, Heather Forster Jensen ’08, notes that she and Dale have been friends since 2007, when they were students living in Cureton Hall. More recently, Dale served on the Board as executive vice president to Jensen, who served five one-year terms as president (from 2021 to 2026).
“Kind, intelligent and relationship-oriented, Shannon is someone I have full confidence in as our next Alumni Board president,” Jensen says, adding that she has been “beyond proud to serve as the face of the Alumni Association” and plans to continue to foster leadership growth among Board members.
A resident of Byron Center, Michigan, Dale is senior director of annual giving and digital strategy at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She first joined the Elmhurst University Alumni Board in 2020, when the expanded use of video conferencing during the pandemic gave her more opportunities to participate from wherever she was living. In addition to serving as vice president, Dale has chaired the Philanthropy Committee and also is an inaugural member of the Honors Program Alumni Council.
“The Board was so welcoming and made sure I could be involved from afar,” she says. “It has been a wonderful experience.”
She describes a number of ways in which alumni can make an impact, even from a distance, including serving on a committee, being a social media ambassador for Elmhurst initiatives, or reviewing nominations for the Senior of the Year Award.
As an annual donor who credits scholarship support with enabling her to study abroad as a student, Dale also hopes to promote the University’s culture of giving as she engages with other alumni.
“By showing that I’ve been able to make a difference from Michigan, I hope it inspires others to take advantage of these opportunities to give back to our Bluejay community,” she says.
The Elmhurst University Alumni Board of Directors is a group of dedicated alumni volunteers who work closely with the University’s Office of Institutional Advancement to represent the interests of alumni and promote engagement with the University. To learn more, visit the Alumni Board web page.