After spending nearly two decades in Florida—a state where temperatures average in the mid-70s in winter—Bradford Crews knows Cleveland’s cold will require an adjustment.
But so much about Case Western Reserve appealed to Crews that he quickly warmed to the idea of moving here to lead the university’s network of more than 110,000 graduates.
Crews joined the university earlier this month as senior executive director of alumni relations. His selection came after a national search that involved extensive staff and alumni participation.
“Brad impressed everyone he met with his energy and ideas,” Vice President for University Relations Lara Kalafatis said. “He is engaging, experienced and eager to make a positive difference for our graduates.”
Crews’ mid-summer move marks the first time he’s lived in the northern United States. A native of North Carolina and an alumnus of Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., Crews has spent most of his career in Florida. He comes to Case Western Reserve after more than four years as assistant vice president of alumni relations at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Prior to that role, he served as director of reunions and special events for the University of Florida Alumni Association in Gainesville, as director of university events at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and as a wedding planner at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.
Uprooting to Cleveland—and its considerably colder winters—was something he only wanted to do for a position that truly seemed an ideal fit, he said.
“I’m a very creative person, and I love to do things that haven’t been done before. So ‘think beyond the possible’ really just resonates with me,” he said. “That innovative spirit that is embodied at Case Western Reserve was very appealing.”
Crews hopes to collaborate with campus colleagues and alumni leaders to find new ways to develop such imaginative approaches. During his time at Florida Atlantic, Crews led major initiatives such as creating a young alumni awards program, re-launching a dormant chapters and societies program, debuting a corporate membership program and refreshing major processes for the alumni office.
First, though, he plans to spend significant time ingraining himself in the culture of Case Western Reserve, getting to know the needs and wants of his staff and volunteers and the alumni base, and also those of students, staff and faculty.
“I want to meet everybody I possibly can,” Crews said. “Alumni relations should be the welcome mat for the university. We should reach all throughout campus—but for us to have that reach, we also have to have strong relationships and work to keep them strong.”
A highly regarded professional in the alumni relations field, Crews has been a featured speaker at Council for the Advancement and Support of Education conferences, been a faculty member on its Summer Institute and chaired its Homecoming, Reunions and Alumni Involvement Conference for two consecutive years. In addition, Crews was the point person when the University of Florida hosted Alumni Professionals of the Southeastern Conference in 2009.
Dan Clancy, a longtime administrator at the university who returned from retirement last fall to serve as interim director, is staying through the end of the month to assist Crews in his transition.
“We cannot thank Dan enough for stepping in to serve Case Western Reserve again as we searched to fill this position,” Kalafatis said. “His commitment to this university always has been extraordinary, and his work over the past several months has helped establish a positive foundation for alumni relations going forward.”