At the Macalester College Board of Trustees meeting in early October, three new trustees began their three-year terms. The new trustees are Lois Quam ’83, Paul Anderson ’73 and Brian Berkopec ’91.

There are 31 members of the Board of Trustees (excluding President Rosenberg, who is an ex-officio member), including 20 men and 11 women. Most trustees are Macalester alumni.

Lois Quam said that she wanted to become a trustee because she feels she owes a great deal to Macalester.

“I thought that Macalester expressed a set of progressive values [to me] that were very important,” Quam said. “I was also drawn to the college’s commitment to community service, and the diversity of the Twin Cities.”

Quam also said she was so inspired by the professors in her political science and history majors that she applied for and received a Rhodes Scholarship during her senior year.

Today, Quam is the Chief Executive of Ovations, an organization that works with the federal and state governments to provide services to the elderly, such as healthcare to AARP members.

Quam lives with her husband, Matt Entenza ’83, in St. Paul. Entenza has served in the Minnesota State House of Representatives since 1994 and is currently the Democratic Minority Leader of the House.

Entenza and Quam live in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood. Quam believes that their proximity to the college helps them to remain active members of the Macalester community.

“Macalester is a terrific college, and [the rest of the Board and I] wish to make it even better,” Quam said. “Macalester’s potential is unlimited.”

She also said that the board members are committed to supporting President Rosenberg and helping him as he learns more about the college.

Quam says that another goal for the board this year is to continue to increase the college’s resources. Members of the board make monetary contributions to the college themselves and also help to organize various fundraising opportunities. Quam says she believes strongly in this objective, in part because she was able to attend Macalester due to the financial aid that she was awarded.

No stranger to giving money to the College, Quam and her husband created a scholarship in the name of Entenza’s mother, also a graduate of the college.

Paul Anderson ’73 shares many of Quam’s sentiments and stated that among the reasons he decided to be a trustee was Macalester’s “terrific students and faculty.” He also wanted to participate on the board to stand up for his beliefs when making decisions regarding Macalester’s future. “I wanted to be on the Board of Trustees to represent a set of values I care deeply about,” Anderson said.

Anderson hopes that he can bring a fresh perspective to the Board of Trustees by offering a long term view, instead of focusing on next week as many students and faculty members are forced to do.

Anderson graduated with a degree in political science, attended graduate school and taught for twenty years. He now works in market research for high tech companies.

Brian Berkopec ’91 is the youngest new addition to the Board of Trustees. A native of Milwaukee, Wis., Brian graduated from Macalester with degrees in international studies, political science and Spanish. “As a typical Midwestern boy, Macalester helped to excite me about the world,” Berkopec said.

After Macalester, Berkopec attended Georgetown University. He is currently living in Amsterdam and working as the Vice President for Business Development for VIA NET.WORKS. Before residing in Amsterdam, he worked for the same company in Paris for seven years.

Berkopec believes that the goals of the Board of Trustees do not necessarily change from year to year, but rather the tactics used to reach those goals alter when necessary.

“Every year the Board has to help drive academic excellence and raise the bar on education. This is fundamental,” Berkopec said. He also says that as a part of the Board, he will help with President Brian Rosenberg’s initiatives.

Berkopec also hopes to help increase alumni involvement in the Annual Fund to increase resources for the college and to guide Macalester in the field of technology.

“There is never a lack of great ideas at Mac, it’s just a question of making sure we have the right resources,” Berkopec said.