Beth Goetting P’28 and Mark Gizzi P’28 know what it’s like to receive a warm Macalester welcome. When their son, Aaron Gizzi ’28, was getting ready to head off to college, a Summer Send-Off event hosted by local Parent Ambassadors gave their family a chance to connect with other incoming parents and students. That experience inspired them to pay it forward.
Now serving as Parent Ambassadors themselves, Mark and Beth host events and connect with prospective and incoming families in the San Francisco Bay Area. We spoke with the couple about their work as Mac ambassadors, and how Aaron’s experience has given them plenty to talk about.
How does it feel to represent Mac to prospective students and families?
We are proud to represent Mac and have found it easy to do so for a number of reasons. We think highly of the education and college experience that Aaron is having at Macalester. It has also been our impression that students and parents, particularly those from the Bay Area, are interested in and intrigued by the college’s steadfast commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and social justice.
What is your favorite aspect about serving as a Mac Parent Ambassador?
We have the opportunity, in our conversations with both the students and parents, to highlight the many academic, study away, and extracurricular programs at Mac. We also enjoy sharing how Mac is unique in its commitment to providing students with a rigorous liberal arts education that emphasizes the importance of diversity, global citizenship, and service to society.
What’s the most unexpected way Macalester has shaped Aaron?
Aaron spent his childhood living abroad and moving often because of his father’s job with USAID. As such, he is quite worldly and is able to adapt easily to new cultures and environments. However, security concerns—along with COVID-19—prevented him from having as much independence and freedom as perhaps many American teenagers. At Mac, Aaron has made up for lost time, embracing the independence he is afforded at the school. As a result, Aaron has grown a lot in his two years at Mac, gaining more self-confidence and a better sense of who he is, what it is he values, and how he wants to live his life.
What advice would you offer to Mac parents interested in volunteering?
Join us as Parent Ambassadors. It’s a great chance to meet fellow Mac families and help facilitate community. If you’re considering it, reach out to the parent and family engagement team—the staff are incredibly welcoming and make being an ambassador easy and rewarding.
Interested in becoming a Parent Ambassador? Learn more at macalester.edu/parents and contact Tony Saputo, Macalester’s director of parent and family engagement at [email protected].
