Contact Us

(Left to right:) Ellen Harburn '01, Sr. Alice Wittenbach '59, Brigid Avery '01

Brigid Avery, ‘01
Director of Alumni Relations
Phone: (616) 632-2494

E-mail: brigid.avery@aquinas.edu

Brigid attended Aquinas College and graduated with a degree in Psychology in 2001. After graduation, she worked for the College as an Admissions Representative and loved sharing her “AQ Story” with prospective students. The Michigan winter weather and a particular Marine (Jeremy Chesla, ’99, now Brigid’s husband) made the prospect of graduate school in sunny San Diego all the more attractive. She received a Master’s in Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education Administration from the University of San Diego, continuing her streak of Catholic education (kindergarten through a Master’s Degree!) She is blessed to be back home at Aquinas, adores working with Ellen Harburn and Sister Alice, and is delighted to serve as your Director of Alumni Relations.

Ellen Harburn, ‘01
Coordinator of Alumni Relations and Special Events

Ellen graduated from Aquinas with a dual degree in Communication Arts and Psychology. One of the highlights of her AQ experience was participating in the Ireland Program in 1999. She looks forward to the Ireland Reunion and St. Patrick’s Day party each year! Ellen’s brother Matt Harburn,’98 and sister-in-law Kari (Stevens) Harburn, ‘00, also attended Aquinas College. After graduation, Ellen began working with the Advancement team and seven years later, she has become an expert at designing and executing exquisite special events. More recently, she joined the Alumni Office to manage Alumni related events and activities. Her favorite part of working at AQ is getting to work with Brigid Avery and Sister Alice every day!

Sister Alice Wittenbach, OP, ’59
Reunion Coordinator

Sister Alice Wittenbach is a graduate of Aquinas. Her academic interests as a student included an English major and a Biology minor. She taught both of these subjects at Muskegon Catholic Central for five years. It was her great enthusiasm for Biology which drew her to the Botany Department at the University of Oklahoma for graduate studies from 1965-1970. In 1969 Sister Alice returned to Aquinas as a faculty member. She taught many courses throughout the years, but the central core always included Botany, Environmental Biology and Nature Study. Interest in literature never left her, and for several years she also taught in the Humanities program and in I & E. Another wonderful opportunity was the Ireland Program. She was privileged to spend eight different semesters, beginning in 1976, with Aquinas and guest students in Tully Cross and the environs of County Galway. Life in the Alumni office is a great transition from all those years of teaching, since Sister continues to be able to interact with alumni of all ages, challenges them to get together to celebrate class reunions and participates in their discussions which calls all of us to remember that Aquinas College does indeed make all the difference in the world.