Bennington College Hires Shay Totten ’91 as New Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement
Bennington College is pleased to announce Shay Totten ’91 as its new Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement. Shay Totten starts at the College on Monday, September 9, and reports to Vice President for Institutional Advancement Allison Gomes.
"We are thrilled to welcome Shay," said Gomes. “As an alum, he understands this community with a depth that few can. His experiences here as a student led him to build an impressive career in journalism, brand marketing and communications, community engagement, and development.”
Totten joins Bennington from the American Press Institute, where he has served as Newsroom Success Manager for more than two years. Prior to that, Totten worked with McClatchy News and the Google News Initiative as a Growth & Membership Specialist with Compass Experiment, which launched newsrooms in underserved communities. He has also worked as Communications Director at Rights & Democracy, as a consultant for Inside Climate News and others, as an investigative and political columnist for Seven Days, and in editorial and marketing roles at Chelsea Green Publishing.
Totten studied Literature, Creative Writing, French, French Literature, and Ceramics at Bennington. He served as a House Chair and as a liaison between House Chairs and student government and the administration.
“The idea that I am going to have an office in the Barn is a bit surreal. That’s where I spent so much time as a student, walking its creaky floors, going up and down the stairs, spending hours in classrooms and meeting with my advisors,” said Totten. “I am excited to offer my perspective and find ways to build alumni relations in ways that help alums not just be there to support the college financially but also to support, and connect with, current students. The more I meet students attending Bennington now, I see that they are just like the Bennington alumni I know, walking around in modern form with a whole new set of problems to solve in the world.”
After graduation, Totten worked as a reporter for the Burlington Free Press, an editor for Vermont Times, and as an adjunct professor in the Journalism department at St. Michael’s College in Colchester. He also founded and published the Vermont Guardian. He has been a member of Bennington’s Alumni Co-op since its founding.
“Shay’s exceptional experience provides the skills he needs to relate with our alumni personally and throughout a variety of media channels,” said Gomes. “I am excited to see how he will draw our diverse creative community of alumni and families together in support of this one-of-a-kind institution.”