The power of collaboration behind the scenes.

Sometimes the things that William sought to achieve through collaboration were simply things that he thought needed doing. One of those in this category was reorganizing and rewriting the by-laws, procedures and processes for the Student Government (WCSA) at Westmont. After serving on WCSA for two years he thought he could assist in (a) making WCSA more responsible to the student body, (b) making it a more active, relevant and more accessible institution on campus, (c) making it more alert to the welfare and aspirations of a broader spectrum of students and (d) making it more responsive to their expectations. In other words, it shouldn’t be just a group of activist students but rather a resource for all students.

The power of collaboration in sports.

Sometimes the things that fired William’s collaborative spirit had nothing to do with institutional change but were purely recreational and built on the sheer joy of teamwork and athletic competition. William loved the camaraderie, strategy and physical skill inherent in Ultimate Frisbee. In order to channel his Ultimate passion and collaborative energy with that of some cocollaborators he re-launched and captained the Ultimate team at Westmont. The team ultimately qualified for the Nationals competition in Colorado Springs in the Spring of 2005.

William played competitive Ultimate in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Bad Raps; he played in Santa Barbara for Westmont’s Bandicoots and for the city league’s Gendors. He played for Oxford University’s Division 1 team OW! which finished fourth in the 2006 UK National finals. He played (after members of the Condors vouched for his ability) for the 2006 European Open Champions – London’s Clapham Ultimate competing, by invitation, in a qualifier in Copenhagen. He also played, again by invitation, in the World Beach Ultimate Championship in Pagenella, Italy. William also played club soccer for Oxford’s Wycliffe College. And played competitive Table Tennis for Oxford’s club team.

The power of collaboration in the community.

In the Spring of 2005, William and several close friends on campus recognized the need to mentor incoming Freshmen. As the result of a shared vision and by collaborating with Westmont faculty and staff they formed a grass roots student-run mentorship program. In 2005 the new program, still deliberately student run, mentored 44 incoming freshmen. In 2006 the
program mentored 75 new students.

Strengthening community through collaboration takes many forms. In the early Fall of 2005 William organized an unofficial offcampus dance event exclusively for Westmont students. The purpose was to bring Westmont’s incoming students together in a mixer environment with upperclassmen. The fun and energetic event generated an exciting start to the academic year. William paid his event expenses and with half the profit wrote a second check to Westmont’s Spring Break in the City (SBIC) Program.