HWS News
22 April 2025 • Alums SAGE APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND ALUMNAE RELATIONS
An HWS alumna, parent and former student trustee, Melanie Sage ’95, P’25, P’27 is poised to lead efforts in alumni connection and community building.
Melanie N. Sage ’95, P’25, P’27 has been named Executive Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations at Hobart and William Smith. Currently serving as Senior Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Transfer Admissions at HWS, Sage brings significant experience in both secondary and higher education to this leadership role.
"I'm a Geneva native and an HWS graduate, so the Colleges—both their history and future—mean a great deal to me," Sage says. "Just as we warmly welcome students into the HWS community, I want to ensure that alumni, particularly those who may have lost touch or never felt fully connected, feel a genuine sense of welcome and belonging."
Sage intends to advance HWS’ mission of fostering meaningful relationships with and among the Colleges’ nearly 25,000 living alumni. She plans to do so by promoting and developing diverse engagement initiatives, including the numerous on-campus, regional and virtual events HWS hosts each year.
In addition to developing and managing outreach and on-and off-campus events, including Reunion and Homecoming, Sage will serve as the campus liaison for the leadership of the Hobart Alumni Association and the William Smith Alumnae Association.
“Mel checks every box for the ideal Executive Director,” says Vice President for Advancement Steve Caraher. “She's an alumna, a parent, a volunteer, former student trustee, a past president of the alumnae association and has deep roots in the Geneva community. Over a lifetime of service to HWS, she has shown incredible care for the institution and its students and alumni. She's exceptionally capable of leading our engagement initiatives moving forward.”
“I am delighted to welcome Mel into this new role," says William Smith Alumnae Association President Roxanne Jackson '81. "Her background in Admissions and Advancement, combined with her strong commitment to both secondary and higher education, has already made her an asset to the Association. I'm excited to collaborate with her moving forward.”
Sage succeeds Chevanne DeVaney ’95, P’21, P’23, who in 2024 was appointed Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at HWS.
Sage grew up in the Finger Lakes and attended Geneva High School. She was a first-generation college student at HWS and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in women’s studies.
After graduation, she worked in HWS Admissions before relocating to New England, where she spent the next two decades raising a family and working for a variety of independent secondary schools and colleges including Phillips Exeter Academy and Amherst College in the fields of marketing communications, advancement, and alumni and parent relations.
Sage rejoined HWS in 2022, first as a Digital Gift Officer in the Office of Advancement before accepting her current role as Senior Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Transfer Admissions.
The mother of Annabel Ramsay ’25 and Rupert Ramsay ’27, she was the 2023 William Smith Senior Toast Keynote speaker and is on her HWS 30th Reunion Committee. She is a member of HWS’ Geneva 2030 organization and a former board member of the Geneva Historical Society.
