Heidi Snyder Reigel ’97 named associate vice president for alumni and admissions

McDaniel College announces Heidi Snyder Reigel ’97 as the associate vice president for alumni and admissions.

Since joining McDaniel as an admissions counselor in 1997, Reigel has played an integral role on the college’s enrollment and admissions team, where she has directed the college’s admissions efforts for more than a decade. Reigel was named director of admissions at McDaniel in 2010 and became the dean of admissions in 2019.

Reigel has led the recruitment of record-breaking classes, and this fall, McDaniel welcomed the largest incoming class in the college’s history with 581 freshmen and 60 transfer students. The class also came from a record-breaking applicant pool of over 5,000.

In her new role, Reigel oversees the college’s alumni engagement efforts in addition to continuing to provide oversight to admissions. She is focused on expanding the alumni mentorship component of the McDaniel Commitment and supporting the college’s alumni efforts in institutional advancement while also working closely with the alumni council on their efforts to expand and diversify, particularly as they work to increase representation and engagement of alumni of color.

“As an alum of the college, I am honored to not only represent new members to our Green Terror family, but also engage with our alumni community,” said Heidi Snyder Reigel. “What I am looking forward to the most in this new position is reconnecting with classmates and friends in support of our alma mater.”

As a strong champion of access and affordability in higher education, she has built relationships with community-based organizations across the country, including the Maryland-based CollegeTracks, and helped to implement The Baltimore Initiative, which has grown McDaniel’s population of students of color. She has worked with the department of athletics to recruit student-athletes and has helped to grow the legacy scholarships valued at $100,000 over four years for children of educators, military personnel, and alumni. In 2004, Reigel was named College Admissions Counselor of the Year by The Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling. She is also very involved with outreach through Colleges That Change Lives, serving on their speakers’ bureau and presenting on access to families all over the country.

Reigel graduated from the college in 1997 with majors in Art and Art History and minors in Psychology and Secondary Education. A member of the Green Terror women’s basketball team, she still holds the record for blocked shots.

Due to Reigel’s expanded role, Kemia Himon, formerly the director of financial aid, has been promoted as the director of admissions and financial aid. Himon continues to oversee the college’s financial aid program, which includes more than $40 million annually invested in grants and scholarships, as well as provides on-the-ground leadership to the admissions team.