Perhaps I should have noted when I posted upthread that I am mindful that part of the Object of Phi Mu Alpha is "a loyalty to the Alma Mater." So in my view, part of what my fraternity experience has nurtured and part of what I believe my fraternal obligations entail is that loyalty. Fortunately, my alma mater and its leadership have never given me reason to question that loyalty. I'm not sure how I'd feel were I to be faced with some of the situations others have described; I think at some point I'd feel like the institution wasn't my alma mater any more.

Prior to this year, I gave back to Georgetown by donating to my Alpha Phi Omega chapter and to the university step team by making a donation at the annual step show.

This year, I am deciding instead to give a small monthly recurring donation to the scholarship imperative in the name of my friend and fellow Hoya who died of complications from sickle cell disease.

I decided to give back directly to the school for several reasons:

Because I believe students and their parents should be responsible for their own student life/club/organization experiences.

Because honoring my friend was important to me.

Because African American donors need to be counted.

Ironically, because I was the beneficiary of several named scholarships, I was less likely to give to scholarships at my school. I always felt like I would never be able to make as large a contribution as my benefactors did, so my meager dollars could go elsewhere. I don't believe that anymore.

I worked with several married couples when I worked on campus. When they got things like that, it was typically "John and Jane Doe" -- seems like an easy fix lol

I think this is pretty common. People are kind of intimidated by the large amount of money that it takes to run a school/endow a scholarship and don't think their considerably smaller donations are good enough. Also, if you didn't go to a private high school, the concept of giving money to your school is a foreign concept.

Any little bit helps.

I don't donate, since I still attend grad school, but probably won't donate after either, since I'm not satisfied with the way things are handled.

I do donate to all the student organisations that I was a part of during undergrad, as they contributed to my personal growth in many ways.

I didn't go to a private high school, and it wasn't a foreign concept to me at all. In my family, the foreign concept was the concept of not being an engaged and contributing alumnus/a.

That isn't true.

And I think grown adults are clear as to the difference between donating to a high school alma mater and a college alma mater. :p A lot of people who donate to their college alma mater(s) never donated to their high school, private or public.

Should I change it to "can be a foreign concept?" ;) :p

While "grown adults" may be familiar with the difference, 18-22 year olds, many of whom might come from modest backgrounds where ANY sort of philanthropy/donations were rare, may not be. Many development efforts these days are geared towards the "rising generation;" it's the idea that if you get a young person to donate when they're young and have less money, they'll continue to donate.

Also, donations aren't the ONLY way to be an engaged alumnus; I'm not sure where I said that since I mentioned my history of donating AND volunteering. :confused: When I didn't give much money at all, I still volunteered like no one's business. Now that I have less time to give but more $$$, it's easier for me to write a check.

In that case, I do not donate time or money to my alma maters. :)

Thanks. It's funny that we have those different perceptions, though I know that I am hypercritical of Delta Chi and would probably disagree with some of the praise that we get. You're not the first NPC alumna I've heard of that has not been engaged for volunteer roles, KSUViolet's comment would confirm that as well. I wonder if NPC groups' very organized volunteer structure makes it more difficult for alumnae to "break in" to the system.

/hijack

My feelings here are the same - maybe because we are a young university, or because of our basketball success was so unifying but I feel like Mason alumni are very supportive of athletics, construction, and university initiatives as a whole. Maybe SthrnZeta has some insight on this...

That works, I think.

Didn't mean to suggest you did. I was just speaking from my experience.