Quote:
Originally posted by Firehouse
It seems to me that alumni who stay involved with the fraternity have stayed in touch with their friends, their contemporaries from undergraduate days. When these alumni are together, even forty-something-year-olds seem to revert back to their undergraduate personalities. Among my chapter alumni I see very few "singles", alumni Brothers who are involved independently of their old running mates. The involved alumni group themselves together naturally, sort of like knots along a length of rope.
And although it is hard to quantify, I think the status of the undergraduate chapter has something to do with it. If the chapter has a consistent theme, and it something that the a;umni can still identify with, that seems create a kind of gravity that pulls them back.
It's rare to see a great alumni base and a weak chapter. Much more common to see a strong undergrad chapter and an alumni base that has never been developed. Most often, the strong chapter and the strong alumni support is concurrent.
|
Co-sign. (Good thread by the way.)
Basically, it seems like fraternity alumni are more *
chapter* orientated than regional or internationally orientated. As such, alumni may be more likely to show their support to, and or become involved with, an individual chapter than the fraternity
*as a whole*.
Thus, the stronger the connection between the chapter and alumni, then the stronger the commitment by the alumni to the chapter and the fraternity as a whole.
So as stated, perhaps the key is to get the undergraduate members connected with alumni from the get go. To understand that joining is a commitment for life.
And to keep alumni involved.