Does the University work for the Alumni?

[Senusret I]

Here's the story in short: An organization I'm affiliated with that exists on my undergrad campus is having an issue. (I don't believe the specifics are necessary in this case.)

I sent an email which included:

The best people to move forward with this (right now) are the actual undergrads themselves. Remember, the university works for the students, not the alumni -- and we, too, work for the students.

Meaning, we, the organized alumni of _____ organization, exist to serve the students of said organization and it's best for us to allow them to handle their own problems until they ask us for help.

A fellow alumni member wrote back, saying:

I wanted to just point out one point of contention. The university does also work for alumni. There is an alumni office that is part of the University budget and administration. Also, alumni donations fund many of the school activities as well as development of the school. I sit on the alumni board of the business school at [some irrelevant university] and we have benchmarked other universities. Based on that benchmarking effort, I can assure you that universities recognize that they serve alumni as well and that alumni are a key stakeholder.


I, for one, think he is full of shit. I have worked in university development and realize there are more politics involved than a dozen disgruntled annual fund donors.

So....am I more right than he is? Or am I letting my dislike for him cloud what he's saying?

For ladygreek -- is he being a gypsy moth? Because that's what I'm feeling here and that's what I'm trying to avoid -- an alum helping in ways he hasn't been asked to, making the situation worse for the undergrads.