Does the University work for the Alumni?

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

On your first sentence -- definitely. I believe that this particular alum serves on an ADVISORY board. (Now that I think about it, he has been inconsistent and has previously said that he was on a Board of Directors -- liar!) Anyway, I think that alumni advisory boards are usually there to create the illusion that alumni opinions are integral to the development of the mission and overall program of a school. And maybe in some cases, it's not an illusion. My school has an African American Alumni Advisory Board and in addition to one major fundraiser, they have committees to address certain things like academic disparities between Black students and non-Black students. So in some ways, the intellectual capital of alumni can be utilized alongside the monetary resources.

But all in all, I think alumni don't see that this is a courtesy to them as donors and not something the school must provide.

The organization I'm referring to is one of several on campus who are having the issue that I refer to. Let's just call it an issue that would generally be handled by a Student Affairs office -- access to a benefit.

I believe that alumni should stay out of the daily operations of a university particularly when it comes to student organization. I had my day in the sun, now it's someone else's turn. My role is to support them monetarily and with advice -- when, and only when, they ask for it.

I would not feel right allowing other alums to wage a letter-writing or phone-calling campaign if it is not what the students have asked for.

I also have to be realistic about which alumni the university would take seriously -- if we had a Rockefeller or Kennedy, it would only take one phone call, I'm sure.

Make sense?

Not really, does it make sense to you?

First off, it was a she and not your presumtion that is was a he?

So, you do not feel rightous about people calling you for donations? Am I correct?

The Schools get money from States, not enough of course, but, what do we as GLOs get, mostly NADA!

I have been pushing for Congress to give us as Greeks a break for donations and have been contacting my Reps. What have you and anyone else on here done?

NOTHING!

[TrojanWoman]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Not really, does it make sense to you?

First off, it was a she and not your presumtion that is was a he?

So, you do not feel rightous about people calling you for donations? Am I correct?

The Schools get money from States, not enough of course, but, what do we as GLOs get, mostly NADA!

I have been pushing for Congress to give us as Greeks a break for donations and have been contacting my Reps. What have you and anyone else on here done?

NOTHING!

Way to totally jack a thread onto another topic. The question is not about GLO's (or would have probably be put under Greek Life) but specifically about universities and their alumni, Greek and non-Greek.

Senusret - I think it does depend on the school you are an alumni for and the influence that the alumni of that school have. I think you are right on with the Kennedy reference. At SC, alumni have a lot of power because they give A LOT of money.

But to your point, I agree thatit is the undergrads who really need to be putting the effort forward, not the alumni. If this is a student run group that is having issues with the university, the students should take a stab at dealing with it and should ask the alumni for support if they feel that it is warrented.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by ladylike

How large are your university's alumni endowments?

I only know about the total endowment, which is at $1,000,000,000 as of last fall. 76th largest endowment; for comparison, Harvard's is number one at $29,000,000,000.

Originally Posted by Quala67

Does a university work for the current students or the alumni? The answer is yes. Essentially, a university serves two 'masters,' the current student body, and the alumni base, which in most cases, outnumbers the student body. A university has to keep the alums happy, so that they'll give money back to the school. As you may well know, many grants are contingent upon the percentage of alumni and/or employees which donate back to the school, even if it's $1/year. Those grants in turn support programs for the student body.

Look at recent examples in my home state where the university president, who was popular with students, did something that pissed off the alumni. Now one has just installed a new president; the other is still functioning with an interim president. (the schools are the University of Richmond and the College of William & Mary)

It's a balancing act. Some schools do it better than others.

I agree with you to a point...I guess my personal philosophy is different from many other alums. I donate directly to the student organizations that I want to support, which irks the alumni office, of course. And I stay out of the broader affairs of the university.

Originally Posted by TrojanWoman

Way to totally jack a thread onto another topic. The question is not about GLO's (or would have probably be put under Greek Life) but specifically about universities and their alumni, Greek and non-Greek.

Senusret - I think it does depend on the school you are an alumni for and the influence that the alumni of that school have. I think you are right on with the Kennedy reference. At SC, alumni have a lot of power because they give A LOT of money.

But to your point, I agree that it is the undergrads who really need to be putting the effort forward, not the alumni. If this is a student run group that is having issues with the university, the students should take a stab at dealing with it and should ask the alumni for support if they feel that it is warrented.

I think you definitely see my point here. I am not saying that alumni shouldn't write letters or do things to support the students we have ties to: performing arts groups, service orgs, GLOs, whatever..... but I guess....omg, I'm going to say it.... I don't want to encourage HELICOPTER ALUMNI!!!!

(And I think the guy from my initial post is, indeed, a helicopter alum.)